WEBVTT - David S. Goyer Interview + SDCC/Barbenheimer Weekend 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.160 Warning, this podcast contains spoilers for actually nothing this time, 0:00:04.480 --> 0:00:08.960 but references to a Foundation season two airing now on 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:10.240 Apple TV Plus. 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:26.239 Hello. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.320 My name is Jason Cepcio and I'm Rosie Night and 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:33.040 welcome to Extra revision of the Crooked Media podcast, where 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:37.120 we dive deep into your favorite shows, movies, comics, and 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:37.800 pop culture. 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.879 In this episode, Strike Watch. Then we're heading to previously 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.879 on for an SDCC scene report and a little talk 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:47.680 about that Barbenheimer box office. 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:49.320 In the Hive mind as an. 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.080 Interview with writer, producer director David Eskoya, and in the 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:56.640 Nerd Out, some thoughts on Indiana Jones coming up. 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:05.880 Strikewatch the historic double Strike continues, and some updates here. 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:10.760 Dwayne Johnson, who we have been tough on on this podcast, 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:19.200 has has come up big. We talked about in the 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:23.200 previous episode how important it is that the most powerful 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.360 and successful members of the WGA and SAG have been 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:30.880 support have been in this fight to support, you know, 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:32.920 some of the people who are in the lowest rungs 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.000 of the ladder. And here is Dwayn Johnson who has 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:40.120 come through with a historic seven figure donation to the 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.920 SAG Fund per variety during the COVID nineteen pandemic. The 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.600 sag after Foundation work to provide financial relief to many 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.720 unions one hundred and sixty thousand members via the foundation's 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:56.280 Emergency Financial Assistance Program, which will again be used during 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.880 the strike, and just in recent days it has been 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:05.480 that Dwayne made a truly historic donation to the fund. 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:06.000 Yeah. 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.160 I think like you made a great point when we 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:09.920 talked about the strike for the first time, which is like, 0:02:10.360 --> 0:02:12.680 this is the thing that makes us love comic books. 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:14.520 It's like the people who are most powerful, who have 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.440 the power, looking after the people who don't. And in 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:19.840 this reporting there was something really interesting which I think 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.000 sums up the power of why a union like this 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.760 when it works like this is really really great. 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:25.920 Because it was saying that Courtney b. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:30.640 Vance, who's the Sagafro Foundation President and executive director Sid Wilson, 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:34.240 actually wrote a letter to the twenty seven hundred of 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:37.400 the union's highest earning actors being like, look, we need money, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.440 Like you're rich, give us money, And I'm like, that's 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:43.239 exactly how it should be. And I love that Dwayne 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:44.560 was the one who stepped up and was like, well, 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:47.079 I'm given seven figures, so who else wants to jump in, 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:50.200 So I'm ready to see more rich people giving money 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:52.560 to this, because, like you said, this is for the 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:54.480 workers who are going to be in a situation where 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.880 they're not going to make healthcare this year. The twenty 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.920 six thousand dollars that they need to make annually is 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:00.800 not going to happen. I could even be if they 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:02.720 were still working, that might have happened anyway, with the 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:03.679 way residuals are. 0:03:03.880 --> 0:03:05.840 So it's really great this is happening. I love to 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:06.200 see it. 0:03:08.480 --> 0:03:09.200 George R. R. 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.720 Martin, who our good friend, George R. Martin, has came 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:16.160 in on the strike the King. In his latest entry 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:20.960 on his not a Blog blog, he has weighed in 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.000 on the strike, calling it quote the most important of 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.480 my lifetime. He continues, no one can be certain where 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:28.680 we go from here, but I have a bad feeling 0:03:28.720 --> 0:03:30.440 that this strike will be long and bitter. It may 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.280 get as bad as the infamous nineteen eighty five strike. 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:35.200 Though I hope not now. Of course. 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:39.920 George has been a member of the WGA since the 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:46.840 mid eighties, and he also continues with updates about How's 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.400 the Dragon quote How's the Dragon is shot? Mostly in London, 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:53.120 a little bit in Wales and Spain and various other locations, 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:55.360 which is why filming is continue. The actors are members 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.560 of the British union Equity, not SAG after and though 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:03.400 Equity strongly supports their American cousins, British law forbids them 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.520 from staging a sympathy strike. If they walk, they have 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.400 no protection from being fired, breach of contract or even sued. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.920 That's terrible, terrible, terrible law. 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:16.320 It's really strange too because England has a history like 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.360 as George actually says in this blog, one of the 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:21.320 major two parties is called the Labor Party, is built 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:23.599 on the idea of protecting workers, but that has changed 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.400 as the parties moved more centrist. And it's really interesting 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.159 because the subways in England we call it the Tube, right, 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.400 they have an incredibly powerful union, the Transport Workers, and 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.440 that the fact that their union is so powerful has 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.520 kind of been used to turn union sentiment in the public. 0:04:40.200 --> 0:04:42.039 To be like, oh, well, they're getting it and you're not. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.680 When the big reminder that we all have about unions 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.680 is if you see someone in a job and you 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:50.560 see them getting good benefits and going on strike to 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:52.800 get better pay, and they get paid. 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:53.640 Better than you. 0:04:53.720 --> 0:04:56.320 Don't ask why they're getting that, ask why you're not 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:57.360 going on strike to. 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:58.120 Get it, you know. 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:00.800 So it's kind of that thing. Yeah, I really I 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.080 was actually even shocked. Even though I knew the union 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.360 protections weren't strong, I didn't realize they were. You can 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:09.000 get fired and sued by HBO Max if you walk 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:10.040 not strong. 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.200 Absolutely absolutely nuts. 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.480 Also, wait, I just want to say as well, because 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:16.839 this is a great This shows how scared the studios 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:17.440 are right now. 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:19.160 George R. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:23.240 Martin, his overall deal with HBO was suspended. That's right 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.359 June first, which they're doing with a lot of people, 0:05:25.400 --> 0:05:27.880 but you don't expect him to be one of them. 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.240 I think they're doing it, I will say, it seems 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:33.560 like they're doing it with everybody. They're taking the opportunity 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:39.479 to not pay people. Now there's a there's a significant 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:43.479 calendar date coming up in August sometime, which is the 0:05:45.240 --> 0:05:49.040 I'm not sure of the exact day, but it will 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.040 be the point at which contractually the studios have the 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:56.480 opportunity to cancel some overall deals completely wow by claiming 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.280 force majures. This happened last time and you would back 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.200 them to do it this time. 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:03.840 You know. One of the talking points you. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:07.240 Hear is, oh, so who actually likes this early part 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.040 of the strike because they want to save money, they 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.039 want to get rid of deals that aren't performing. 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:12.200 I'm sure George will not. 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:16.279 Be among those who are whose deals are canceled. But yeah, 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.039 I think everybody is not. Is everybody on an overall 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:23.320 is not that cost check Claire, and some of them 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:27.680 may be maybe done away with in the coming weeks. 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:29.400 SAG approval. 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.920 SAG has granted approval for thirty nine productions to continue 0:06:33.000 --> 0:06:39.479 during the strike, including two films from the artistic Darling 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:43.800 studio A twenty four. The list includes two projects from 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:48.800 A twenty four's the independent production company. The titles are 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:52.680 Mother Mary starring Anne Hathaway and MICHAELA. Cole, and Death 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:57.240 of a Unicorn starring Paul Rudd and Jenny Ortega. So basically, 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:03.240 SAG has kind of signaled that indie projects that aren't 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.840 you know they were, they're going to like forensically look 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.880 through their accounting. But anybody that's not taking money from 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.360 the studios and not is not going to be distributed 0:07:13.400 --> 0:07:15.800 by any of the major players. It's truly an indie movie. 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:19.920 And as in the case with A twenty four, studios 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:25.280 who agree tacitly to the WGA and SAG's demands and 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:29.120 says we'll go by, we'll go by what your proposals are. Now, 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.760 we'll just willingly do that are allowed to continue shooting. 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:34.880 So if a twenty question is if A twenty four 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.080 can do it, why can't the rest of them? Yeah, 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:38.120 we'll see where this goes. 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.000 Yeah, what what's have you you been on the picket line? Obviously, 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:43.000 what's the feeling been on this, because I've seen it's 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:45.679 been quite controversial. Some people are like, yeah, A twenty 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.960 four are doing it, that's amazing. But some people are 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:51.120 also like, well, this is giving the biggest name actors 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.120 paid work when people are out on strike who are 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.960 kind of the lowest rung workers who are really need 0:07:57.960 --> 0:07:58.560 that money. 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:01.960 It it's a little bit of a wait and see. 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:07.040 I think people, I think everybody understands the idea, which 0:08:07.080 --> 0:08:12.280 is one, support the independent producers out there are truly 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:15.720 independent film number one, which is just a good thing 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.480 to do, and number two try and create these divisions 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:22.600 by saying, hey, if you if you agree to our proposals, 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:24.760 we can serve them and right away like who wants 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:26.320 to who else wants to come in? You know, that's 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:30.400 how they notably the agency campaign from a few years ago, 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.520 which I won't delve into, but part of how that 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:39.600 eventually resolved is you know, the studios one by one 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.480 saying okay, fine, we'll work with you if you were working, 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:45.280 if we end so, if they can peel off some 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.200 of the members of the AMPTP, that's all for the good. 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:53.200 That said, I think that there is there's also some Okay, well, 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.720 let's see how this goes, because I thought the idea 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.080 was we're not working, so we'll see. 0:08:58.600 --> 0:08:59.120 Yeah. 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:03.280 The ampt released a twenty three page document a few 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:07.319 days ago. We're recording this on July twenty fifth. They 0:09:07.360 --> 0:09:10.600 released this document on July twenty first, and it had 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:17.240 their version of the I guess last few negotiation rounds 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:22.679 with sag AFTRA, their proposals and counter proposals. You can 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:25.840 find that in various places, but the Hollywood Reporter had 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.199 a good write up of it. But there's one thing 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.400 that I wanted to So one of the things that 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.040 of course has been a sticking point is the the 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:40.200 issue of revenue sharing, you know, aka residuals, which is 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:45.120 how many writers and actors you know, keep the lights 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:47.720 on when they're not you know, in the months often 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:53.160 you know, significant amount of months between jobs. And the 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:56.400 aptp's position is that they don't want. 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.400 To pay them exactly. 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.640 They don't want to those anymore. You know, they say, well, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:08.880 the business has changed, you know, tech has come in Netflix, 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.200 Apple and Amazon, and they have different cultures. Their culture 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:13.920 is based on secrecy. They don't want to give up 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:17.560 the streaming numbers. Any kind of revenue sharing sharing and 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:22.480 the success of a project would necessarily involve the sharing 0:10:22.559 --> 0:10:26.240 of the viewership numbers, and they don't want to do that. 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:32.280 So in their kind of counter to SAG's revenue sharing proposal, 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:38.079 the AMPTP statement says, quote, the union is proposing that 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:41.160 performers share in the rewards of a successful show without 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:44.280 bearing any of the risk. The union proposes to share 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:47.440 in success, but not in failure. That is not sharing one. 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.160 This is the way it's been done in the yes, 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.320 of course, like the actors are not putting up their 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.600 own money and mortgaging their houses so that like, you know, 0:10:56.640 --> 0:11:01.199 the project can go through that said throughout the entire 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:04.640 history of TV, this is basically how it's been done. 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:05.520 It's been understood. 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:08.160 Yes, of course the studios are making the capital investment, 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:13.679 but anything that succeeds beyond a certain set point, then 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.319 it's time to share in the wealth. And the AMPTPI 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:19.559 now says, well, that's the old thinking, We're not going 0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:23.280 to do that anymore. I don't think that the unions 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.680 should accept that. But number two, this idea that because 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:31.120 the actors are not taking on a form of like 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:37.679 scaled capital risk is actually completely wrongheaded. First of all, 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.560 a lot of this is a fight for actors and 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.000 writers to be able to one make their year, which 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.199 has been which is something that's gotten harder and harder. 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:52.000 Making the year essentially means making enough money through the 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:56.480 guild through guilt work to qualify for health insurance. Anybody 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.560 who has struggled to figure out, like, where's my health 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.520 insurance coming from? How am I going to get it? 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:02.360 Can I keep it? 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:03.280 What am I going to do? 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:07.360 Understands that like living in a world in which one 0:12:07.440 --> 0:12:09.120 you're trying to make it as either an actor or 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.200 a writer, and two trying to figure out, okay, do 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:13.360 I need to get some kind of straight job in 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:16.280 order to get benefits. You're taking a risk in your 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:20.320 life just going out of the house without health insurance 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:23.400 and trying to get it one. Two the amount of 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.400 A large part of this struggle is about the amount 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.720 of free work that goes on in this industry, whether 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:34.120 it's actors spending their own money and time to send 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.400 in a self tape, which you know, part of the 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:40.440 complaints that actors have is these self tapes are becoming 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.960 more and more intricate with like lighting and like scenes, 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.600 and now it's like not everybody has the resources to 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.760 do this. All of which is to say actors and 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:52.800 writers take on significant risk. It's not capital risk in 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.440 the same way that the studios do, but they take 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:58.079 on plenty of risk, and they should absolutely share in 0:12:58.160 --> 0:12:59.960 the success of a project when it succeeds. 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:03.800 Yeah, completely. And also I mean that you talk about 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.720 self tapes. I also saw that there's been a movement 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.440 for people to get paid for auditions because legally and 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.600 contractually you are supposed to be paid for an audition already, 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.120 but that hasn't been happening for a really long time. 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:19.640 So even these base protections that you would hope these 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.760 actors are getting for this alleged small investment of time 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:23.560 that they're giving. 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:25.440 The studios haven't been paying them anyway. 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:26.840 That's right. 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:32.839 Well, the strike continues and we'll be covering here on 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.040 Extra Vision up next. Previously on. 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:50.400 It was SDCC just gone, our first SDCC since Twilight 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.000 took over hall H and invented hall H culture. That 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:59.880 there hasn't been a major studio presence inside the convention 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.560 because I will say, when you go to San Diego, 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.360 they always have activations, they have things that people can 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:08.040 do without tickets. You can sign up online, and there 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.240 were still a few of those. I believe FX turned up. 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.800 I believe Hulu turned up with that kind of stuff. 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.760 But inside there were no major hall H panels. There 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:21.440 was no DC movies, there were no Marvel movies. There 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.080 weren't even any big TV panels aside from a couple 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.120 of little premieres where there wasn't any talent apart from 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:29.520 maybe a director who was able to turn up. But 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.960 I have to say San Diego was bumping. It was 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:38.239 incredibly busy. Tiffany Babb, who's an incredible pop culture journalist 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:41.040 and comic book journalist at pop Verse did a great 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:44.320 write up about how she spoke to lots of different retailers. 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.760 Yeah I read that, Yeah great, like Silver Sprocket, one 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:48.960 of our favorite indie publishers. They said they had their 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:51.840 biggest preview night ever, and preview nights usually a pretty 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:53.400 quiet night, mostly. 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:54.080 For industry folks. 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:57.920 I spoke to multiple different exhibitors who said it was 0:14:57.960 --> 0:15:01.040 the biggest year they'd had. Qu Bok was also quoted 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:04.080 in pop Verse, So basically what happened. 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:05.920 Funk oh, I believe historic. 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:07.520 Also the Marvel booth. 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.480 They had like a Marvel merch booth there that apparently 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.120 did really really well. Basically what happened was because people 0:15:14.120 --> 0:15:17.040 were not in the whole h Q lines and there 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.160 were not six rounds and people they were. They were 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:22.440 on the show floor, and you know what I have 0:15:22.480 --> 0:15:24.320 to say, they were also in the panel rooms. I 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:28.080 did three panels, all of which were busier than most 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:30.400 panels I've ever done, but the one that really stuck 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.280 out to me, and I think this is representative of 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.360 a lot of people's experience. I did a panel with 0:15:34.400 --> 0:15:37.400 Webtoon called a Golden Age for Women in Comics and 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.320 the idea is was to highlight that women have always 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:42.840 been making comics, but they've just been raised from the 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:45.880 narrative and now thanks to webtoon, thanks to incredible indie 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:49.120 publishers like Black Jerse Press. The publisher Jimmie Larrouser was 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.680 on the panel, women are being recognized for making comics 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.160 even though they've always been here. That is the kind 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:57.320 of panel I've done at San Diego before about like 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.400 disability or about different aspects of representation. You get an 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.920 eager crowd, but not a necessarily packed room, right. Those 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:08.840 rooms can hold like two three hundred people. Our Golden 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.400 Ajor Women in Comics panel, which did feature Rachel Smythe 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:14.160 who makes Laura Lympus, who is arguably one of the 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:16.280 most famous cartoonists in the world, so I'm giving her 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.560 credit for how many people came as well. But that 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:21.040 was a one in, one out panel. It was standing 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:23.720 room only and they had a Q outside. 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:24.080 To let people in. 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:27.480 And I started to hear that other people there was 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:29.920 a Queer Horror panel and that was the same thing 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:32.520 where they had a Q outside. So what happened with 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:35.480 haul h not being there is it drove people into 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.000 the show floor. It drove people into the convention center, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.840 and the coolest thing is people. 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:43.920 Just were excited. The vibes were great. 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.240 I didn't see anyone who was disappointed or who wasn't 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:49.680 prepared for the fact this was going to be comics focused, 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:53.280 and it was just a really wonderful experience. Also, I 0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:57.000 will say there was a lot of great strike support. 0:16:57.080 --> 0:17:01.160 There was lots of cosplayers with strike signs. Actually, like 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:05.679 Duncan Crabtree Island came on Saturday to speak on a 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:09.320 panel about AI and voice acting and kind of advocate 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.800 for the voice actors, and there were people giving I know, 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:14.720 Danny Fernandez, one of our friends of the Pods, she 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.240 was giving out a lot of strike pins. And one 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.000 of the coolest things was they had these signs that 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:23.119 were like SAG signs, and they said support the strike, 0:17:23.240 --> 0:17:25.400 carry this sign, and people would just hand them off 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:27.800 to each other, so you'd see like Deadpool carrying it, 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.000 and you'd see and it really kind of opened my 0:17:30.040 --> 0:17:32.600 eyes to the fact we obviously care about this stuff, 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:34.560 like deeply, not just because we're involved in it, but 0:17:34.640 --> 0:17:35.760 because it's something. 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:36.760 That we care about. 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:38.280 We care about it because we love comics. We care 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:39.760 about it because we love TV and movies. We want 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:44.120 people to get paid. I don't think the studios realize 0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:48.840 how widespread that mentality is. That you can have a 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.159 kid in a comics accurate Deadpool cosplay because there was 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:54.840 a lot of comic accurate cosplay, because people didn't want 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:58.280 to do movie cosplay because they felt like they were 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:03.320 supporting Struck studios. It was really heartening, not only to 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.120 see the love for comics, but also to see people 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:10.359 recognizing that they understood why this SDCC was different. It 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.320 was really cool, and I would say if I was 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:16.080 in charge of SDCC, I'd be having very different meetings 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:18.560 with the studios next year, like how can you help 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.560 us if you want this platform, we don't need it, 0:18:21.600 --> 0:18:23.840 But if you want the platform of being on hall Ah, 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.080 how much are you going to invest in the convention? 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:31.000 How much can we use this your resources to make 0:18:31.119 --> 0:18:33.760 this an even better place for comics, for the museum, 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:36.480 for artists who can't afford an artists Alli table. Because 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.399 the truth is hall H not being there did not 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:44.840 impact how that show was aside from positively for smaller 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:48.840 press and artists ali people who felt like they especially 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:50.880 by the end of the weekend. I heard that Saturday 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.960 and Sunday, it was almost like on the first two 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.440 days folks were walking around kind of being like, Okay, 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:58.040 I've never really been on the show floor. What am 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.720 I going to buy? Like budgeting out you kind of do. 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:05.360 And apparently Saturday and Sunday those sales just went absolutely crazy. 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.320 That's great, that's great, and it's you know, it's interesting. 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:10.800 Now I'm kind of reflecting on the fact that certainly 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:16.800 in the hall H era, I have never never once 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.800 heard someone talk about the kind of hall Ah culture 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.159 and immense lines and what it takes to get in 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:27.040 there with any kind of warmth. 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:29.240 No, you know, it's like I don't want to queue 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:30.880 out that for two nights. 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:36.360 Yeah, it is only complaints about the slow, whole rigamarole 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:41.199 of getting through that. And it's nice to see that 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:45.400 there was almost like a turn of the clock back 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:49.800 moment of uh, this the energy and the community is 0:19:49.840 --> 0:19:53.879 still here. It's not going anywhere. And to your point, 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.080 maybe there is a conversation about like what the relationship 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:01.040 will be in the future between the studios in comic Con, 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:04.879 and hopefully that conversation can make the experience of comic 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:06.359 Con kind of just better. 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:09.320 Yeah, And you make a great point, because I think 0:20:09.359 --> 0:20:11.760 something that was really special. So Dorian Parks is really 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.159 great who's a host and a kind of journalist in 0:20:14.200 --> 0:20:16.840 the same space to us. He moderated the Spider Man 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:19.639 two panel, which was about the video game, right. But 0:20:19.680 --> 0:20:22.000 what was really interesting was so many it was in 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:24.119 hallh and so many people who would never have got 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:26.919 to experience hall Ah got to experience it because that 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:28.200 wasn't necessarily the. 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:30.359 Two day wait. So I think there's a lot of 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:31.399 lessons to be learned. 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:34.679 And the thing that made me the happiest was my 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:38.440 worst case scenario was like people won't come, or they 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:40.399 will come and they'll be really mad, and it will 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.000 affect the people who've invested thousands of dollars, who are 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.199 indy cartoonists, who know that this is the time that 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:47.879 they can make they can make the bag that we 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:49.760 can that can be the one show you do that 0:20:49.840 --> 0:20:51.800 really makes you money. And it turns out it was 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:55.119 the complete opposite. And it was just an absolute delight 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:56.880 to be there. And because people were on the show 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.240 floor and there weren't Hallah lines, San. 0:20:59.080 --> 0:21:02.120 Diego was actually p a chill to walk around. So yeah, 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:02.439