Celebrity Fan Fest with Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, and Ray Fisher

Celebrity Fan Fest was nice enough to invite me to take part in their inaugural event at the JW Marriot San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa. Half the cast of the Justice League feature film appeared as their headliners, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa, and Ray Fisher. I estimate that around 6,000-8,000 people attended during the Nov 10-11th weekend, but that is not official, simply my estimate.  The convention commissioned me to do portraits of all six Justice League members for prints that they gave to all the attendees who purchased the VIP package, I offered to sign them for free to anyone who came by my table, so my hand was pretty worn out by the end of the weekend.

I did not get a chance to walk around the resort but the parts that I saw were extremely nice. If Celebrity Fan Fest hosts another event at the same venue the would be okay with me. The only downside was the resort had limited parking onsite, so vendors and attendees had to take shuttles from a parking area. The shuttles were nice and kept a good schedule, so it wasn’t a huge deal.

The Vendor area and signing area all took place on the bottom floor of the Resort’s convention center, in what I guess is the ballroom. You could spend a couple of hours shopping, 30 min standing in line for your autograph, then go have lunch or dinner are one of the resorts restaurants and call it a day.

The access to the celebrities was well control on the conventions in, but some of the famous did go rogue and wandered the convention on their own. When I saw Jason Momoa face to face, I got star struck and all I could think to say was, “It . . . it was fun to draw you.” He was like, “great . . . .” I did get a copy of all my print of Affleck, Momoa, and Fisher signed by each other actors, and Affleck even personalized mine so that was nice of him to do.

The other guests included Jewel Staite (Firefly, Stargate Atlantis), Aly Michalka (iZombie, Hellcats), and David Anders (iZombie, the Vampire Diaries). Joe Flanigan (Stargate Atlantis) was scheduled to appear but had to cancel because of the developing wildfire situation in California.

For a first show Celebrity Fan Fest did great and I will be sure to check out their next event.  I also intend to write a review for each show I attend, for attendees and vendors alike. I’ve been doing about 3 cons a month lately so I should have a good collection of reviews if I don’t get lazy as hell. 

Also, the show organizer Bob Wills was a great guy and went out of his way to get me a pic of he and Ben holding my Batman illustration as well as my before mentioned autographed print. My favorite convention so far!

Stats

Celebrity Fan Fest

Date: 11/10/18- 11/11/18

Location: JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa

Attendance Estimate: 6k – 8k