The Business
Comic-Con and Hollywood: A Symbiotic Relationship
In 1976 Star Wars was the first movie presented at Comic-Con. Now the four-day event, with about 125,000 attendees, is a huge marketing bonanza -- not just for comic-book movies, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and animation but practically any movie or TV show loosely connected to this fan base. We hear what the people at this year's Comic-Con think about Hollywood and speak with long-time studio "genre consultant" Jeff Walker, who's lived the geek dream, working for and with the studios on movies' publicity campaigns.
By Kim Masters • • 28m ListenIn 1976 Star Wars was the first movie presented at Comic-Con. Now the four-day event, with about 125,000 attendees, is a huge marketing bonanza -- not just for comic-book movies, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and animation but practically any movie or TV show loosely connected to this fan base. We hear what the people at this year's Comic-Con think about Hollywood. Then Jeff Walker, long-time "genre consultant" to Hollywood studios. He presented Blade Runner at Comic-Con in 1979 and ever since he's lived the geek dream, working for and with the studios on publicity campaigns for movies like all the Batman films, The Matrix trilogy, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Inception and many, many others.
Actor/Writer Simon Pegg (L) and Jeff Walker (R) at Comic-Con 2010
Fans at this year's Comic-Con
