We are going to be hanging out in Midtown East at the High School of Arts & Design this weekend at Fanfaire NYC 2018. In preparation, we reached out to the minds behind the Faire to get the scoop on how it came to be, what the details are for the weekend, and what attendees can expect.
We sat down with Saori Adams who is a member of the PTA at the High School of Arts & Design and she gave us some insight on what we can expect this weekend.
To start, can you give us a short version of how Fanfaire came to be? And more specifically, what has been your role?
My father-in-law, Neal Adams, was an alumnus of The High School of Art and Design (HSAD). When my daughter was accepted to the school I went to the first PTA meeting and noticed that despite being the top high school in the city to offer a cartooning program there was no “comic con”-esque event, which seemed a shame so I pitched to the PTA board that I would personally organize the event myself, and here we are 4 months later.
What inspired the tagline “not another con”?
There was actually a debate as to what to call the event itself. I just didn’t want to call it xyz comic con because of the lawsuit with Comic-Con International v. Salt Lake City Comic Con, and every single event out there is called a comic con. One of the purposes to the show is to include all the majors HSAD had to offer from Architecture to Photography. You can see that in the different panels and workshops we’re offering. This is an educational opportunity that focuses on the entertainment industry, and I just felt, “comic con” wasn’t the appropriate fit for our show.
What was the process of gathering guests like from a coordination standpoint? Is there anyone you’re particularly excited about?
Coordinating with guests can be quite exhausting part of the process, but we appreciate the time and effort all of our guests can offer. We’re quite honored to having returning alumni such as Stefan Pokorny and Ron Wilson join us, and I’m personally stoked to have friends Dan Parent and Mike Holmes to be traveling in for this event. My husband and I always joke Dan and Mike are my daughter’s friends because she introduced us to them when we used to work at conventions with my in-laws.
What are some of the key highlights we can expect to see at Fanfaire?
There are so many exciting things happening at this event! Microsoft is hosting a VR booth; Apple will have video editing workshops; Ron Wilson, Mike Lilly, Bob Almond, Tom Chu, and Zeea Adams will be taking us through the process of how a comic cover is put together from pencil to ink to color. Like every pop culture event, we’re going to have a cosplay contest, but it’s not judged by other cosplayers.
Our contest will be judged by Emmy Award-winning costume and puppet designer, Erin Black, and Adult Swim costume designer, Ryane Disken-Cahill. An opportunity to have your costume seen by some of the best in the business. How could we forget our Dungeons and Dragons campaign, “Enter the Dungeon“, hosted by alumnus Stefan Pokorny and his company, Dwarven Forge!
If you could give all the attendees out there three pieces of advice to make the most out of the faire, what would they be?
(1) Bring money. There are so many wonderful artisans and creators that are coming to this event. Many of them our alumni and students. Help support their work and purchase some of their jewelry, comics, prints, stickers, and pins!
(2) Come as early as you can. Many of our events are first come, first served unless you signed up for them already. You can check out our schedule online: www.fanfaireisfor.me/schedule to see if our events have pre-registration.
(3) Buy your tickets online, because (a) why wait to see if we sell out and (b) you get *FREE* tickets to see the Annihilation premiere screening with us on Wednesday, February 21st. So for a $15 ticket to a wonderful event, you also get an $18 movie ticket FOR FREE and see a great new sci-fi thriller before anyone else.
We know that tickets can be bought in advance, but will they be available at the door?
Absolutely! Provided we haven’t reached our maximum capacity. We can only host 1000 attendants per day.
Give us your three-sentence elevator pitch to convince those holding out to grab their tickets!
Tired of hearing, “I’m bored.” this midwinter break? Then come on down to the coolest family-friendly event in NYC! The perfect place for kids of all ages 9 to 99, who love comics, games, and art to rub shoulder to shoulder with the best in the business where they can learn what it takes to be in the entertainment industry.
There you have it, folks. Fanfaire 2018 is set to be a family-friendly, entertaining, and educational event in the heart of Manhattan. Come see some great talent, talk with fantastic guests, and play a little D&D with an experienced Dungeon Master. There is going to be something for everyone here so don’t miss it! We’ll keep you up to date on everything that’s happening with our continuing coverage leading up to and through the weekend.
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