First item of the day was a group photo with every guest from the show.
I came in early and had a more expensive ticket giving some preference in the access to the photos.
I brought a small gift, some Dutch “Stroopwafels” (syrup wafers), freshly made at my visit to the Netherlands on the way to Paris. Because they had filmed in The Netherlands I expected some of the cast to know those, and I was not disappointed. On the picture Erendira I. is holding the package in the hand. They were all great to meet close-up, and the picture is good, even if I always feel that I look a bit silly on pictures.
After this we had time until 1230, because there was a second autograph session, and most of us had done that already. Time to talk to and meet more fans – and have a bit to eat
At 1230 we had a panel with Tina D and Erendira I.
While Lana Wachowski deserves a lot of credit and love, because she was there at the filming all the time I felt that there had been no mention of the co-writer J. Michael Straczynski (JMS), so I went and asked them what kind of interaction they had with him during the creation of the show.
I was delighted by their answers. Especially, Tina told us that, in the beginning, JMS was a bit of a closed book, so, because she is very inquisitive, she tried to get to know the core of JMS, and when he opened up, she was delighted to find that they had much more in common than she had thought – both with respect to the attitude to life in general, and on political issues.
(Having read Straczynski’s auto biography I think I understand a little better, his reservation to open up, at least at that time, but in the book he really did open up.)
Erendira, too, had a good experience interacting with JMS, and they are both very happy to get to know him.
When I returned to my seat, I found that quite a few of the fans were appreciative of my question and the answers we got.
When I asked Brian the same question, I realized that he had the (incorrect) impression that Straczynski was only involved in the writing of the first season, and that his reservations in opening up probably gave Brian the impression of less connectedness.
Another highlight was Michael Sommers performing some of his one-man show. He is so expressive (much like the Bug character) and leaves quite an impression with his performance.
Arriving near the end of the convention I finally realized that the Martin everyone was talking about, was none other than Martin Erhardt, who has made a good fan documentary video.
Before that we had the last gathering with all the fans and all the guests. The great finale had all the fans sing “What’s Up” for our guests, it was a great experience.
As always, the end of the convention generates sadness in most of us have. Many were in tears, and there was a lot of hugs given and received.
This was a very memorable convention, and I certainly intend to be there next year for Sense8Con3.
I will see if I can find some good pictures, and I will then share the best ones here, and possibly on my FB time line.
