Will Comic-Con Lose Hall H?
Last month, the Writers’ Guild of America went on strike and the speculation began about how it would affect conventions, particularly Comic-Con International in San Diego, coming up July 20-23. Now members of SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, have authorized a strike if they don’t have a new contract by the end of June.
Deadline has a look at the possible effects of an actors’ strike, with an apocalyptic prediction for Comic-Con:
The most immediate place where a possible SAG-AFTRA strike will be felt is at San Diego Comic-Con, which runs July 19-23. Already, the WGA strike is preventing TV creators from heading there and sitting on panels. The prospect of a starless geek fest would gut a conference that annually attracts 135,000 attendees and which fully returned to an in-person event only last year after a two-year Covid hiatus.
The loss of TV and movie stars might mean less enthusiasm for the big presentations in Hall H, where studios make their big reveals of new footage and future plans, and fewer autograph opportunities. But CCI is a full-featured convention with many tracks of programming, and Hall H’s capacity is around 6500 seats, meaning that at any given moment during the con, there are tens of thousands of people finding other ways to amuse themselves.
Although “comic con” has come to mean “convention full of celebrities, most of whom have nothing to do with comics”, CCI is still primarily devoted to comics, hosting comic artists, comic writers, and the industry’s biggest awards. There is a segment of comics fandom which would like to see the Hall H track removed entirely and CCI refocused exclusively on comics. Everyone may get a taste of what that would be like this year.
The official position of CCI’s management is “no comment”:
A Comic-Con spokesperson tells Deadline: “With regard to the strike and its possible effects on Comic-Con, we tend to refrain from speculation or forecasting. I will say, our hope is for a speedy resolution that will prove beneficial to all parties and allow everyone to continue the work they love. Until then, we continue to diligently work on our summer event in the hopes of making it as fun, educational, and celebratory as in years past.”
In Brief
Nickel City Comic Con (Buffalo, New York, June 30-July 2) has added Dan Fogler as a guest.
Tampa Bay Comic Convention (Tampa, Florida, July 28-30) has added Corey Feldman, Walter Koenig, Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, Stephanie Young, and Neil Kaplan as guests.
Flame Con (New York City, August 12-13) has added Charlie Jane Anders and Terry Blas as special guests.
FanX Salt Lake (Salt Lake City, Utah, September 21-23) has added Zachary Levi, Jack Dylan Grazer, Asher Angel, Missi Pyle, Jed Rees, Daryl Mitchell, Alexandra Daddario, Don Bluth, April Bowlby, Tony Danza, and Erika Harlacher as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of June 16-18
YetiCon, The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada
Pyrkon, Poznań, Poland
4th Street Fantasy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
StokerCon 2023 (horror), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
International Steampunk Symposium: Steampunk Under the Big Top, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
CastleCon 12 (anthropomorphic), Horb, Germany
StratosFur (anthropomorphic), Houston, Texas, USA
Argentina FurFiesta (anthropomorphic), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Arcon 39: Drager og Demoner (gaming), Oslo, Norway
Congress of Gamers Summer Session, Rockville, Maryland, USA
Q-Con 2023 (gaming), Belfast, UK
Board Game Fest, Chavdar, Bulgaria
Gaming Istanbul (video games), Istanbul, Turkey
AnimeCon UK, Birmingham, UK
Anime Onsen, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
Cosplacon 2023: Onward to Battle (anime), Jefferson City, Missouri, USA
Desucon 2023 (anime), Lahti, Finland
AnimeNEXT 2023, Atlantic City, NJ
Anime Festival Orlando 2023, Orlando, Florida, USA
ExpOtaku Zaragoza 2023 (anime), Zaragoza, Spain
Heroes Convention (comics), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Q Con (LGBTQ+ comics), West Hollywood, California, USA
Rail City Fan Fest (media), Saint Albans, Vermont, USA
Contropolis Massachusetts (media), Marlborough, Massachusetts, USA
Awesome Con (media), Washington, DC, USA
Weekend of June 23-25
LibertyCon 35 / DeepSouthCon 61, Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
PortConMaine: Year of the Yokai, Portland, Maine, USA
Narrativity 2023 (storytelling in literary sf), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Cosplay America, Cary, North Carolina, USA
The Town That Never Was (steampunk), Telford, UK
Aurawra (anthropomorphic), Sydney, Australia
Origins Game Fair 2023, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Nexus Game Fair, Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA
Magic City Con (gaming), Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Game Con Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
GeeklyCon 2023 (gaming), Rochester, New York, USA
Too Many Games (video gaming), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
Neo Anime Oasis:02, Boise, Idaho, USA
SunnyCon Anime Expo, St. James Park, UK
Black Hills Con (anime), Rapid City, South Dakota, USA
Anime Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Bold Matsuri (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Anime Sekai, Abilene, Texas, USA
Finn-Con@MDC (anime), Miami, Florida, USA
Anime Festival Wichita, Wichita, Kansas, USA
Kyokai Con (anime), Mission, Texas, USA
AnimeSHOW 2023, Bratislava, Slovakia
Forest City Comicon, London, Ontario, Canada
Mississippi Comic Convention, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Smallville Comic Con, Smallville, Kansas, USA
Lewisburg Comic-Con, Lewisburg, Ohio, USA
Greater Austin Comic Convention, Cedar Park, Texas, USA
TrekFest 38: Quark's Bar (Star Trek), Riverside, Iowa, USA
Weekend of June 30-July 2
SoonerCon 31, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
Festival Fantazie, Chotěboř, Czech Republic
BayCon 2023: A Night at the Space Opera, Santa Clara, California, USA
Anthrocon 2023: Anthropolis: Our Furry City (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Paris est Ludique! (gaming), Paris, France
DexLite (gaming), Morristown, New Jersey, USA
RAGECON 2023 (gaming), Sparks, Nevada, USA
ShepparCon ‘23 (gaming), Shepperton, UK
Delta H Con (anime), Houston, Texas, USA
DoKomi (anime), Düsseldorf , Germany
Sydney Manga & Anime Show, Sydney, Australia
Anime Expo 2023, Los Angeles, California, USA
BA-CON 2023 (anime), Pasadena, Texas, USA
Kowai Con (anime horror), Pflugerville, Texas, USA
Fan Expo Denver (media), Denver, Colorado, USA
Avalon Expo 10/X (media), St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
Nickel City Comic Con, Buffalo, New York, USA
Hershey Comic Con, Grantville, Pennsylvania, USA
Florida Supercon (media), Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Weekend of July 7-9
Finncon 2023 (Finnish national sf convention), Tampere, Finland
InConJunction 42: Space is Big, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
XXXVI Semana Negra, Gijón, Spain
Festival Fantazie, Chotěboř, Czech Republic
Play On Con, Columbiana, Alabama, USA
Edge-Lit, Derby, UK
CONvergence 2023: All Dressed Up..., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Tremendicon 2023, Springfield, Missouri, USA
Blerdcon Fae'd to Black (Black geekdom), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Fur-Eh! 2023: Broadway Tails (anthropomorphic), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
East Coast Gaming Expo, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA
Dice Tower East (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
Gem State Gaming Convention, Boise, Idaho, USA
Okashicon (anime), Pflugerville, Texas, USA
OokiiSoraCon (anime), Helena, Montana, USA
Anime Blues Con, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Anime Midwest, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Anime Texas, Houston, Texas, USA
Atsusacon 2023: Into Another World - Isekai Edition (anime), Ghent, Belgium
KuroNekoCon 2023 (anime), Spokane, Washington, USA
ExpOtaku Torremolinos 2023 (anime), Torremolinos, Mexico
Shore Leave 43 (media), Hunt Valley, Maryland, USA
Fanboy Expo Knoxville (media), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
London Film & Comic Con, London, UK
Eternal Con (media), Hampstead, New York, USA
TrotCon 2023 (My Little Pony), Dayton, Ohio, USA
CybFest NW (Transformers), Kent, Washington, USA
30th Anniversary X-Files Fan Fest, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
Weekend of July 14-16
Estcon 2023 (Estonian national sf convention), Udu, Estonia
Diversicon 30: The Con on the Edge of Forever, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
ConGregate 9, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA
Imaginarium Convention, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Readercon 32 (books only), Quincy, MA
Once and Future Fantasies (symposium), Glasgow, UK
Anthro Weekend Utah: Double Awu Seven, Layton, Utah, USA
Brazil FurFest 2023: Universidade Furry (anthropomorphic), Santos, Brazil
Furway 2023 (anthropomorphic), Brandbu, Norway
QuinCon 36 (gaming), Quincy, Illinois, USA
Mega XP (gaming), Mexico City, Mexico
KantCon: Just Game (gaming), Overland Park, Kansas, USA
LevelUp Retreat (gaming), Stamford, Connecticut, USA
Festival Ludique International de Parthenay (gaming), Parthenay, France
ConQuest Fresno (gaming), Clovis, California, USA
Phoenix Con (gaming), Appleton, Wisconsin, USA
Final Boss Con (gaming), Rio Grande, Ohio, USA
CharCon 2023 (gaming), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Ettin Con 2023 (gaming), online
Berlin Brettspiel Con 2023 (gaming), Berlin, Germany
Open Gaming Convention 2023, Westford, Massachusetts, USA
Houston Gaming Expo (video games), Houston, Texas, USA
MAGWest 2023 (video games), San Jose, California, USA
MGSCon (Metal Gear video games), Los Angeles, California, USA
Anime Friends, São Paulo, Brazil
Tokyo, OK (anime), Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Akaicon (anime), Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
MondoCon (anime), Budapest, Hungary
Animethon 2023, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Ai-Kon 2023 (anime), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Japan Expo 2023 (anime), Villepinte, France
Pretty Heroes (female-centered anime), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
8-Bit Block Party (media), New Braunfels, Texas, USA
Metrocon (media), Tampa, Florida, USA
Comiccon de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Polarity (Doctor Who), Coventry, UK
Above, Below, & Beyond (Beauty and the Beast TV show), San Diego, California, USA
TFcon Toronto (Transformers), Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Coda
Bus 666 to Hel cancelled (Associated Press)
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