Sacramento Comic Con 2014
So when I heard that Comic Con was coming to Sacramento, I was overly excited. I had been planning to go to a Comic Con every since I was little. Think I would grow out of that but of course not. I was teased for being a nerd but now I am proud to be one. When I heard there was a film festival, I figure I try it out to see what happens. Then tons of good news happened. Not only did my film get accepted into the festival, I received 2 free 3 day whole entire weekend passes to Comic Con if I do an interview about my film afterwards. I was on cloud 9 when all this happened. Not only I get to go to Comic Con for free, but as a special guest for something I love doing.
Friday March 7th
I chose an episode from Josh's Journal called Power Troopers. It has some bad green screen effects but I chose it because of the different voice actors, studio recordings, and blend of animation and puppetry. When I arrived at Comic Con, I was able to get my wife and kids in at no charge (skipped the line because we're VIP). We walk around for a little bit to check things out, then head towards the film festival. There were some really nice enjoyable films. I've seen quite a few independent films which were usually boring and bland, but these were oddly entertaining. So much so, that I started to get a little embarrassed when it was time for mine to play. They played this film that look so nice visually. There was no dialoge but nice effects and acting that only depended on face expressions. I started thinking to myself "please don't call my film out next". Then he (the m.c. for the festival, Jeff) said' "Next film we have is called Josh's Journal The Power Troopers. Is Josh here? Would you like to give an intro about your film?" I'm thinking, CRAP. I give a long explanation what my show is about. Won't do that anymore. Sometimes short is better. Should've said "Josh notices a new team of superheroes in town." Then let the rest explain itself. Once it appeared on screen, I started getting embarrassed because as an artist you are taught to hate your old stuff. And I did Power Troopers about 4 years ago. I could see every little mistake on the big screen. BUT strangers were enjoying it. Not only that, people were coming in and sitting down watching it. It felt like a full house which didn't make me feel good because I knew I had to get in front of all these folks and explain myself. But they really truly enjoyed it. There was a nice applause once the credits rolled. Then I got up to do the Q & A. Boy was I nervous and it showed. But it was a learning experience. Luckily I was prepared for the questions and didn't get stumped. And it was cool to see people actually interested in my stuff since I was getting questions like "How many episodes do you have? or Where can we find more of it?" I was soooooooo relieved after it was done. So glad it was the first night and not the last, BUT I would had known how to do the questionnaire better.
After that, we were leaving the hotel where the festival was taken place when suddenly I saw Billy Dee Williams going into the restroom. I told my wife who I saw and I had to go to the restroom of course. Went in there, did what I had to do, then started washing my hands. Billy Dee walks right up beside me and I see him thru the mirror. He smiles and says "How you doing?" I say "I'm good, how are you doing tonight, sir?" He says, "Oh, I'm doing fine." BUT HE SAYS IT SO SMOOTH just like in the movies. I manage to not act so star struck. I'm not even nervous (like I was when I saw Denzel Washington). So I said to him (because we both know I know who he is) "You're not getting too harassed by the fans are you?" He says "Oh, no. Not at all. I love this kind of thing." Then we wish each other a good evening, I hold the door for him, he thanks me, and went on his way. After that, EVERYBODY in the lobby recognizes him. That experience made my life, I mean night.
Saturday, March 8th
We get to Comic Con at 11:30am but don't find a good parking spot until 11:45am, in which I could've saved money if I just went to the parking garage in the first place. We go to the one on one sessions with certain celebrities. First one we see is Michael Rosebaum and he is hilarious. He is very energetic and instead of sitting on the stage answering questions from far away, he is in your face interacting with the audience. I always thought that he was the best Lex Luther and best Flash. I take the kids around to take pictures with the different folks in cosplay. There are like some really really nice ones. My daughter created her own costume making herself Catwoman. I mean she makes the cat ears and the mask all by herself. This girl already surpasses me in art and creativity. I manage to see a few celebrities at their booths. The bigger ones you can't even get near because of the crowd so huge. I only get a slight glimpse of Norman Reedus. All the other Walking Dead folks, barely a line. So I run to my car and get my sketchbook and get Michael Rooker to sign the picture I drew of him (Meryl from Walking Dead). He smiles when he sees the picture and signs it, and shakes my hand (the hand that was cut off on the show). He speaks to my kids but they are so quiet and shy. We walk up to Michael Rosenbaum's booth since the crowd died down. I make the kids wave at him since they know him as the Flash. The 2nd time I walk up to him, I talk to him myself. I told him I really enjoyed his one on one session and that his was probably the best. He thanked me and told me that I better be at the other one, but he didn't know what time it will be. It was awesome talking with him trying to figure out if and when he was doing another one. 2nd celebrity to have a conversation with this weekend. Later we got to see James Marsters talk to the crowd, then William Shatner which was a HUGE crowd, and finally Bruce Campbell who was sooooo hilarious. It was such a trip seeing all these people in person. Looking forward to meeting more tomorrow. Looking at all the different booths was very encouraging. I have a certain art that most folks don't do and I should really show it off more. Maybe even have my own booth to display it.
Sunday, March 9th
The last day of Comic Con wasn't as good as the other days because of the crowd. I didn't get a chance to meet any actors but I did get to shake hands with Neal Adams (Comic book artist). One of the artist for The Simpsons was one no one could get to, everyone else were easy enough. I spent most of my time there watching one on ones with the bigger celebrities. We got to see Jon Bernthal (Walking Dead, Grudge Match, Wolf on Wall Street), then of course Stan Lee, then Chris Hemsworth. The lines outside were crazy. I couldn't even get in a line to get an autograph from Stan Lee. Maybe next year I hope. Over all my experience there will be unforgettable and I will make sure I am always apart of things like this.
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