Whedonopolis Halloween Charity Event

Today I attended the Whedonopolis Halloween Charity Event out in Hollywood. This is the 6th year they have done this and the last time I went was it's 2nd year. This event had grown over the years as the first year it was a special screening of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog and the latest season of The Guild. This year they went all out and planned an all day event. Starting at 1pm with Serenity, then Cabin in the Woods, Husbands first part of Season 3, The Guild Season Six and finally Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. And they had some special guest speakers in between the screenings.

Being out of work and poor I figured I would have to miss this year, though it sounded like a blast. But my buddy Steven from Canada sent me a paypal birthday gift and it was enough to cover the price of the full day ticket... woohoo.. thanks Steven.

There was a group of friends going as well to the all day event and some were coming just for the last half which was Husbands, The Guild and Dr. Horrible.

I got to the event around 12:15pm and my friends Jessica, Cait and Robert were already there so I jumped in line with them. This was the first time they were pulling off such a huge event so we knew things wouldn't go as planned but I have to say Marsia and her team did an incredible job. They started a half hour later then planned and there was a snag with the food trucks but overall it was a great experience.

They gave us our "line" place holder numbers. So instead of having to get in line each time we had numbers and I fortunately had 5 so I was very close to the front of the line each time. They gave us a "goodie" bag with lots of props for the Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, which we would use later in the evening. 

The theater was about a third full when we started the viewing of Serenity. I love this movie and it's always great to see it on the big screen, and speaking of the screen it's not huge, it's about half the size of a regular movie screen but still a lot larger then my 60" TV. Watching Serenity again really made me miss Firefly and I think I'll be doing a rewatch very soon.

We then had a short break before starting Cabin in the Woods. Again the theater was pretty empty. This was only my second time watching this movie. I enjoyed it when I saw it when it was released but I'm not a huge horror fan so I never watched it again. But it was still very enjoyable and so Joss Whedon.

It was now our dinner break and as I mentioned earlier there was a mix up with the food trucks so they were not showing up. Instead the event planners purchased a ton of pizzas and we were able to buy some slices for dinner. It wasn't ideal for everyone but it worked and was better then having nothing but snack foods all day.

Before we started screening of Husbands S3 we had a special guest come to stage and talk for a bit. Georges Jeanty who is a Comic Book Artist, he worked on Buffy Season 8 & 9 and did some work for The Guild comic book. But he was here tonight to talk about the upcoming Serenity comic book. It was a very interesting behind the scenes creating a comic book. He had some great stories and some great info about the Serenity comic book that wasn't out there yet. I so can't wait for this mini series.

After George there was a real short break before we started viewing Husbands S3. Now the theater was started to fill up. I knew folks were coming more for The Guild and Dr. Horrible's Sing Along blog.

But first we had a screening of Husbands. I had seen Husbands Season 1 but not season 2 it didn't really matter. I thought we were seeing the entire season but we only watched the first half of the season and was told if we wanted to see the rest go to the CW website.

Next was The Guild season six but before we started watching Felicia Day and Vince Caso came on stage and talked for a bit. It was great seeing these guys again. I haven't seen them in a while. Felicia was dressed in a Steampunk Robin Hood outfit that was pretty awesome. After the two of them banter for a few minutes they started the Guild season six. I have to admit that season six, in my opinion wasn't one of my favorites but after seeing it all together as one piece I enjoyed it much more then when it first aired in pieces.

After the Guild there was another break and they started to set up chairs on the stage. They had several guests come up, Kim Evey, Greg Benson, Vince Caso, Brian Kameoka, Georges Jeanty, Juliet Landau and Camden Toy. They talked about independent movies and webseries, the entertainment industry, fandom and fans and various other interesting things. And the fact that four of the panel guests were my friends was pretty awesome.

We then took another break and during this time I was able to catch up with Vince, Kim, Greg and Brian for a few minutes, and I got them to sign my Guild yearbook.

It was finally time for what most of the people were here for.. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog. We first watched a short video of how to use the props during the screening. We had a penny, curtains, bubbles, piece of shrubbery, a horse head and various other things. I have seen Dr. Horrible several times on the big screen but this was the first time I did the interactive version.

It was a blast, there is nothing better then sitting in a room full of excited people, singing along to the movie, blowing bubbles  and letting their geek flags fly. It was pretty EPIC!!!

After the screening it was time for the drawing. They have been selling tickets all day long $1 and $5 tickets for some cool prizes. I purchased 5 of the $1 tickets. They gave away about 50 or so items but alas I didn't win anything, but my friends did.. yay!!

It was an amazing event and I can't wait to do it again next year. Thanks to Robert, Cait, Jessica, Aaron T, Matt, Melissa, Aaron M, Sarah, Anne, Nicki and Doug for sharing this experience with me.