Announcing our 2024 San Diego Comic-Con Panel: How to Design Costumes for Space, Theater, Tech: A Look into Three Worlds of Costume Design

Comic-Con 2024 is right around the corner! I am thrilled to moderate an educational panel featuring eclectic artists representing the comic, television, film, TV, and gaming worlds.

A big thank you to Eddie, Tommy, Laura, Adam, Michelle, Amy, and the entire Educational Team at Comic-Con! For decades, they have been a force to be reckoned with for their passion for curating beautiful sessions for the Comic-Con education program. And always, thank you to Clydene Nee and Edmund Cronin for bringing me to this great event years ago.

Please let me know if you are attending Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego. I’d love to see you there and have you attend our talk on:

How to Design Costumes for Space, Theater, Tech: A Look into Three Worlds of Costume Design

Sunday, 7/28/24, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM, Room: 3

San Diego Convention Center (111 W Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101)

Our panel will explore: the unique challenges and creative processes involved in crafting costumes for three distinct environments. We'll discuss the process from idea to the making of to designs coming to life on screen and live on the stage.

We'll also dive into:
Dramatic flair and storytelling elements are essential in theatrical costume design, where visual impact and character representation are paramount.

Innovative integration of technology in modern costume design, showcasing examples of wearable tech and interactive garments - including some in-person demonstrations.

Crafting and creating creatures from big ideas to the page, computer, and stage.

Revealing expert insights and practical tips to share a comprehensive understanding of the diverse skill set required to excel in these specialized fields of costume design.

We'll also cover the technical requirements for space suits. :)

Panelists

Eric Eggly

Lighting has always been Eric Eggly’s thing. As a kid, he grew up with a fascination for lasers. As a professional advertising photographer for over 30 years, he creates emotionally captivating iconic still and motion images that jump off pages and monitors, grabbing the viewer’s attention. Edgy, gritty, provocative, and authentic, his visual stories caught the eye of top Madison Avenue brands. A quest for ever more creative lighting led him to product development for a prominent technology brand. He was instrumental in developing patented new products that scored numerous industry awards and are used on still and motion picture sets today. His love of photography has kept him in the game, continuously shooting compelling content. Meanwhile, he never stopped looking for better tools to fill voids in the lighting field—all the while experimenting with the potential of lasers. Eggly and long-time friend and collaborator Craig Brink have partnered to build Jagoteq—to make their shared vision a reality.

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Frank Ippolito 

Frank Ippolito has worked in the film industry for over 25 years. He owns Thingergy Inc.,  (THING-err-G), one of the premiere union prop and specialty costume shops in LA, contributing to Film and TV shows like Star Wars: the Force Awakens, The Mandalorian, Kenobi, Umbrella Academy, Bullet Train, Black Adam, Rebel Moon,  Dungeons and Dragons, Ghostbusters Afterlife, and many more! He also built and played everyone's favorite sweater-wearing Mon Calamari on the second season of The Mandalorian.

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Marianne Parker

(For All Mankind, Ahsoka, Star Trek Picard, Mandalorian, Shang Chi & The Legend of the 10 Rings) – Costume Designer and maker Marianne Parker originally studied fashion design in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She decided to make the move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in costume design in 1998. Since then Marianne has worked in all aspects of costume in film, television, theatre, dance, music, and live events. Some highlights include making Luke Skywalker & Boba Fett costumes in season 2 of Mandalorian, developing the Chinese warrior costumes for Shang Chi & the Legend of the 10 Rings, traveling to the Nobel Prize Awards with Barry Manilow, and designing the costumes for a full-scale operatic production of Alice In Wonderland. Several of the projects have won and been nominated for Emmys for Costume Design and Costume Designers Guild Awards. Currently, Marianne is designing costumes for a new off-Broadway musical and a major feature film. IG @costumedoodles 

Instagram | LinkedIn

Leon Wiebers

Leon Wiebers has designed productions in the United States and internationally.  He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to South Korea examining traditional dress and performance.   His design work encompasses musical theatre, dance, opera, and straight plays.  Recent credits:  Oslo for the Pioneer Theatre, Dance pieces for BodyTraffic, an LA-based modern company, at the Hollywood Bowl, the pre-Broadway premiere of Empire for LaMirada Center for the Performing Arts, The Secret Garden for Cincinnati Playhouse and Center Stage in Baltimore, The Music Man for Glimmerglass Festival and the Royal Opera in Oman and The King and I for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and Il Trovatore for the Sacramento Opera.  

He is a long-term collaborator at California Music Circus whose productions include:  A Chorus Line, The Wizard of Oz, Show Boat, Anything Goes, I Do, I Do, Spamalot!, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 42 Street, My Fair Lady, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me, Kate, Jekyll and Hyde, Aida, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Grease, West Side Story, The Fantasticks and The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Other companies include the San Francisco Opera Center, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, the English National Opera, the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, the Getty Museum and Portland Center Stage.  

Awards include The Carbonelle Award, Fulbright Research Grant to Korea, Back Stage West Garland and LA Weekly Awards for Three Sisters for Interact Theatre, LA, and an LA Ovation Award for Ubu Roi at A Noise Within. He is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, and a national board member for the Costume Society of America.   

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Moderator

Heather Cook 

Heather Cook serves as Principal PM Manager and Lead for the Microsoft 365 Customer Advocacy Group at Microsoft. She works on a team of community program managers whose charter is engagement, evangelism, and growth by building strategy, programs, and connections for our community members with Microsoft. Heather is a former Microsoft MVP for Microsoft 365 Apps and Services. Over the past twenty years, Heather has led marketing for Global Cloud Providers and run a software business. She founded an impact consultancy, Creative Maven, where she produced thousands of events, campaigns, and experiences in the high-tech and entertainment industries. Heather is also the host of the Mavens Do It Better Podcast, which features interviews with extraordinary everyday experts who light a spark in our world. She lives in Marina del Rey, California. She has traveled the world extensively for pleasure and by speaking about Power Platform, Office 365, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Workplace Culture, Community and Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Heather is a published playwright and graduate of the University of Washington School of Drama, Seattle, WA.

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