Tag: Vic Mignogna

I just had the pleasure of attending the 2^nd annual Geekie Awards, an awards show for geeks by geeks founded by Kristen Nedopak and hosted by Khail Anonymous. The purpose of The Geekie Awards is to honor the nerdier parts of pop culture that are often ignored by other larger and more mainstream award shows. The categories include: Lifetime Achievement, Geek of the Year, Geek Cred, Indie Video Game, Art & Craft, Comics & Graphic Novels, Cosplay, Podcasts & Vlogs, Short Films, Websites & Blogs, Trailers & Videos, Fashion & Armor, Tabletop Games, Personality, and the big award of the night, Web Series.

Aside from an uncomfortably hot two hours on the black carpet (seriously, despite drinking water I started seeing stars at one point and had to sit down for a few minutes before I passed out in Manu Bennett’s arms – which, in hind sight, I probably should have just rolled with) and a few technical issues with the mics, the entire experience was a joyous voyage to my happy place. I love nothing more than to talk nerd with fellow geeks and it was an entire evening of doing just that. Nerdvana indeed. I also spotted and chatted with many of the same people I see at all of the local Cons so it was a blast seeing them in a different venue. Many of them were cosplayers there to bring out the statues during the show so they were in full costume making it easy for me to identify them. They, on the other hand, often took a second before they recognized me thanks to the fact that I was decked out in a dress and high heels. VERY different from my usual attire of jeans, t-shirt, and Chucks.

Let’s start with the aforementioned black carpet, shall we? For this I teamed up with my NerdBFF, Geek Outlaw, to tackle and talk to the various celebrities, presenters, and nominees. To watch all of the black carpet interviews and shenanigans (gods, I love that word), check out the video here:

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Some photo highlights from the black carpet!

Eric Won (Writer, Director, Producer) and Trip Hope (Executive Producer) of The Division, nominated for Best Web Series.

Kaj-Erik Eriksen (See No Evil 2; The 4400) Presenter, Best Art or Craft

Vic Mignogna (Executive Producer and star) of Star Trek Continues, nominated for Best Web Series. I had a BLAST geeking out about Star Trek with him!

Vic Holtreman (Owner) of Screen Rant, nominated for Best Website or Blog. We had a more in-depth conversation with him at the after party about how he started the site.

Jason Ritter (Parenthood; Gravity Falls) Presenter to LeVar Burton

Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds; King of the Nerds) Presenter, Best Website or Blog

Randy Couture (The Expendables 2 & 3) and Mindy Robinson (King of the Nerds) Presenters, Best Trailer or Video

Greg Grunberg (Alias, Heroes, Masters of Sex, SocialTronLive) Presenter, Best Tabletop Game

Amy Dallen (Host) and Jenni Powell (Producer) of Talkin’ Comics Weekly, nominated for Best Podcast or Vlog

Lauren Bregman of Castle Corsetry, nominated for Best Fashion or Armor

Jenny Lorenzo (Host) Aggressive Comix Presents: Geekgasm, nominated for Best Personality

Tony Swatton (Star, Master Blacksmith) for Man at Arms, nominated for Best Web Series

Curtis Armstrong (Revenge of the Nerds; King of the Nerds) Presenter, Best Website or Blog

Manu Bennett (Arrow, The Hobbit trilogy, Spartacus) Presenter, Best Personality

Bonnie Gordon and Lina Carollo (The Quest)

Brian Bielawski, Co-Founder and Chairman of Gam3rCon

Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy trilogy, Falling Skies) Presenter, Best Cosplay

LeVar Burton (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Reading Rainbow) Geek of the Year Honoree. His super cute daughter and I bonded over our mutual love of Thor and my Mjolnir earrings while her Dad was being interviewed further down the line.

And, of course, the real star of the black carpet: The Batmobile

Once the black carpet portion was over we were whisked inside to the press area in the mezzanine. Luckily, John and Blayne had already secured seats for us so we were right up next to the railing with a great view of the stage.

Lifetime Achievement

Presenter: Stan Lee

Recipient: Gale Anne Hurd

First up was a pre-recorded video of Stan Lee (his health seems to be a bit precarious lately but he looked great in the clip!) presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award (last year he was the first recipient) to Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, Terminator).

Gale gave a rather lengthy but charming acceptance speak that included walking us through the definition and the history of the word “geek” and describing her childhood as a nerd before being a nerd was cool.

Geek of the Year

Presenter: Jason Ritter

Recipient: LeVar Burton

Next was the Geek of the Year presented by Jason Ritter to LeVar Burton. As a bonus, Greg Grunberg and someone from Gibson guitars, came out to present Burton with a guitar of his very own. A major highlight? When he busted out the theme song to Reading Rainbow.

Geek Cred

Presenter: Malik Forte

Recipient: Oculus VR (accepted via a pre-taped video message)

In between the categories and during what was technically the commercial breaks of the show, we were treated to some trailers and funny filmed comedy bits. One of the most entertaining of which was Barry Dragonman. A dragon who found early success on The Munsters, then got sucked into the world of partying, alcohol, and drugs, eventually going broke. He later found success again appearing in “Lizardnado” and Game of Thrones. It was a feel good story. Turns out the guy who played Barry was sitting right next to us.

Best Video Game

Presenters: Alison Haislip & Maude Garrett

Nominees:
Axle
Outlast
Octodad: The Dadliest Catch
Don’t Starve
The Banner Saga

Winner: The Banner Saga

Best Art or Craft

Presenter: Kaj-Erik Eriksen & Anthony C. Ferrante

Nominees:
House of Darkly
Sienna Morris
Art of Kudaman
Kindra Nikole Photography
The Work of J.W. Kinsey’s Artifice

Winner: The Work of J.W. Kinsey’s Artifice

Best Comic or Graphic Novel

Presenters: Jason Charles Miller & Wendy Pini

Nominees:
Oh, Hell
Boston Metaphysical Society 
The Man of Many Shades
Wicker
Ruin

Winner: Oh, Hell

Best Cosplay

Presenter: Doug Jones

Nominees:
Trolloc Fist (The Wheel of Time)
Big Daddy Bouncer(Bioshock)
Totoro Ball Gown 
Steampunk Rowena Ravenclaw  (Harry Potter) 
Brienne of Tarth (Game of Thrones)

Winner: Big Daddy Bouncer (Bioshock)

This is the part where a baby T-Rex came out and Doug Jones had to awkwardly inform him that he’d already gotten the part in Jurassic World. Check out the clip and hilarious baby T-Rex impression HERE:

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Some stills:

Best Podcast or Vlog

Presenter: Lucky Yates & Rob Paulsen

Nominees:
Gecken
Talkin’ Comics Weekly
We’re Alive – A Story of Survival
AMC Movie Talk
Sword and Laser

Winner: Talkin’ Comics Weekly

Best Short Film

Presenters: Mark Ordesky & Jane Fleming

Nominees:
The Hitchhiker
Future Hero
Splinter Cell Extraction
Kepler X-47
The Field of Vision

Winner: The Hitchhiker

At this point the Founder of The Geekie Awards, Kristen Nedopak, came out to give her spiel.

Best Website or Blog

Presenters: Curtis Armstrong & Robert “Bobby” Carradine

Nominees:
The Escapist
International Geek Girl Pen Pal Club
Set to Stunning
Screen Rant
Geek Girl Authority

Winner: Screen Rant

To watch Curtis and Bobby talk about being the oldest nerds there and other funniness, check out a snippet of their interaction (including a hilarious in-character laugh from Bobby) HERE:

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Best Trailer or Video

Presenter: Randy Couture & Mindy Robinson

Nominees:
Nothing to Prove – Geek Girls & The Doubleclicks
Wonder Woman
Brielle and the Horror: The Graphic Novel Trailer
The Doctor Games (Parody Trailer)
Legends of the Knight

Winner: Legends of the Knight

For some reason this segued into a rather awkward bit in which the host brought Catwoman onto the stage and asked for a volunteer from the audience who would like to be whipped. I have a feeling that this looked a lot better on paper. But, hey, we’re geeks and we’re awkward, so I guess it was kind of perfect in a way.

Best Fashion or Armor

Presenter: Jessica Merizan & HipHop Stormtrooper

Nominees:
Kayla Stojek / Zombie Peepshow
Lauren Bregman / Castle Corsetry
John McGovern / Sharp Mountain Weather
Catherine Kim / IAMKNIGHT
Donna Ricci / Clockwork Couture

Winner: Lauren Bregman / Castle Corsetry

Best Tabletop Game

Presenters: Greg Grunberg & Brea Grant

Nominees:
Little Wizards
Forbidden Desert
Dread Curse
Council of Verona
Belfort

Winner: Belfort
(They were a no-show so the award was accepted by Greg Grunberg, who also helpfully reminded us that this year marks the 40th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons)

Best Personality

Presenters: Manu Bennett (who took it upon himself to moon us…not that I’m complaining) & Olga Kay

Nominees:
Kim Horcher
Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox
Jenny Lorenzo
Jenna Busch
Danni Danger

Winner: Jenny Lorenzo

Best Web Series

Presenters: Mychal Thompson & Meghan Camarena

Nominees:
Caper
Star Trek Continues
The Record Keeper
The Division
AWEme “Man at Arms”

Winner: Star Trek Continues

We were then treated to a performance by Songhammer before spending a few minutes hanging out at the after party where we chatted some more with Doug Jones and a few of the winners.

All in all, a delightful experience that I very much hope to repeat next year!

For more information about The Geekie Awards go HERE!