I went to my first WonderCon! My boyfriend, Luke, hooked us up with professional badges – whoo! Unlike years past where it’s always been held in Anaheim, this year it took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown which made it super convenient for us. With work and Easter Sunday, we were only able to go on Saturday. I had to take it a bit easy walking around, but it was actually really nice being able to take our time around the convention center not rushing from one place to next like we usually do at most cons.
After picking up our badges, we went to the beautiful Microsoft Theater for our first panel of the day, New Line/Warner Brothers Presents… We had no idea what movies were on the line up – it turned out to be two new horror films coming out later this year: The Conjuring 2 and Lights Out. Director James Wan (Saw, Insidious, Furious 7, upcoming Aquaman) was there to talk about his horror sequel and present a first look at its trailer and, I gotta say, it looked pretty freaky! He was also there to support Lights Out, a movie from his production company that started out as a 3-minute short before becoming a full length Hollywood film starring Maria Bello (who was present along with the film’s director). The trailer was terrifying! There were definitely parts where I had to look away from the screen! While horror isn’t exactly either of our favorite movie genres, there was still some really cool comments about filmmaking and advice for filmmakers that made for a really interesting panel.
I had planned to go to the Geek Wars panel, but it reached capacity before I was able to make it in so Luke and I walked around the exhibit floor, and I started counting the number of Rey from The Force Awakens cosplays (my count was 12 although I’m sure there were more).
At the Comic Con HQ booth, they had a big wall where people could do little doodles and drawings. Luke and I each contributed (above).
We split up so Luke could go to the Star Wars VFX panel, and I went to a panel about working in the “Nerd Business” since that is something I am very interested in doing one day. I really enjoyed it – the panelists gave some really helpful and informative advice. One of them, Donna Ricci, runs a local geek-themed tea shop called Geeky Teas that I can’t believe I’ve never heard of or been to (but I plan on changing that!).
I was really excited to see the many food trucks (I’m such a sucker for them) but was not so happy to see the ridiculous lines or the huge waits for food after putting in your order. I was feeling a bit faint from not having eaten much all day and went to the shortest food truck line for a grilled cheese sandwich and fries (totaling $22.50 – yikes!). While waiting for my food, I got some shaved ice to hold myself over. After 30 minutes, I got my sandwich but they were very behind on fry orders. After another 20 minutes and still no fries in sight, we just asked for a refund so we could continue on with our day. I can understand food orders getting backed up and having to deal with frustrated customers, but I will probably not eat at food trucks at my next convention after this experience.
Our friend Kyle joined us, and we ended our day with a special screening of the new documentary “The Giant’s Dream” about the making of The Iron Giant. The film was followed by a Q&A discussion led by the documentary’s director Anthony Giacchino and The Iron Giant’s Brad Bird and co-creators. The documentary will be included in the Signature Blu-ray Edition of The Iron Giant along with two new scenes to be released in September.
Despite taking it pretty easy and not doing a ton of stuff, I still had a lot of fun and am glad I was feeling well enough to go. Hopefully, I’ll be in full health when Comic Con and Anime Expo roll around in a few months!
Did you go to WonderCon this year?
