The first-ever Adult Swim Con will debut in July, offering twisted toon lovers a global, virtual fan gathering full of premieres and exclusives. Running July 23-25 from 4 p.m.–10 p.m. PST, lineup highlights include special behind the scenes looks at Rick and Morty presented by Pringles and Robot Chicken, featuring a Q&A with the cast and crew from both shows, a special Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time game play session, Toonami Edition with new show announcements, sneak previews of Blade Runner and Uzumaki, and an exclusive DJ set from Flying Lotus to celebrate the premiere of YOLO: Crystal Fantasy.
- In its 10th season and with the 200th episode approaching, Look Who’s Bawkin’: Robot Chicken LIVE is a must-see. Show creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich join stars Breckin Meyer and Donald Faison to be bewildered with an hour of favorite Robot Chicken clips. Fans will find out what they really think about the new season and can send them questions LIVE online.
- A time-honored favorite competition, the Adult Swim Cosplay Cup presented by Pringles also debuts online on Adult Swim IGTV where contestants from around the world will compete. Fans can sign up to compete here — the “Best In Show” winner will be announced on Adult Swim’s Instagram with special prizing for the best Rick and Morty cosplay courtesy of Pringles.
- Don’t miss the results from weeks of voting in the Adult Swim Summer Showdown happening on AdultSwim.com and the Adult Swim App. Find out what show was voted “best show in Adult Swim history” by fans.
“Adult Swim has always focused on innovative, one-of-a-kind experiences that bring our fans together,” said Jill King, SVP of marketing and partnerships for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Boomerang. “Now more than ever we all need that community connection, and this new virtual experience will take everything fans have always loved about Adult Swim and bring it right onto their couch.”
Sign up here to receive further Adult Swim Con details + full schedule of events, which will be posted next month.
VIEW Conference is kicking off its 2020 plans with a special, free online session this Saturday, June 27. In this PreVIEW virtual event, VFX journalist Ian Failes will chat with Oscar-winning animation director Hal Hickel about Disney+’s breakthrough series The Mandalorian and the new virtual production technologies developed by ILM that made feature-film quality animation and VFX possible within the constraints of TV. The session begins at 2 p.m. PDT, here. Submit questions for Hickel via info@viewconference.it or #viewconference.
VIEW Conference 2020 will be held October 18-23 in Torino, Italy’s state-of-the-art OGR venue and online.
FunimationCon, taking place virtually July 3-4, has added more panels to its exciting lineup for anime fans. In addition to BTS dives into My Hero Academia and Human Lost, organizers have also lined up an interview with legendary Dragon Ball Super voice actress Masako Nozawa. Author, historian and Animag contributor Charles Solomon will host a panel on voice acting. Additional co-hosts and moderators include Matt Ceved, Michelle Nguyen Bradley, Cheyenne Ewulu, Emma Fyffe, Karama Horne, Jacki Jing, Chris Lam, Winston A. Marshall, Lauren Moore and Josellie Rios.
- My Hero Academia Voice Actor Q&A Panel Hosted by Jacki Jing, hear from your favorites including David Matranga (Todoroki), Luci Christian (Ochaco), Justin Cook (Kirishima), Josh Grelle (Tokoyami), Patrick Seitz (Endeavor), Zeno Robinson (Hawks), Anairis Quinones (Mirko), Christopher Wehkamp (Aizawa) and Emily Neves (Eri).
- Human Lost: Revisit Film with the Japanese Voices and Producers Have you ever wanted to provide feedback to Japanese creators? This is your chance! The producers of Human Lost want your opinions while the Japanese voice actors talk about their experiences. You will have the chance to see Mamoru Miyano and Kana Hanazawa, only at this event!
- Toei Animation Presents Dragon Ball Super Interview Featuring Voice Actress Masako Nozawa An exclusive English-language interview with Nozawa-san, the Japanese voice actress for Dragon Ball’s protagonist Goku. Don’t miss this special opportunity to hear from her as she answers questions about her career and what it’s like to voice many of the most iconic roles in the world. The discussion is recorded from Japan with English subtitles.
- So You Want To Be a Voice Actor? With Charles Solomon Journalist and anime lover Charles Solomon hosts a lively discussion with distinguished voice actors, exploring their career journeys — with no shortage of surprises. Panelists include Kara Edwards, Monica Rial, Chris Wehkamp and Sonny Strait
FunimationCon 2020 is completely free to attend. Sign up to register at FunimationCon.com.
Cartoon Forum is holding out for a physical edition in Toulouse, France from Sept. 14-17 — with strict restrictions in place, with less than 5,000 people. Taking a “Business First” philosophy which will prioritize safe networking and allowing Buyers first access to pitch sessions. (Check out the selected projects here.) The registration fee has also been reduced to just 850 euro in this exceptional year.
Upcoming CARTOON events also include:
- Cartoon Springboard – Oct. 27-29 | Valencia, Spain. Pitching event and project-based seminar aimed at helping New Talents to improve and accelerate their access to the audiovisual and digital markets.
- Cartoon 360 – Nov. 17-19 | Lille, France. Top animation pitching event for transmedia projects and IPs: develop your animation project or IP into a transmedia brand.
- Cartoon Business – Dec. 9-11 | Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain. A top-level seminar focusing on the business challenges that European animation will face in the next decade.
More details at cartoon-media.eu: register here.
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Changes and Cancellations:
- Cinekid for Professionals will bring its program online this year, presented Oct. 19-23 during the 34th edition of Cinekid. (https://cinekid.nl/nl/professionals/entries/accreditation)
- Free Comic Book Day, normally the first Saturday in May, has been reworked to accommodate social distancing and story capacity regulations and has been extended to July 15 through September 9. (www.freecomicbookday.com)
- The Hong Kong Int’l Film & TV Market will move to a virtual platform as FILMART Online, taking place August 26-29 (event.hktdc.com/fair/hkfilmart-en)
- SIGGRAPH 2020 virtual conference content will include both on-demand and scheduled sessions. On-demand content will be live Aug. 17-Oct. 27; interactive contributor sessions and other scheduled content will take place Aug. 24-28. (s2020.siggraph.org/conference)
- Star Wars Celebration 2020 has been cancelled. The next con will be held Aug. 18-21, 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Ticket transfer and refund info available at starwarscelebration.com.
