It's A Good Time To Be A Nerd

Tor.com has recently published a list of films and TV shows that are in development and will hopefully be released in the next couple of years. These stories are those that have historically been in "the nerd" genre of shows. The list is chock full of great stories and I'm excited for all of them to hopefully come to fruition. Over the last few years, these types of shows have been prevalent in the movie theaters and on TV. Movie studios and actors have started to really gravitate towards producing these stories as of late. Why?

Because these shows are very lucrative and make a lot of money. But this money doesn't come from a select few, they come from the everyday TV watcher and movie goer. These stories are being consumed by everyone, no longer the stereotypical 1980's Revenge of the Nerds fan. That stereotype is long gone, but yet still seems to persist in our minds.

Nowadays, people just want to see a good story filled with drama, action, relationships, and good character development. Whether that is in a courtroom, at the fire station, in space, in Westeros or Gotham, or on another planet, as long as it's good and entertaining; people will watch it.

So welcome to all of you non-nerds, because it's a good time to be a nerd.

Galaxy's Edge (Star Wars Land) at Disney Parks

Curious to know more about the upcoming Star Wars Land at Disneyland and Disney World?

Officially known as Galaxy's Edge, there has been some information officially released by Disney and Lucasfilm which is talked about here. This panel from Salt Lake Comic Con 2017 also delved into some unofficial news about Galaxy's Edge. Listen in as Matt Martin, from Lucasfilm, Valerie Cameron-Walker, a huge Disney enthusiast from B98.7, and other panel members discuss this major upcoming addition to Disney Parks happening in 2019.

This content is exclusive to Random Angst and can only be found on Random Angst's Patreon account. Click on the banner below to listen to this exclusive audio from Salt Lake Comic Con 2017. TIA!

Star Wars: Behind the Scenes of Jabba's Palace

Join Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo, Regal Robot's Tom Spina, and Return of the Jedi Creature Designer Kirk Thatcher as they break down the aliens and denizens of Jabba's Palace from Star Wars The Return of the Jedi. Pablo, Tom, and Kirk identify and discuss the various creatures from Jabba's Palace and how they were created. Kirk Thatcher was one of the creators of the creatures from Return of the Jedi and witnessed first hand as well as participated in the creative process for these creatures and is featured heavily in the presentation. This panel was held on Sept 23, 2017 at Salt Lake Comic Con 2017.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWw8-s_a0vM&t=7s

Harry Potter Book 8 Midnight Release Party

My brother in law, Marc, and I went to the midnight book release party for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 and 2 that was put on by Salt Lake Comic Con and hosted at Weller Books in Salt Lake City. There were some fun activities, such as cosplay contests for multiple categories, a Harry Potter trivia contest, and some Harry Potter themed panels.

It was a fun time with lots of energy and excitement that only a Harry Potter themed event can bring!

Dan Farr, the President of Salt Lake Comic Con, was present and was walking around and mingling with fans. He even drove his awesome car to the event!

While I do have my nits to pick about Salt Lake Comic Con, I do feel that it is a first rate Comic Con and has provided a lot of fun to the Salt Lake area and is competing with the big boys of Comic Cons, San Diego and New York. I feel that Dan Farr and Bryan Brandenburg are doing a good job at getting SLCC up and running. I can imaging that putting on an event of this size is colossal and quite a chore to manage it and to keep improving it like they have.

It's small events like this Harry Potter book release party and all the movie premier party's that they do makes me appreciate that Dan, Bryan, and all the SLCC staff really are fans and want to continually improve to make Salt Lake one of the premier locations for Comic Cons and fandoms of every kind.