Bobbi Brink (founder, Lions Tigers & Bears) leads the discussion about the longtime fascination, and sometimes atrocious history, of animals trained to perform for film or video game development. Panelists discuss new realism technologies and remaining challenges for the entertainment industry. Filmmakers and animal rights voices share ways audiences can celebrate the humane treatment of Hollywood’s greatest stars.
Friday March 28, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Never before has the creative direction of the Star Trek franchise felt so tied up in so many factors beyond its creators’ control. What do fans want to see, and what are the likely real-world possibilities of Trek’s TV and film worlds? "Dr. Trek" Larry Nemecek (The Trek Files, TNG Companion) leads a panel of pundits and industry observers to peer into this dilithium-crystal ball, including Rico Anderson (Star Trek 2009, The Orville), John Champion (Mission Log, Mission Log Live), and James Kerwin (Yesterday Was a Lie, ST Continues).
Friday March 28, 2025 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Costume designers Jennifer Bryan (The Acolyte), Christine Wada (Loki), Marie Schley (Yellowjackets), Cynthia Summers (The Last of Us), and Annie Loppert (The Fall Guy) discuss their creative journeys, the unique challenges of designing for their projects, and the powerful role costumes play in shaping iconic narratives. Moderated by Spencer Williams, host of The Art of Costume Podcast, this panel will weave together threads of fantasy, frights, and high-stakes action. Learn how these artists bring characters to life and how costume design continues to push the boundaries of imagination.
Friday March 28, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Nicole Maines (actress and writer), Emmett Yonemura (director, X-Men '97), DJ Croft (cosplayer), and D'Manda Martini (drag artist) gather to discuss their careers and projects, seeking diversity and representation, and how being a member of the community influenced their work. Moderated by Julian Jetson (host and stylist).
Friday March 28, 2025 4:30pm - 5:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Moderator Michael Pea (senior writer, Friends of Comic-Con) with Krys Keller (professor of creative writing), Robert Hurt (astronomer at CalTech), Krys Blackwood (principal designer, NASA JPL), and Julius Francisco (Southern CA School of Writing 2.0) explore those moments in The Expanse when the players in the smaller roles rise to heroic levels or fall to Stygian depths. “We make it all this way, so far out into the darkness. Why couldn't we have brought more light?”
Friday March 28, 2025 5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) movie producer Bobby Herbeck discusses all the pitfalls and delays in getting the first TMNT movie made, the onslaught of critics’ negative reviews ("There will only be one of these awful films”), and how seven films later there are more to come. Cowabunga dudes and dudettes!
Friday March 28, 2025 6:30pm - 7:30pm PDT
Room 300C
In the year 1985, on television stations across the Western Hemisphere, a phenomenal animated event altered the course of broadcast history: Robotech! Celebrate four decades of this amazing franchise that helped launch the global popularity of anime we enjoy today!
Friday March 28, 2025 7:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 300C
The Taskmaster LA live-stage comedy show comes to WonderCon! Contestants Johnny Stanton IV (Former NFL fullback, game designer), Kiri Callaghan (author/actor), Lemar Harris (comedian, streamer), and Sarah Durnesque (Pick Your Poison Productions) will be challenged to complete absurd, often hilarious tasks to earn arbitrary points from the Taskmaster Ryan Omega (host/game designer) and Taskmaster assistant Reuben Bresler (game design instructor NYFA). This panel heavily involves the audience, making them an integral part of the fun and chaos!
Friday March 28, 2025 8:30pm - 9:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Moderator Spiro Skentzos (Arrow) and TV writers, showrunners, and executives from your favorite genre shows discuss navigating the TV spec terrain, including beginner’s mistakes, what is looked for in a writer, and what it takes for you to write a killer spec that will stand above the crowd. Be sure to bring your questions.
Saturday March 29, 2025 10:30am - 11:30am PDT
Room 300C
Pitching is a critical skill for a career in screen or television writing. Writers Douglas J. Eboch (Sweet Home Alabama, The Hollywood Pitching Bible), J. Holtham (Supergirl, The Handmaid’s Tale), Spiro Skentzos (Arrow, Grimm), Jill Blotevogel (Scream: the TV Series,Eureka), and Karen Stillman (The Assets, Smoke Screen) and producer Ken Aguado (An Interview with God, The Salton Sea) discuss pitching original ideas as well as pitching to win assignments for movies and television. They’ll delve into how to identify what’s unique and marketable about your concept, how to construct a compelling pitch, and how to present it effectively.
Saturday March 29, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm PDT
Room 300C
The past decade has seen an explosion in the scope of journalism—from the rise of citizen journalism to blogging to vloggers, podcasters, and online-only news sources. This panel of writers and hosts from CBR, Geek Magazine, Digital Bits, Bleeding Cool, Film Threat, and others will talk about the roles new media play between their readers and the industries and communities they serve. Topics include varying levels of informality vs. classic ideas of professionalism, show-specific outlets vs. general news sites, and more.
Saturday March 29, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Room 300C
In a rapidly changing and unpredictable entertainment landscape, the one thing everybody can agree on is that writers need to create their own intellectual properties (IP) and get that material into the marketplace ASAP for any chance at success. This can be a challenging concept for creators at every level of their careers, and there's no single path to victory. Creators David Crowson (Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Mechcraft) join others who have taken their IPs from concept to execution and managed to build strong careers from their efforts. Moderated by Brandon Easton (Transformers: War for Cybertron, Iyanu).
Saturday March 29, 2025 1:30pm - 2:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Dive into the captivating world of Young Adult fiction with a panel of celebrated authors who masterfully traverse diverse genres. Jade Adia (Batgirl: Possession), LaDarrion Williams (Blood at the Root), and Alexa Donne (The Bitter End) share their insights and experiences on crafting the perfect YA novel, no matter the genre. From the enchanting realms of fantasy to the heart-pounding twists of thrillers, discover the secrets behind creating stories that resonate with young readers. Moderated by I. V. Marie (Immortal Consequences).
Saturday March 29, 2025 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Room 300C
WonderCon special guest and Emmy Award–winning makeup designer Neville Page discusses the processes, challenges, and thrills of creating practical makeup for film and television. He will be sharing with you how he works with the writers and producers from the very beginning of a project all the way through to the post-process and everything in between.
Neville Page is an Emmy Award–winning designer, concept artist, and educator whose work has shaped some of Hollywood’s most iconic films, including Avatar, Star Trek, Tron: Legacy, and Cloverfield. Originally from England, he studied at the Art Center College of Design before... Read More →
Saturday March 29, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Juliet Landau (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bosch Legacy), Mara Wilson (Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire), Alimi Ballard (Doom Patrol, Sabrina the Teenage Witch), producer Lizzie Worsdell, and director Ursula Burton (Dark Shadows) discuss the world of Vam PD, an audio series where vampires keep an uneasy peace between the living and the undead. But who polices the vampires? Vam PD is a wholly unique, wickedly funny universe unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.
Saturday March 29, 2025 4:30pm - 5:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Craig Miller, whose Hollywood career dates back to working on the original Star Wars, tells tales of marketing genre films of the 1980s, including The Empire Strikes Back, Superman II, The Thing, Krull, The Dark Crystal, The Last Starfighter, and more. He’ll also talk about writing for animation, from Curious George and The Smurfs to The Real Ghostbusters to G.I. Joe and Beast Wars.
Saturday March 29, 2025 5:30pm - 6:30pm PDT
Room 300C
The Young Indy Chroniclers podcast takes you back to where the Star Wars prequels all began . . . with Indiana Jones. Before George Lucas returned to the Galaxy Far, Far Away, he turned back the clock on the Indiana Jones franchise to tell the tales of the fedora-wearing hero's early years. What transpired was truly a labor of love for Lucas and Lucasfilm and served as a proving ground for many of the techniques and themes that would be utilized in the Star Wars prequels. The Young Indy Chroniclers podcast, hosted by filmmakers Peter Holmstrom and Daniel Noa, traces the origins of the Star Wars prequels from the development and implementation of cutting-edge technology to how the themes and characters explored in Young Indiana Jones would find their way to the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Saturday March 29, 2025 6:30pm - 7:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Droid builders Mike Senna, Michael McMaster, William Miyamoto, Chris Romines, and VictorFranco from the R2 Builders Fan Club discuss how their droids were built and how they work. Topics will include materials, blueprints, building techniques, tools, and electronics that bring their droids to life.
Saturday March 29, 2025 7:30pm - 8:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Blackstone Publishing's new anthology, Combat Monsters: Untold Tales of World War II, offers great examples of combining fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and alternative history. New York Times bestsellers Peter Clines (The Broken Room), Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger series), and Scott Sigler (SLAY), plus Jeff Edwards (The Damocles Agenda) and moderator Henry Herz (The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie) discuss how to write blended genre stories.
Sunday March 30, 2025 10:30am - 11:30am PDT
Room 300C
Brad Elliott (Obi-Wan Kenobi,Rebel Moon) and Andy Siegel (Red One, Star Trek: Beyond) discuss tools, methodology, and tips for creating and building iconic and functional film props. Q&A session moderated by Olivia Dom (associate member of the Property Master's Guild).
Sunday March 30, 2025 11:30am - 12:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Brian Volk-Weiss (The Toys That Made Us) and The Nacelle Company (The Toys That Made Us, Biker Mice from Mars) discuss their new officially licensed action figures for Star Trek. Fans in attendance will get exclusive sneak peeks at future waves of Star Trek toys coming from Nacelle and learn how wave one of Nacelle’s highly anticipated action figure line went from idea to reality. These are Star Trek toys made by passionate Star Trek fans!
Nicholas Meyer’s Sherlock Holmes novel The Seven-Per-Cent Solution was a New York Times bestseller for 40 weeks and won the British Gold Dagger award for crime fiction. His screenplay for the film was nominated for an Academy Award. Six other Sherlock Holmes novels followed. Meyer... Read More →
Sunday March 30, 2025 12:30pm - 1:30pm PDT
Room 300C
As contracts become more stringent in story/character control and as corporations are bought by larger and larger entities, modern comic book creators are constantly looking for ways to build a fanbase while keeping their narrative integrity intact. When a story is close to your heart, how can you ensure the indie and/or self-publishing routes benefit both your creativity and the consumer at the same time? Arthur N. Ebuen (writer/producer/director, Studio 12-7), Justin Giampaoli (writer/editor/critic, Thirteen Minutes), Barbra Dillon (editor-in-chief, Fanbase Press), Dave Law (artist, Art of Dave Law), Jessica Maison (writer/director/publisher, Wicked Tree Press), and Marcus McNeal (editor-in-chief, Odyssey Comics) discuss the many hats you need to wear as an independent creator, how small press is being recognized by the industry as a whole, and what practical tips and strategies new creators need to see their important ideas printed on the page.
Sunday March 30, 2025 1:00pm - 2:30pm PDT
Room 300C
Award-winning science fiction authors, visionary science futurists, renowned screenwriters, and Oscar-winning visual effects artists come together to explore the exciting process of creating alien civilizations for storytelling. Dive into the imaginative design of alien species, futuristic starships, and intricate societies, as they reveal the creative challenges and innovative approaches that bring these otherworldly concepts to life on screen and in novels. Featuring Larry Niven (Ringworld, Man-Kzin Wars), David Brin (The Uplift War, Existence), Jimmy Diggs (Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: DS9), Andre Bormanis (Star Trek, The Orville), and Doug Drexler (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica). Moderated by Mark O’Bannon (Imperium, Whiskers).
Sunday March 30, 2025 2:30pm - 3:30pm PDT
Room 300C
David Neuhausel (trading card collector, Sci-Fi Coalition member), Shawn Mullen (founder of Sci-Fi Coalition fan club), and William O'Neill (Star Wars sketch card artist) address where to start collecting, who to trade with, how to avoid pitfalls, and other dynamics of card collecting. Topics include vintage sets, chase cards, autographs, sketches, and promotional cards. And of course, they'll not leave out the infamous X-rated C3PO trading card.
Sunday March 30, 2025 3:30pm - 4:30pm PDT
Room 300C
