Friday of San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was a lighter day, but I still had 2 press rooms, 2 activations and a screening/party.
Abbott Elementary and Disney Bundleworks Activations
First up in the morning was a press preview of Disney’s double activation for The Disney Bundle and Abbott Elementary. Upon checking into the event, we entered a waiting area with coffee, fruit, baked goods, breakfast burritos and more.
Eventually, a school crossing guard picked up our group and walked us out of the activation and around the corner to the front of the Abbott Elementary Teacher Disorientation. For the purposes of this activation, we were new teachers on our first day at the school. Outside the school was a bus and our first photo opportunity, a 360 degree photo. Although, it seems like only one member of the group seemed to understand the instructions, because the rest of us didn’t start moving until they had already taken the photo. (See the Instagram post embedded below.)
Next we headed though the school doors into the main hallway, where another we were shown the teacher’s lockers, some artwork the students had made of their favorite teachers, and a wall with some buttons you could press to play music.
Next we headed into the Principal’s office to get our school ID photos taken. The principal wasn’t around, so we sat in her chair and looked through some of her files, like one detailing the “Hot Dads”.
The next room was a classroom with tablets where we could take a quiz to see which of Abbott Elementary‘s teachers we were most like…I got Gregory, and was handed an “I’m With Gregory” sticker. We were also shown a wall of QR codes that could be scanned to donate to various Scholastic school programs, and there was a wall of postcards to fill out to send a Thank You to the teachers for all their work.
Next we headed onto the basketball court where we were handed an Abbott Step gym bag and some pins, and there was a table where you could pick up a water bottle and a Twinkie—they placed your teacher sticker from the quiz on your water bottle. We were told that there would be a Abbott Step performance soon, so we headed to the bleachers to wait while enjoying the Twinkies. After a short rehearsal on the bleachers (see the Instagram post below), the Step team took to the floor for their performance. They tried to recruit some new members from the audience, but I guess no one (including myself) had faith in their moves.
After the performance we headed across the way to the other half of Disney’s activation, which was the Disney Bundleworks Factory. There were various stations where you could play games and earn tickets, which could be cashed out at the end for some prizes. First up was a machine that had various levers the employee would set based on what Disney Bundle services you currently subscribed to (Hulu with or without ads, Disney+, and Hulu+) and then you would shoot a ball and watch it travel through various tubes down to a basket which held a coupon to help you save by switching to the Disney Bundle. Other stations offered games like ring toss, slingshots, Plinko, bean bag toss, and a big wheel to spin. At the end you could cash in your tickets for prizes. I had 35 tickets, which I cashed in for mugs for The Orville and Only Murders in the Building. When we had first entered the activation, they had given us a red ticket, which could be redeemed for a Disney Bundleworks lunchbox. They also offered free slushies on the way out.
FX Activation
FX once again has a massive activation in in-between the convention center and Hilton Bayfront hotel. Fortunately there was a quick press line for this, so I didn’t have to wait in the long line with the sun beating down, and got into the first group of the day. Upon entering the activation you find yourself in a large green area with a screen showing a promo for FX programming. A creepy, bearded old man tells a story of how humans are 70% water and how this place is so green even during a drought because you can just bury a body beneath the dirt to nourish it. He warns us against heading into the hedge maze, but tells us to do so anyway as another group is waiting.
The hedges are filled with creepy-looking doll parts and plastic hands. We come up to a bench for a photo op. However, there is a trick to this one, as soon as they are about to take your picture, the bush behind you comes to life and taps you on the shoulder to ensure a jump scare for the photo. Through the hedge maze there are other things like a large doll house, a well, and some other American Horror Story-themed photo ops. In one section there is a long table filled with rotting food and three women made up to look like dolls. Another section offers you the opportunity to get your own doll makeup. Once you make it to the clearing, there is a side room with a motorcycle and hedges that spell out MAYANS, but here there is another bush that comes to life, a towering column of greenery on stilts—this one actually surprised me and made me jump.
Next, we came upon Nadja’s nightclub from What We Do in the Shadows. Inside, they have you stand on a circle and wave your arms so they can take a 360 degree photo of you dancing in the club. (My wonderful moves can be seen in the Instagram post below)
After this, the path leads to an open air theater that is decked out for the upcoming animated show Little Demon, starring Aubrey Plaza. The screen shows outtakes from her audio recording session and other FX promos. There is also a roulette wheel that you spin to see if you win a bottle of various Little Demon branded hot sauces, or a custom FX hat. My spin scored me a bottle of Habanero Hot Sauce.
Paper Girls Press Room
Prime Video will premiere the new series Paper Girls on July 29. The show is based on the best-selling graphic novels written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang. The official synopsis of the series is as follows:
In the early morning hours after Halloween 1988, four paper girls—Erin, Mac, Tiffany, and KJ—are out on their delivery route when they become caught in the crossfire between warring time-travelers, changing the course of their lives forever. Transported into the future, these girls must figure out a way to get back home to the past, a journey that will bring them face-to-face with the grown-up versions of themselves. While reconciling that their futures are far different than their 12-year-old selves imagined, they are being hunted by a militant faction of time-travelers known as the Old Watch, who have outlawed time travel so that they can stay in power. In order to survive, the girls will need to overcome their differences and learn to trust each other, and themselves.
In the press room, we got to speak with writer Christopher Cantwell, graphic novel creators Brian K. Vaughan & Cliff Chiang, paper girls Camryn Jones (“Tiffany Quilkin”), Riley Lai Nelet (“Erin Tieng”), Sofia Rosinsky (“Mac Coyle”) & Fina Strazza (“KJ Brandman”), as well as Nate Corddry (“Larry”) and Adina Porter (“Prioress”). I will be posting the video interviews in a separate post.
The series is really entertaining, and worth checking out when it drops next weekend.
The Great North Press Room
Season three of The Great North will be coming to FOX this Fall, and we got a chance to speak with series co-creators Wendy Molyneux & Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, and stars Dulcé Sloan (‘Honeybee’), Paul Rust (‘Ham’) & Aparna Nancherla (‘Moon’). They previewed some of the things we’ll see in the new season, talked about the characters and tone of the series, shared some fun stories, and more. I’m looking forward to checking out season three in a couple months. I will be posting these video interviews later in a separate post.
Paper Girls Rooftop Screening
I closed out the night with a screening event for Paper Girls on the rooftop of the Manchester Grand Hyatt. When I arrived at the event I was given my ticket and a food/drink voucher, as well as a wristband indicating I was press, which was great, because there was a nice roped off section for VIPs that I could get into. Across from the red carpet there was a section with tables and a bar. The tables were decorated with Slinkys and iced sugar cookies made to look like cassette tapes. Waiters were walking around taking food and drink orders—no need to go redeem the food ticket in the regular area! Besides the Paper Girls cast, there were some other celebs in attendance, such as The Goldbergs‘ Sean Giambrone.
The main section with the food line also contained a photo op where you could sit on a bike and be a paper girl.
After some wings and ordering a Diet Pepsi and a charcuterie box to go, we headed to our assigned seats, which were large wooden Adirondack chairs with cushions. On each seat was a box of popcorn, and a bag containing a paper girl poster tube, a recreation of the newspaper seen in the first episode, and an assortment of 80’s candy. There was also a pair of headphones to listen to the show, though they were playing the sound on speakers as well so these weren’t really necessary.
After an introduction from the execs, we were shown the first three episodes of the series. I had already checked out all 8 episodes of the first season to prep for the press room, but it was entertaining to see them again on a big screen in this unique viewing environment. This was a fun way to close out day 2 of the Con.
If you missed my recaps for the other days of Comic-Con 2022, you can find them here: Wednesday/Preview Night | Thursday/Day 1
