Stan Lee Rules Day 2 Of Comikaze Expo 2013

Originally published on PopWrapped.  3 November 2013.

Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2013 at the LA Convention Center is a menagerie of geeky interests. Now in its third year, the convention has plenty of room for comics and games alongside toys, animated features, films, and everything else under the nerd sun.

The man of the hour himself, Stan Lee, was on hand for quite a bit of programming on Comikaze’s second day, Saturday November 2. One of the new projects the legend has been involved in is Stan Lee’s Mighty 7, a combination of an animated series and movie trilogy as well as a monthly comic. Those lined up to lend their voices to the project were Armie Hammer, Christian Slater, Mayim Bialik, Teri Hatcher, Darren Criss, Sean Astin, Jim Belushi and Michael Ironside.

Photo by Stephanie Coats

Also announced was Stan Lee’s Superhero Ball Wars, a series of iPhone and iPad game apps. Set on the planet Ballo, the action revolves around capturing or deflecting heroes and villains from Ballo as they fly towards your screen. An augmented reality version of the game has the player hold up their device to the sky to locate Ballo before beginning game play (you can also lock the screen to start without needing to find the planet). The apps will start being released next year.

Photo by Stephanie Coats

Comic and film lovers were able to enjoy panels like “The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened.” The documentary’s maker, John Schepp, gave fans a taste of what to expect when the finished film comes out next summer. In a special Comikaze clip package, snippets of interviews with Superman Lives concept artists and other members of the production team show and speak about plans for the film. These included a version of legendary Superman adversary, Doomsday, as a dinosaur-alien created by Brainiac.

Photo by Stephanie Coats

Schepp also said he is in talks with two of the primary individuals involved with the cancelled 1998 film, such as Nicolas Cage, Kevin Smith or Tim Burton, but would not specifically reveal whom. Schepp hopes to premiere the film either at the Tribecca Film Festival, where he has been offered a spot, or at San Diego Comic-Con 2014.

Earlier in the day, Schepp showed the full Kickstarter-funded pilot of his animated show, Grimm Fairy Tales. An adaptation of the comic series, the 20-minute pilot was definitely R-rated with plenty of rough language, gore, and nudity. The creative team behind the episode is currently working on raising money and interest to continue making the show as a TV series or a standalone movie.

Photo by Stephanie Coats

No convention is complete without star power and cosplay and Comikaze had both. Topping the list of celebrities were Alyssa Milano, Edward James Olmos, Bruce Campbell and LeVar Burton. The stars of the Emmy award-winning web series, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, were also on hand. Ashley Clements (Lizzie), Mary Katie Wiles (Lydia) and Daniel Vincent Gordh (Darcy) were joined by some of the series’ creative team for a packed panel Saturday afternoon.

Comikaze 2013 concludes its run Sunday, November 3.

VidCon13: ‘Lizzie Bennet Diaries’ Team Unveils ‘Emma’ Adaptation

Originally published on TheFlickcast.com.  5 August 2013.

Attention The Lizzie Bennet Diaries fans. Emma Approved is coming your way this Fall.

The team of showrunner Bernie Su, producer Hank Green, and Pemberly Digital announced their newest Jane Austen web video adaptation at VidCon 2013. Heroine Emma Woodhouse will be modernized as a confident entrepreneur who, of course, places a bit too much faith in her matchmaking prowess.

Su and Green’s first Austen outing, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, was a resounding success. Over 216,000 subscribers watched the 100 episode series. The program won two Streamys and was nominated for five more. A Kickstarter to fund the DVD raised over $462,000, nearly 800% of the $60,000 goal. The series was followed by Welcome to Sanditon, based on one of Austen’s short stories and starring some of the Lizzie Bennet characters.

There’s no word yet on any casting decisions for Emma Approved. However, with the show hitting YouTube in the Fall, fans should know soon enough who is playing the iconic Emma, Mr. Knightly, Frank Churchill and the rest of Highbury.

Jane Austen’s Emma is Coming To YouTube

Originally published on PopWrapped.Tumblr.com.  2 August 2013.

Emma Woodhouse is coming to YouTube. In an official announcement at VidCon 2013, the team behind the Lizzie Bennet Diariesrevealed that their next vlog series would be Emma Approved.

Bernie Su, showrunner for LBD, unveiled the Emma Approved logo to ear splitting applause and cheers at the packed Lizzie Bennet Meet-Up.

As Su, producer Hank Green, and the Pemberly Digital creative team did with LBD and then Welcome to Sanditon, the Emmaseries will take Jane Austen’s classic story and update it for the web video setting. Emma will be a proud, successful entrepreneur and will of course retain her confidence in her ability to matchmake.

Su, who won a Streamy for his work on LBD, was silent on any other plot or character points but based on the resounding success of both of this team’s Austen series so far, I am prepared to trust them with Emma.

Fans of LBD and Sanditon will no doubt be pleased with the choice of story. Earlier in the LBD Meet Up at VidCon, a fan had asked what adaptation the actors would like to see and a majority of the audience replied, “EMMA!” Wish granted.

Emma Approved will launch this fall.