Event Reporters – Ben Gummery & Lewis Mainwaring

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This was our third time attending LFCC – and our first as official press (thank you Showmasters)!!!!

We attended the Friday of this event (29th July 2016) held at Olympia, London.

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Guests that attended this weekends event included:-

• Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop)
• Dolph Lundgren (Rocky IV)
• Jeremy Renner (Marvel’s Cinematic Universe)
• Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal)
• Tobin Bell (SAW)
• Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things)

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This event is thought to be one of largest of it’s kind in Europe; spanning several halls and floors.

As in previous years the event offered autograph & photo opportunities with stars from TV & Film covering a wide variety of interests and genres. There were also specialist talks and Q&A panels with the stars – we attended Sylvester McCoy‘s hilarious Q&A session (Doctor Who – Seventh Doctor).

This event also had dedicated areas for other interests such as;-

• Video gaming – The Gaming Zone at London Film and Comic Con was curated by Replay Events to bring attendees the greatest classic retro gaming as well as what current gaming has to offer.

• ‘Unplugged’ gaming (board games) – In partnership with Dark Cleo Productions, this area included board & card games of all types, some for the hardcore gamers, others for those who have never played them before!

• Manga – Attendees with an interest in Manga where able to see a wealth of merchandise and collectables on sale in the Manga Zone, as well as popular artists and creators.

• Anime –  In this zone were various anime dealers selling a variety of anime related DVDs, merchandise and goodies.

• Comics – An event within an event, the Comic Zone is a vast wonderland where fans and newcomers can explore the myriad worlds of sequential art. From superheroes to the cutting edge all aspects of the art form can be found within – you could even meet famous comic creators in this area.

• Cosplay – The Cosplay Zone was the area to visit to see all the amazing costumed visitors and featured parades, fantastic competitions and some great photo opportunities.

• Virtual Reality – A Showmaster’s first for this event; the VR zone had a variety of amazing virtual reality hardware technology and experiences for attendees to interact with.

• Young Adult Literature Convention (YALC) – With over 80 authors attending over the course of the weekend this area included talks, workshops and activities. YALC is a celebration of the very best books for young people. Stand out Authors who attended the Friday were Patrick Ness who was promoting his 2011 novel A Monsters Calls which is being adapted into a movie later this year and Liz Kessler promoting her new book Haunt Me(thanks for the champagne!!!!!).

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There were also many stalls selling a variety of merchandise for all attendees geeky needs.

There was also ‘iconic movie vehicle’ and prop replicas  for attendees to snap a photo with. These included the infamous ‘Mutt Van’ from Dumb & Dumber, the Batmobile from the 1989 Batman, the Tumbler from Batman Begins, screen-used props and costumes from 2012’s Judge Dredd including the motorbike, screen-used costumes from Harry Potter  and of-course a Delorean from Back to the Future!

The stand out star attraction of this event for us was a display of screen-used costumes from Warner Bros’ highly anticipated summer blockbuster ‘Suicide Squad‘. These costumes were previously on display last weekend at SDCC.

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Overall;

The event was more spread out this year than 2015 as more space has been added and the layout has been altered. This has improved ease of movement around the event and wider aisles allows for easier browsing of the stalls and attractions.

The event seemed to run effectively and efficiently. However the availability of guests for the Friday did seem lacking compared to previous years with many guests appearing on Saturday/Sunday only.

We look forward to next years event 🙂