Eagle-Con 2019 Highlights

Eagle-Con, with the support of founding sponsor The Art Directors Guild, brought together science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and superheroes, as well as insider views of these highly creative genres at Cal State LA. The three-day convention, one of the largest College of Arts & Letters public humanities events, explores issues of; race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, identity, ability, and representation in science fiction and fantasy across media. 

This year Eagle-Con collaborated with the Fine Arts Gallery to feature a concept-to-post-production exhibit of the art behind Spiderman: Homecoming, created by production designer Oliver Scholl and his team. Never before seen artwork that did not make it into the final edit of the film was on display. 

The rich menu of panel discussion topics such as, “Getting into the Industry”, from award-winning insiders provided Cal State LA students with the opportunity to be inspired by stories coming directly from field experience. “Be brave even when you think you can’t be,” expressed an ADG Local 800 panelist. 

Event highlights included the presentation of the first “Imaginator Award” to noted Production Designer Oliver Scholl by Art Directors Guild National Executive Director Chuck Parker. The award celebrates the achievements of people in the art departments of the entertainment industry and their contributions to creating new frontiers and world-building. Scholl’s illustrations for shows such as Earth 2 and A.I.—as well as his production design for films including Suicide Squad, Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Dark Tower, and Venom—have made outstanding contributions to the worlds and characters of genre movies.

The event also included; cosplay, additional panels including B5 Production Designer John Iacovelli with some of his team and Visual Effects Artists, a student film festival, a marketplace, a drawing workshop led by graphic artist Pierre Bernard Jr., and wrapped up with the Department of Theatre & Dance’s performance of Qui Nguyen’s play She Kills Monsters directed by Sara Guerrero. Guests also had the opportunity to participate in a series of workshops by the makeup, visual effects and production design teams of Babylon 5, along with an art display of the sci-fi series in the University-Student Union.

View more photos, here.