HobbitCon, Wonder Con start furious convention season for TORn, Hobbit & LOTR guests

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April 14, 2014 at 6:43 am by sandwitchking  - 

The convention season is about to start in a big way with TheOneRing.net appearing at shows across the U.S. and even at a special event in Europe. HobbitCon in Bonn, Germany, is packed full of Hobbit and Tolkien guests, including our own MrCere (Larry D. Curtis) who will present several panels about, as you might guess, The Hobbit.

Joining him is an amazing collection of 12 star guests that includes actors from The Hobbit film and Royd Tolkien, great-grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien. The lineup of special guests includes Sir Richard Taylor, some fan films and other prominent figures from the world-wide Tolkien community. Tickets are no longer on sale online but day or weekend tickets can be purchased directly from the event at the Maritim Hotel If you are in Europe this is an event without peer.

WONDERCON

From the same folks who stage the world-famous San Diego Comic-Con, comes WonderCon in Anaheim, with a pretty incredible lineup that also includes TheOneRing.net staff previewing the last movie from Peter Jackson about Middle-earth, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.” That can’t-miss panel takes place Saturday, April 19 at 5:30 p.m., in room 300DE.

We also will have a table on the sales floor to get exclusive TORn t-shirts and talk to staffers about all things Middle-earth. Our all-volunteer staff has an abundant representation in Los Angeles, making this a way to meet our friends.

MORE CONVENTIONS

CALGARY EXPO: April 24-27, Calgary. Staffers greendragon and Deej join a powerful Middle-earth lineup of guests that includes Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Jed Brophy, Manu Bennett, and Dean O’Gorman. Also featured is Weta’s incomparable Richard Taylor. TORn will sell our exclusive convention shirts and meet fans and friends face-to-face!

FANTASYCON July 3 – 5, Salt Lake City. This show, focused on fantasy, has a heavy Middle-earth influence with celebrity guests and rumor has it they will add several others to a lineup that includes Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Sylvester McCoy, Ken Stott and Graham McTavish. TheOneRing.net is partnering with the show and will be present at the celebration of all things fantasy with a booth, panels and some surprises.

SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON The grandaddy of pop-culture events in the world will once again feature Hobbit content from Warner Bros. and TORn. Director Peter Jackson is a likely candidate to be here and as well as a list of celebrities from the film to make their “Hall H” appearance. Plan to wait or camp in line. Our own panel is also in high demand and while nobody can camp overnight, we fill any room the SDCC hands us. This is Mecca for pop-culture. See you there!

DRAGON CON The annual event in Atlanta, Georgia is something of a home for all things Tolkien with the Tolkien Track of programming that definitely features TheOneRing.net and always includes some celebrities from the film world. This focuses on books, film, pop-culture, costuming, dancing, music and everything else you can think of. TORn staffers attending include greendragon, Deej, MrCere, Thorongil, often Quickbeam and usually a few more.

More conventions are likely including the New York Comic Con so expect lots more convention updates.

Posted in ComicCon, Conventions, DragonCon, Events, FantasyCon, HobbitCon, NYCC, WonderCon on April 14, 2014 by sandwitchking

HobbitCon 2 in Bonn, Germany – April 19-21

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April 7, 2014 at 1:43 pm by greendragon  - 

As staffer Garfeimao stated in the post below, convention season is getting going! The same weekend that some TORn staff will be at WonderCon in Anaheim, there is a very exciting convention taking place in Germany – HobbitCon! Message boarder kiwifan attended last year, and shared the fun of this exclusive event with us.  Here’s what she had to say:

“The first HobbitCon last Easter was such a fabulous event that there will be another one this year, much to the delight of the many fans who wished for this happen. Incidentally, the eight Dwarf actors who were among the ‘star guests’ last year enjoyed themselves so much that they are all returning for this one! Anyone interested in reading about our impressions and adventures at last year’s HobbitCon can read more at the message boards, in a thread started by Rosie-with-the-ribbons on the ‘TORn moots and other events’ board.

Although the convention takes place in Germany (at the Maritim Hotel, Bonn), it’s the only international event of this magnitude that focuses exclusively on The Hobbit and other Tolkien-related topics, and according to the HobbitCon organisers, the majority of those who have already bought tickets come from all over the world — other European countries, Russia, America, and even Japan!

Actors present at HobbitCon 2 will be:

Jed Brophy (Nori)Adam Brown (Ori)John Callen (Oin)Mark Hadlow (Dori)Peter Hambleton (Gloin)Stephen Hunter (Bombur)William Kircher (Bifur)Graham McTavish (Dwalin)Dean O’Gorman (Fili)Ken Stott (Balin)and Mark Atkin, who is Richard Armitage’s stunt double as Thorin.

All the actors will be on stage several times in their respective panels and, in some cases, in a couple of comedy shows as well, which, if they are anything like the one last year, will have the audiences in stitches throughout.

Moreover, WETA Workshop’s creative genius Sir Richard Taylor will be giving two talks and two workshops in which he’ll transform a volunteer member of the audience into a Middle-earth creature!

Also present will be Royd Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s great-grandson, who’ll give two panels, and Emil Johansson, the creator of the LotR Project, who’ll talk about The Science of Middle-earth, The Hobbit book and the movie.

Mark Ferguson (who played Gil-galad in The Fellowship of the Ring) will again act as Master of Ceremonies in his inimitable style. Larry D. Curtis, TORn’s own MrCere, will give several talks on The Hobbit and his experiences as an embedded reporter on the film set in New Zealand.

In the Choir Workshop, held in English and German, you can learn the ‘Song of the Lonely Mountain’. A number of talks and workshops on a great variety of topics will be held in German, but several of the workshops will be conducted in both English and German (as indicated by the small letters ‘E’ and ‘D’ in the respective boxes in the schedule).

The film The Hunt for Gollum will be shown at HobbitCon, and the fan fantasy project Myrrdin will be introduced in a panel and a workshop by the film makers. Another screening will be of the Russian film parody The Trouble of the Rings Returns King Size (in Russian with optional English and German subtitles).

The Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft (DTG, that is the German Tolkien Society) will have their own rooms and separate activities. Last year, among other things, they offered a Tolkien quiz (and I, with considerable help from Rosie-with-the-ribbons, won a small plastic collectible figurine of Grinnah the Goblin).

On Saturday and Sunday evening there will be parties and a concert; a Costume Contest is scheduled for Sunday evening, and there will be an Art Show featuring Tolkien-related fan artwork. Many sellers will offer merchandise galore, and you can get autographs and be photographed with your favourite actors (or all of them at once in a group photo) — lots of opportunities to spend money!

The programme (subject to changes, however, since Manu ‘Azog’ Bennett had to cancel, alas) as well as ticket information (tickets for the entire weekend or for any one of the three days) can be found at HobbitCon’s website. As the online ticket shop closed on Monday April 7th, those who don’t have tickets yet and spontaneously decide to attend this marvellous event will have to come to the Maritim Hotel to purchase them directly, from Friday afternoon April 18th onward. The organisers have assured me that there will still be convention tickets and hotel rooms available by then. [But you may want to double-check before travelling to Germany!]

Hoping to see many of you there!”

* * * * *

Thanks to kiwifan for sharing her thoughts and excitement! If you’re planning on going, and would like to meet up with other ‘TORnadoes’ whilst you’re there, you can always head on over to the message boards and start a thread to find out who else will be there!

Posted in Adam Brown, Conventions, Crew News, Dean O'Gorman, Events, Graham McTavish, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Ken Stott, Lord of the Rings, LotR Cast News, LotR Movies, Mark Hadlow, Meet Ups, Other Cast, Peter Hambleton, Richard Taylor, Stephen Hunter, The Hobbit, WETA Workshop, William Kircher on April 7, 2014 by greendragon

Clock is ticking on the departure of HobbitCon 2 in Europe

April 18, 2014 at 10:55 pm by MrCere-

BONN - HobbitCon 2, in Bonn, Germany is a few hours just to start with a hotel is packed with special guest lecturers and fans everywhere in the world.

The Maritim hotel Bonn hosts the event, which includes all of the properties for the weekend. A complete list of conferences and presentations are planned from just a few hours from here. All 13 dwarves of the Hobbit films are present except Richard Armitage, who is the WonderCon, James Nesbitt, who was planned, but had to cancel and Aiden Turner. This means that Adam Brown, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Ken Stott, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Graham McTavish, and William Kircher are all involved. (This means three trolls are here too!) The gentlemen were present and were rumored to have been observed to hang it around the hotel last night to talk together and with each other. Reportedly, 26 countries are represented at the event.

The first HobbitCon

Richard Taylor and Royd Tolkien were also in the House as Mark Atkin - Thorin Oakenshiled size scale. TheOneRing.net has three panels planned for the end of the week, including one tomorrow night, speculating on the third film in the adaptation of Peter Jackson. Throughout the event, scheduled in one place, it gives this whole a remarkable sense with intimate which is a little hard to explain. Its one of those things where you have to be there.

In fact, European fans can still get that, purchase tickets from the hotel market. Details can be found here. Ripped would be delighted to see you in person around the hotel and the first round table at 17!

Expect updates throughout the weekend.

Posted in Adam Brown, Aidan Turner, Conventions, Dean O'Gorman, events, fans, Graham McTavish, Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the Hobbit: desolation of Smaug, HobbitCon, James Nesbitt, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Ken Stott, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Richard Armitage, Stephen Hunter, the Hobbit: an unexpected journey, the Hobbit: the desolation of Smaug, the Hobbit: there and back again, William Kircher18 avril2014 by MrCere WonderCon