EagleCon at Cal State LA is launching its first Speculative Fiction Across Media (SFAM LA) Conference as part of its 10th anniversary celebration.
This event will bring together creators from the entertainment industries of Los Angeles with scholars from around the world to discuss and explore the history and current state of diversity in speculative genres.
This sci-fi and fantasy convention, co-hosted by the founding sponsor, Art Directors Guild, will take place Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 18 and Oct. 19, on the Cal State LA campus and Friday, Oct. 20, at the Courtyard by Marriott in Monterey Park.
This year’s EagleCon will honor graphic designer Martin Charles and writers and illustrators Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez.
Martin Charles, founder of Santa Monica-based SagaBoy Productions, has helped design and create realistic sets for more than 60 feature films and television productions including AI, Black Adam, Ghostbusters, and The Avengers. He will be presented the Imaginator Award during an Oct. 18 ceremony, from 12:15 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the University-Student Union, Los Angeles Room.
Legendary Los Angeles artists and comics creators Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez are recognized for their long-running independent comic book series, Love and Rockets, which has inspired generations of artists, musicians, and Chican@ futurists. They will be presented the Prism Award during an Oct. 19 ceremony, from 1:45 p.m. to 2:55 p.m., in the University-Student Union, Los Angeles Room.
In addition to the range of seminars and workshops, there will be an exhibition spotlighting the work of Art Directors Guild members at the University-Student Union, which includes scenic designs from such shows as Star Trek: Picard, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Babylon 5, Lucifer, and Jurassic Park. Another exhibit in the University Library’s second floor will highlight the work of Imaginator Award honoree Martin Charles, with designs from such films as The Avengers, Minority Report, and Leatherheads.
As part of this year’s program, EagleCon will include industry panels and scholarly presentations on Friday at the Courtyard Marriott. There will also be a light lunch and conversation about speculative genres, narrative art, and the future of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The Lucas Museum, based in Los Angeles, is the first museum to focus exclusively on storytelling through images.
EagleCon is co-founded by the College of Arts and Letters and the University-Student Union at Cal State LA and the Art Directors Guild. Together, they work to educate the students of Cal State LA and members of the Greater Los Angeles community about the history, impact and continued necessity of the contributions of women, BIPOC, the LGBTQIA-identified, the differently abled, and the variously aged to the science fiction and fantasy genres.