Hollywood “Hearts” San Diego Comic Con

If you’ve never been to San Diego Comic Con, it’s an experience.  Let me paint the picture with some of these figures:

• San Diego Comic Con attracts approximately 150,000 people.
• If you walk the convention center from end-to-end, going down each isle, you’ve covered seven miles.
• While the Gaslamp Quarter that hosts San Diego Comic Con covers 16 blocks, many streets are closed off due to pedestrian traffic.

But what does this have to do with Hollywood? Well, whippersnapper, there was a time that Comic Con was solely about comics. But somewhere, somehow, someone got the idea that comics, television and film have a bit of an overlap and that it’d be a great idea to promote an upcoming show to an audience that loves fantasy, mythology and the wonderful world of make believe.

It’s worked for shows like Battlestar Galactica and Lost in the past, has done wonders for fans of Firefly (there were 10,000 people at the reunion panel) and shows like True Blood and Dexter continue to increase in popularity and reach new fans. This year, newer shows like the upcoming Revolution, Defiance or even Grimm offered conventioneers an immersive experience bringing the series to life, exclusively for Comic Con.

Film is hot too, as you see posters for the upcoming Total Recall, Django Unchained or The Dark Knight Rises plastered around the city.

In fact, it seemed the only thing missing was an appearance by Jennifer Lopez. I guess there’s always next year.

Why shouldn’t Hollywood love San Diego Comic Con? The video game industry has E3 and technology has CES. There is nothing else on this scale that can celebrate not just comics, but also ignite passion around something we already spend so much time and energy on: films, TV, games, — pure entertainment.

I said in this post, that San Diego Comic Con is about creativity. Hollywood will continue to stake a claim in the show, but the roots will always be in art, illustration and the creative process. Storage will always be essential to that creative process and the evolution of creativity whether it is through art, film or photography.