San Diego Comic-Con is a giant celebration of geek and nerd culture, and yes comic books, where the focus is placed squarely on the fans and creators. The reason entertainment companies have made it a regular stop on their promotional campaigns is because the attendees have also been shown to be mavens and influencers – the type of people who when they learn a cool fact about a show or character they love wants to share that knowledge with all their friends. Love of a brand by a fan is the purest form of marketing, a circle of business life Disney fans are intimately acquainted with.
At this year’s SDCC, Disney has announced a host of ABC Television shows and stars will be available for panel discussions, meet and greets, and autograph signings. Special appearances from the stars of ABC series ‘The Rookie,’ ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,’ ‘Whiskey Cavalier,’ ‘The Goldbergs,’ ‘Schooled,’ ‘Once Upon a Time,’ ‘Fresh Off the Boat,’ ‘Speechless’ and ‘Child Support’ are on the list.
Meet and greet, and autograph signings will be taking place at the ABC booth (#4245) on the convention floor from Friday, July 20–Sunday, July 22; and exclusive merchandise will be available for purchase from Wednesday, July 18–Sunday, July 22.
Below is a schedule of exclusive signing dates/times (talent participation, subject to change):
FRIDAY, JULY 20
4:00 PM THE ROOKIE – Nathan Fillion (“Castle,” “Firefly”)
SATURDAY, JULY 21
11:00 AM MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. – Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Henry Simmons, Jeff Ward and Ming-Na Wen, as well as executive producers Jeff Bell, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen and Jeph Loeb
12:45 PM-1:45 PM WHISKEY CAVALIER – Lauren Cohan (“The Walking Dead”)
3:00 PM THE GOLDBERGS/SCHOOLED – Jeff Garlin, Troy Gentile, Sean Giambrone, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Hayley Orrantia and AJ Michalka (“Schooled”)
SUNDAY, JULY 22
11:00 AM ONCE UPON A TIME – Lana Parrilla (“Evil Queen/Roni”)
1:00 PM TGIF – Forrest Wheeler (“Fresh Off the Boat”), John Ross Bowie (“Speechless”), Cedric Yarbrough (“Speechless”) and Fred Savage (“Child Support”)
In addition to the meet-and-greet opportunities, the ABC booth will offer fans the opportunity to purchase exclusive merchandise from such series as “Alias,” “Blossom,” “Dinosaurs,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Golden Girls,” “Home Improvement,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Scrubs” and “School House Rocks!” Among the exclusives available at the booth are the following:
- “The Golden Girls” San Diego Exclusive Mystery Box
- Limited edition “The Golden Girls” “Stay Golden San Diego” 3-inch enamel pin
- Limited edition “The Golden Girls” “Stay Golden San Diego” 11-ounce mug
- Limited edition “The Golden Girls” “Stay Golden San Diego” lanyard, featuring a detachable keychain and cheesecake charm
- Limited edition “Once Upon A Time” Dark One Dagger 7-inch letter opener
- Limited edition “Schoolhouse Rocks!” print poster (11 inches by 14 inches), autographed by co-creator George Newall
- Limited edition “LOST” two-pack 1.5-inch enamel pin set, featuring the Dharma Arrow logo and Dharma Swan logo
Do you have tickets for the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con? Let us know how your experience is this year.