WormholeRiders

Hello again Stargate fans!

Let me start off by saying that this year’s Stargate Convention in Chicago was arguably the best Creation Entertainment convention I have been to yet. The atmosphere was laid back and relaxed and provided a sense of calm for all attending. It was fun and funny and entertaining and more than provided its money’s worth.

The people who were there on Creation Entertainment’s behalf were both accommodating and engaging, never hesitating to assist anyone who had a question or general comment to ask or make. This sort of environment made for a convention that was fantastic from very beginning (once we arrived at the convention) to the end!

Though arriving at the convention was a hassle unto itself, once Tara and I received our access to the ballroom, it was nonstop fun from start to finish. The convention kicked off with Steve Bacic’s Q and A. Due to travel issues we ended up in there a little bit late, but Steve had us laughing even before we sat down.

And that only increased once Dan Shea had joined in on the ‘question asking’ for Steve’s panel. Those two bantered back and forth for a good portion of the end of Steve’s panel (from which I received a lovely personal ‘gift’ from Steve, which I will go into more detail about in my full convention report), which pretty much merged into Dan’s Friday panel (he would be attending all weekend, so would have many other moments on stage).

Though I will not go into too much detail on my personal ‘investment’ (all together unintended, but ultimately hysterical) with Dan’s time on stage that Friday, I will say that he is very entertaining and energetic. He even took a few seconds to stop moving so those lucky people with cameras poised could snap the elusive good picture of Dan on stage (i.e. – not motion blurred).

Friday carried on much the same, with equally satisfying panels from Andee Frizzell and Christopher Heyerdahl (who appeared on stage together) and Robert Picardo.  Andee shared her personal trials of just trying to get into the U.S to get to the convention and Chris was often off the stage ‘assisting’ those asking questions or taking a moment to glance at a banner on the wall. They mentioned how they had flown in on the same plane together and hadn’t even realized it (Andee made a joke about how egotistical she must be to not realize she was on the same plane as Chris Heyerdahl – Chris made a similar comment about himself).

Robert’s panel (which was before Andee and Chris’) consisted of him making a lot of comments about Richard Woolsey being a pretty disreputable character who was then build up to be a disreputable character that the audience liked a little more. He made some parallels between working on Star Trek and working on Stargate (made specific mention of adlibbing lines, such as in Stargate Atlantis where Woolsey forgets Chuck’s name), as well as parallels between Star Trek fans and Stargate fans (with a lot of crossover in between.

Alfonso, Robert’s ‘cousin’ came up often and it was made clear that Alfonso would be appearing later on that evening. Alfonso did appear later, at the Cabaret, along with Dan Shea and Andee Frizzell. Dan was just as energetic as before, and Andee shared some rather hysterical and somewhat disturbing stories. Alfonso, as he seems to be known to do, flirted endlessly with his female audience members.

He pulled a few of them up on stage to sing a song written by his cousin ‘Roberto’ that was based in the Star Trek fandom. He also provided much romantic advice, of which he was sure to emphasize he was the best at ‘romance’ (he had many ‘appointments’ by the end of his show).

Following this display of sexual manliness was the karaoke, which Creation Entertainment held in the ballroom rather than the ball. I personally enjoyed the change because the ballroom provided a better atmosphere – it provided a sense of comfort to be able to stay in the same room where we had been all day and would spend the rest of the weekend. Definitely made it feel more a part of the convention. The laid back air about the karaoke, and the constant support of the audience and stars that were milling about, made it a lot easier for people to get up and sing. I took a stab at a song, singing Time Warp with dear friend Connie_Point.

We could not get Christopher Heyerdahl up on stage with us, but it was satisfying to see him enjoying our performance from just offstage. When we went up to talk to him later, he said we were very good (in one of his awesome accents).

The next day kicked off bright and early with a photo op with Joe Flanigan and Michael Shanks (at least for those of us without tickets to the Flanigan or Hewlett Meet and Greets, which were going on right down the hall from where we waited for the photo op). Both men were amazing as usual (surprisingly, Joe made a comment on my Canucks jersey and Michael didn’t…) and even if photo ops are a rather quick encounter with these stars, they are always worth it to get one. The day continued on in much the same fashion of Flanigan, Hewlett, and Shanks. The duo panel with Joe and David started off with hilarity when both of them started bouncing behind the stage screens, making big shadows appear. The laughs never stopped, especially as they started ribbing each other almost immediately. This only increased when Joe was awarded the Twitter Actor of the Month and David got runner up!

After that, it became a ‘contest’ of who go more questions and who was best (as is to be expected with them). The ‘Stump the Experts’ Trivia contest was shortly after their panel, and I made sure to get up and participate for that one (since I have quite a love for SG-1 trivia). I was able to answer one question for a set of prizes and got to ask my question (which someone finally answered correctly while on line for Joe Flanigan’s autograph), but had to head off before I could ask another because I had to get to Michael Shanks’ Meet and Greet.

Many of the things discussed within that lovely little room I have been sworn to secrecy on, but let me say I would gladly spend more than I did for another experience like it. I would highly recommend doing a meet and greet to anyone who is considering it. Michael’s panel followed immediately after. I will say my one disappointment with the convention occurred when it was announced the video that would normally introduce Michael would be shown after his panel (I had hoped my video would win – which it did, but it was shown after). It is not something that angered me, just a minor disappointment in an otherwise excellent weekend. Michael’s panel went off spectacularly and I made sure to shout out my comments to dear Shanks whenever I felt the need!

Michael responded in kind and much fun was had by everyone all around! When his panel had ended, I received my certificate for my winning Stargate video Good to Be Bad, and then headed to his photo op. That was quite a pleasing experience, even more so than usual, but those details will have to be saved for my full report about Day 2 of the convention.

The rest of the day consisted of autographs from Michael, David, Andee and Dan. The events of the convention this day ended with the Gold dessert party. The spread this year was spectacular and the ‘impromptu’ centerpiece submissions that came about were fantastic – I entered a hand drawn Stargate…hand drawn on the bottom of a pizza box insert!

It got several pleasing comments.  Andee Frizzell (who, along with Dan Shea, was a guest at the party) even became a centerpiece for a time. Our group also made sure to kick off the dancing right with a request to the DJ for ‘The Cha Cha Slide.’

Sunday, last day of the con, was just as amazing as the previous too. Another early rise for the Charity breakfast, but it was worth it for the company there and the wonderful breakfast that was provided. Brian J. Smith, Alaina Huffman, and Elyse Levesque were all on stage as the morning’s featured guests. It was nice to be able to see these stars who are rather new to the Stargate convention circuit. I made sure to let Brian know that he had never replied to my tweets – and he promised to do so before the end of the day. Which is a promise he kept! Each of the Stargate Universe guests had a separate panel, all of which were very informative and entertaining!

Finding out that Brian was such a big history buff was very exciting for me because I am one myself. I made sure to ask him what his favorite period in history was and he said it was definitely The U.S. Civil War. Later, just before the panel that had all three of them, I ended up winning a bid on the Shanks banner that had been hanging on the wall all weekend. So the rest of my day was spent smiling at my ‘big purchase’. The SGU trio panel was just as entertaining as their individual ones, if maybe a little more giggly much to the enjoyment of the audience.

They all shared lots of inside jokes of what went on behind the scenes of Stargate Universe. It came up several times during the day, actually, that David Blue is the closest to the character he plays on SGU. Their group photo op came after their joint panel and then it was time for autographs and one sad, final exist from the ballroom for the weekend.

I did not hesitate this year to reup my seat for next. The experience had this year was out of this world amazing and I cannot thank Creation and the Stargate stars (plus all the attendees) for providing such a wonderful experience. If I was not always looking forward to the Creation Stargate Chicago Convention every year already, I most definitely am now!

My grade for the Creation Entertainment Stargate Convention known as ChiCon 2010? An “A++”!

DannysGirlSG1

First off, let me just say forgive me for the length of time it’s been between the 2nd day and the 3rd. Due to some technical difficulties, I couldn’t get the post out until today. That being said, I want to dive right into the final day without any further wait!

We woke Sunday morning, and strolled towards the main room having bittersweet feelings. On one hand, it was another amazing day filled with talks, videos, photographs, autographs, and lots of laughter and good feelings. On the other hand, it was the final day of Vanctuary. Only a few short hours stood between us and the end of an amazing experience. As everyone shuffled into the main convention hall and took their seats, we were greeted by a video that got us psyched up for the beginning of the talks. I’m not sure how other conventions do it, but I always love how Gabit seems to rev us up with amazing images and songs surrounding Sanctuary. As the video died down, Chuck Campbell and Robert Lawrenson took the stage, and we settled in to listen.


First off, let me just say that Chuck Campbell is absolutely hilarious and quite a character. I felt like my sides were going to burst from laughing so hard along with everyone in the audience as he talked. And the repartee between Robert and Chuck was great. They were smooth, and collected, and they seemed to bounce energy off from one another, as they talked amongst themselves before the Q&As started

The fans asked a lot of great questions, and we learned some interesting things about the two guys. For instance, at first Robert was intimidated by the green screen. However, apparently Amanda told him to think of it like stage and he said that one piece of advice set it up perfectly, and he said he now embraces the green screen.

We also learned that Martin Wood (nicknamed apparently Major Wood during his times on SGA) brought in an ex-military training group to help the actors get training on how to properly use guns. Interestingly enough though, the way actors hold a gun on TV is not quite how you would think a person would hold a gun, because of camera angles. Apparently this was one of the trickier parts of learning the roles for the two guys. Another interesting point about Sanctuary is that a normal film will shoot about a maximum of 2 pages a day. Sanctuary apparently shoots a minimum of 8 pages a day! Both of the guys told us that it’s fast paced, but the best show they’ve worked on.

At the end of the panel, we broke out and went to our respective photograph and autograph sessions. Some people had bought at least one of each for each of the stars there, and some people only had a few, but one of the most amazing things to me was that all of the money benefited Sanctuary for Kids. So, while you were buying a memory of a quick moment with one of your favorite actors, directors, or writers, you were also giving money to a very worthwhile charity. Maybe I’ve been sheltered and haven’t really expanded too far out into the world of fandoms, but that to me is something that is so unique to Sanctuary.

After the sessions died down, we all filed back into the auditorium for a special presentation by Lee Wilson from Anthem. I wish I could share with you the video that he showed us, but unfortunately no cameras were allowed in the auditorium. Let me just say that we were shown a video that even people at Comic Con didn’t get a chance to see. Half-way through it I had goosebumps. Even as I write this today, as I saw some of the shots go from the final product to the green screen, and back to the final product, I’m getting goosebumps. If they ever do release it on the web, I’ll definitely point you guys in the right direction. But here’s saying that the first two episodes of Season 3 are going to blow your mind! Oh, and randomly, do you remember this scene in Sleepers from Season 2? That’s entirely green screen!

After Lee left the stage, Agam Darshi and Robin Dunne came up. Robin had the crowd giggling as he tried to imitate Lee’s sultry deep voice. At one point, he said “This is the Lee Wilson talk show.” And what got everyone laughing the hardest was the sound of Lee’s voice piping up over the crowd and saying “I’m right here you know!”

During the panel, we learned that Robin was completely taken out of his comfort zone during the “Kali-Dance“. Apparently he read the script, and really thought that it was a joke. (As we all know, there are a lot of practical jokers on the Sanctuary set, but none as legendary as Robin and Holden MacPhillips). So he ultimately assumed that they were just getting back at him for all the jokes he’d played on people. (In my interview I learned about an interesting practical joke that had to do with Nutella, but you’ll learn that soon when those come out!) However, as time went on, he realized it wasn’t a joke, and he had to actually do the dance and perform.

Agam said that she loved that day on set, and apparently people from all over Sanctuary, came out to see Robin shake his groove thing. Apparently it was funny for Agam to watch Robin, trying to keep up with the extras/dancers who actually knew what they were doing. But, enough about Season 2, here are some Season 3 spoilers straight from Agam’s mouth! In Season 3, Agam’s favorite episode is one where we get to see Kate Freelander’s first kiss *gasp!*, and the Adjustor comes back, and Kate gets to wear lots of spandex.

It seemed like Agam and Robin’s panel went by way too quickly. One fan asked about how they feel about the green screen, and both answered that it’s intimidating at first, mostly because you have to imagine things are there when they’re not. And Robin said when he saw what Lee and the Anthem team did, he couldn’t believe it. Even in his wildest imagination, the things he thought he was looking at were nothing compared to the things that the artistic genius of the Anthem team came up with. Another interesting question was around Robin and Agam playing the only “normals” on this show of abnormals.

When asked how they feel about that, Robin said that he likes that Will has this connection to the audience, and Agam said she loves it because the writer’s often take pity on the normals and give them really cool things to do. All in all, the panel was awesome, and Agam and Robin seemed to really enjoy answering all of our questions. At the end of the talk, we even did a collect “HOO-AH!” with Robin. Oh and did I mention, Robin Dunne dropped his pants? (I think the best part is the screen to Robin’s left.)

After Agam and Robin, we, the fans, shuffled out and went back to some more photograph and autograph sessions, vaguely realizing that the Christopher Heyerdahl and Amanda Tapping panel (which honestly I loved that we began and ended with Amanda) was the next and last panel. As we headed back into the auditorium for the final panel (grabbing some blue jello on our way in, made by some awesome fans), it was an interesting atmosphere. True, we were all a twitter and excited for what Amanda and Chris would talk about, and what kind of questions would be asked, but it was also a heavy-sad feeling that we were coming very close to the end. Thankfully, Amanda and Chris got up on the stage, and we all settled in. The chemistry between those two actors is awesome, both on screen and off.

Within the first couple of minutes, Amanda made reference to Helen kissing boys or girls in her past, which had quite a few of the people in the room cheering, and others giggling. And just to keep the giggling going, Chris demonstrated being Biggie and washing laundry. It got a lot of us thinking about what Biggie would actually look like, doing the laundry, and putting it up on the line.

But, getting to some more meatier Season 3 spoilery stuff, Amanda told us about an idea she had and went to Damian Kindler and Martin Wood to discuss it, and they ran with it. Apparently, in the episode that Lee Wilson directs, called “For King and Country” (Episode 8), there is a moment of incredible intimacy between John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl) and Helen Magnus, and it all happens while Druitt is knocked out.

I know I can’t wait to see what that is, especially since it was Amanda’s original idea, and it’s been carried out to fruition. Moving on, a fan asked about Ashley, and whether or not Helen will have any more kids. Amanda immediately said that there will probably not be any more children for Helen, and then she went on to discuss Ashley, and the fact that she will not be coming back. Apparently they had discussed the options for Season 3, and how they could do it. She went on to say that Ashley died a heroic death, and to bring her back by some means of some scifi trick would be somewhat cheap, and I have to agree 100%.

Now, in the memorabilia room is one of Amanda’s Helen costumes, and a fan brought that up and asked about the period wear. Apparently nearly all of Helen’s costumes were made for her. Amanda said that as she puts on the clothing, it’s amazing how it changes your posture and the look on your face. You suddenly stand more upright. She said there are layers of bustle, to which Chris retold a great little quip about how he once said he liked her bustle, and she hadn’t yet put it on. This got everyone in the crowd laughing. We also, quickly learned that we will meet Nigel Griffin, who apparently also had an amazing wardrobe.

As Becky Preen walked up to the stage, and we all realized that the Chris and Amanda panel were finished, the crowd erupted in a collective sad sigh. As the gabit-events pros everyone passed out tissues to each other, Chris and Amanda waved goodbye and went to sit down, while Becky and Julia Hague from Gabit Events came up on the stage. Julia’s closing speech is notorious for making even the strongest person get teary eyed. And, as promised, her closing speech was eloquent, emotional, and left me with tears in my eyes.

After the speech by the two Gabit ladies, the Sanctuary for Kids team (Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, and Jill Bodie) came on stage. It was heartwarming to hear about how Sanctuary for Kids started. Apparently, back in the day, Jill had said to Damian that when he did make it in the industry, that he’d do something good for the world (ie, use his power for good). Then, Amanda and Jill got together, and the magic happened. Sanctuary for Kids started.

They spoke about the joy it brings them to see all the fans gathered there, and how we, as a collective, are a blessing to them, because they couldn’t do it without us. Well, I have to say this to the Sanctuary team. You are truly an inspiration, and I do hope that other shows take the challenge that Damian gave at Comic Con. I do hope that other shows see how one little show that went from web series to an international phenomenon, can use that power and that fanbase to generate hope for other people in the world. As the check was presented, Amanda, Jill, and Damian all made incredulous faces, and we the fans sat in our seats watching the number that was on the check come up slowly on the screens on either side. I was blown away when I saw the number $87,040.00 come up. Not to mention that Legends Memorabilia announced that a fan wanted to round that number up to $88K.

At the very end, Becky Preen summed up the entire experience with an amazing quote, that I still keep with me to this day. “Instead of Sanctuary coming home. We’ve come home to Sanctuary.” And with that, The Sanctuary Experience was over, and later we found out that that $88K had actually increased to over $90K. It’s an amazing feeling to be part of something so incredible. Thank you Sanctuary. Thank you Gabit. And thank you fans and readers!

Bring on TSE2!

Ash0283

I know I mentioned it before, but I have to mention it again. The Sanctuary Experience raised over $90K CAD for Sanctuary for Kids.

That being said, I can now delve deeper into Day 2 of The Sanctuary Experience.

As we filed somewhat sleepily into the main hall, we were greeted by the smiling lovely face of Becky, one of the G4 from Gabit Events, who played a video for us to get us revved up and ready for some Sanctuary action! As the cast and producers came onto the stage, we all clapped, and I know my heart started to pound in excitement about the fact that The Sanctuary Experience had officially begun. As Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins and Christopher Heyerdahl exited the stage, we were left with the three producers, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, and Damian Kindler. They thanked us for joining them at The Sanctuary Experience, and then immediately fell into stride talking about the one thing that we all had in common, Sanctuary.

They were as passionate as their show as they had been the night before, and immediately we found out that they had hoped to do a 3D episode. It didn’t sound like they had yet, but that they were hoping to. In fact, there is someone working with them who had worked on Avatar. Can you imagine? A 3D Sanctuary episode? I can just imagine the wickedly amazing abnormals just leaping off the screen, and the enigmatic smile of Helen Magnus seeming to be even more mysterious as we’re dragged both giggling and gasping into the bowels of the Sanctuary network, and then left hanging from the turrets. But enough about the 3D aspect, let’s just all cross our fingers that it happens!

Onto more pressing matters, like their favorite episode thus far. No real shocker here, but everyone seems to be quite excited about the episode Breach. As I had spoken about in the Meet and Greet report, it had been originally conceived before Sanctuary even hit the screen, but back then, when Damian and Martin were driving up to Whistler and talking about different shows, they had called it “Mother of the year”. Which makes one wonder if it’s going to be about a motherly aspect, how can that happen without a daughter? (Please note, as you’ll find out in my last report, Ashley is more than likely not coming back this season, and Amanda gave a phenomenal reason why, but that’s for my last post, so you’ll have to check back soon). They didn’t tell us too much about Breach, but I did find out some juicy tidbits in an interview with Damian and Martin that will also be coming out soon. Let’s just say that for once, Breach will give the audience a bit of a leg-up over the rest of the Sanctuary network, and we’ll know things that only Helen Magnus knows.

One fan asked about the “Will Vision” and whether or not that makes Will a bit of an abnormal, and would there be more of it this season. Both Damian and Martin said that they had decided to pull-back a bit on the Will vision because while everyone else in the Sanctuary seems to have some kind of abnormality, they really wanted to focus on a “common guy” and let Will take that role on. However, they did say that as a forensic psych, Will sees things that a lot of people just overlook, and it’s not abnormal, but it makes him a bit more special than the average person. Hence why Magnus chose him.

Another fan asked a really silly question about what would be the answering service at the Sanctuary. At this point, Martin jumped up and ran down to where Christopher Heyerdahl was sitting, and handed him the mike. Within seconds we heard in true Biggie voice…

“City Morgue… Parts Division,” which got us all giggling. However, the best part was when he continued. “City Morgue… Parts Division… wait for it… Parts Speaking.”

That had the entire room roaring with laughter, not to mention the snorting and chortling taking place.
Though, we had another heavy dose of laughter when for some odd reason, Damian started speaking in, what he called his “C-3PO voice”. It was quite amusing to hear him speaking about rather serious topics in a voice that sounded like he had just inhaled a whole balloon.

On top of all this, we learned an interesting tidbit about Amanda’s different facial expressions. Apparently she has so many different looks, that they’ve started writing them on the scripts. “Deathglare #5” kept coming up quite a few times. Though, I can’t imagine Amanda with any kind of death glare. While I don’t believe in the stares, I can believe that this lady can do her own stunts, and we were proven right on this accord as Amanda herself answered a question about stunts, and stated that she does nearly all of her own stunts.

One of the last questions of the panel was one that was quite deep and near to my heart. It was around the move between webisodes to television and how that has changed the overall feel of Sanctuary. Damian gave a lot of great tips to remain positive regardless of what “Hollywood” is telling you, and Martin acknowledged that the tv series did get a bit diluted in ways they didn’t want to, but that’s just the nature of the game. While, they all acknowledged that there was a definite give and take between what the networks want, and what they want to show, Damian summed up the whole idea with a great statement.

“Don’t sum up your passions by other people’s reactions.” In other words, if you want to do something, do it, don’t let what other people think or say stop you from persuing your dreams.

When the hour was up, it was sad to wave goodbye to the three of them, but they left us with such excitement for the 3rd season of Sanctuary. Also, I’d like to thank Gabit for having the three of them up first, because it really set up the whole Sanctuary Experience.

During the photograph and autograph sessions (all proceeds of which went to Sanctuary for Kids), we were privy to an amazing 2-man acoustic show with Damian and Ryan Robbins. I’ll tell you one thing, Ryan has an absolutely amazing and heartfelt voice. You not only could hear the songs, but you could feel them. It takes a true artist to be able to pour emotions into lyrics, and he definitely did that. Of course, it’s not truly a Damian/Ryan show without a few giggles, and there were enough to keep us smilling. If you ever get a chance to hear that duet, I highly recommend it.

As we filed back into the panel room, we got to see an awesome video, prepared by the Gabit folks that seemed to rev us up and get us über excited for Agam Darshi and Ryan Robbins who portray Kate Freelander and Henry Foss respectively. As we’ve learned from Twitter, RyRo seems to have a knack for nicknames, and lovingly called Agam, “Darsh Vader”. That little bit of humor threw us into the talk with the two actors. It’s amazing how a little bit of insider knowledge can make everyone feel like we’re just sitting around with old friends, shooting the breeze.

Did anyone know that Agam tried to kill Ryan with an icepick? I sure didn’t. Ok, so she didn’t try, and it was completely by accident, but Ryan told us all about a wonderful story about how somehow an ice pick ended up in his sternum. Mind you, I think one of the funnier parts of the story was that when Agam went to tweet about it, she had to go back and check to make sure that she had in fact written “sternum” and not “scrotum”.

When we jumped into fan questions, one fan asked about Agam’s preference for hot chocolate or wine. The giggles from the fans and sly look from Agam told most of us fans who weren’t in the know that it probably had to do with something other than drinks. The answer was quite intriguing.

“Henry is like hot chocolate…” Agam said. “And Will is like…” “Drunk?” Ryan interjected. “Wine,” Agam continued. That strange little quip from Ryan had everyone cracking up in the audience.

Another fan asked about doing their own stunts. Agam said that it was challenging at first, but now she loves it, and Ryan loves doing his own stunts… especially when he had to land on top of Agam. He then showed this by holding up his hand as if he were reading from a script and said “And Henry lands on top of Kate,” Ryan said. “Look, Damian said it.” The interaction was adorable as Agam rolled her eyes and all of us chuckled along.

As the Q&A continued we learned about the audition process for Agam (3 auditions). We also learned that “Sanctuary is the best job I’ve ever had,” from Ryan who has popped up in quite a few different scifi shows on tv. And we also learned that Agam said it was a breath of fresh air that she wasn’t asked to play the stereotypical role, just because she’s an ethnic actress. To wrap it all up, when asked what they would be at a Sanctuary Halloween party, Ryan said that Henry would probably be Kermit the Frog. That one little tidbit again left the audience roaring with laughter. And finally, for all you Henry/Kate shippers out there, Agam said that she really thinks that Kate would rather go for an abnormal guy (or girl!).

Again, it was tough to say goodbye to Agam and Ryan at the end of their talk, but we had to in order to get ready for the auction. Oh, and just because, you need to know, this is what Ryan looks like with cleavage apparently.

Before the auction, the Gabit folks had created two videos about the different charities that Sanctuary for Kids has helped in the past, and hopes to continue to help with the money raised at the event. After the videos were over, Amanda came onto the stage with tears in her eyes, and thanked us ahead of time for whatever we could contribute during the auction. After she spoke, the rest of the gang filtered onto the stage and reiterated the same idea. All of our favorite friends were there, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Damian Kindler, Ryan Robbins,  Christopher Heyerdahl, and Robert Lawrenson. They had quite a few awesome things up for auction such as the nubbins that traveled the world with the fans, an actual green screen nubbin, a Sanctuary script with Martin’s director notes written in it, Chris’ jacket from Twilight, a 15 minute phone discussion with Richard Dean Anderson, Sam Carter’s white lab jacket, and so many other awesome things.

Things went fast, and high. I don’t think hardly anything auctioned off for less than $500, and quite a few things over $1000 (including both of the nubbins that traveled the world), and a couple at $2000 CAD! During the auction, the Sanctuary gang ran around the room, joking around with fans who were bidding, and showing off all the wonderful objects, some of which got some extra loving from the cast members (Chris licked both a nubbin and a knife!) And in order to have some of the prices go up higher clothes came off! Ryan took his shirt off, Chris took off his shirt, and Martin dropped his drawers beneath a beautifully made blanket.

At the end of the auction we found out that we had raised over 30K in that night alone, to which Amanda very passionately freaked out about. We found out that she had hoped to maybe raise 25K for the entire weekend. In one night, in about 2 and half hours, we beat what she had hoped for.

As if the day hadn’t already been jam packed, after the auction, we went back to our perspective hotels, hostels, and motels and got ourselves all gussied up in some amazingly elaborate abnormal costumes. There was a leprechaun, a valkyrie, Kali, Einstein, Medusa, Rainbow makers, an angel, and so many other amazing costumes. Hey, there was even a Henry Foss and a Declan there! Or rather, there was a Ryan and a Robert. They came by for a bit at the beginning of the dance and chatted with people, and bopped a bit on the sidelines. All in all an amazing day, but one that left me entirely EXHAUSTED!

I’ll leave you with this one last fun photo: Bobblehead Amanda.

Thank you for reading. Come back soon for the final installment, the last day of the Sanctuary Experience. It has information from Lee Wilson and some amazing special effects shown (can’t show you what we saw, but can tell you what we heard), Q&A’s with Robin and Agam, and Amanda and Chris, and Chuck and Robert, and the final presentation of the check to Sanctuary 4 Kids.

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The Sanctuary Experience is the first time that GABIT events ever put on an event in Vancouver, and with 10 different guests. While they have made a name for themselves in London, with only one guest — Amanda Tapping — quite a few fans knew that they would not disappoint. In particular, this fan was so excited to be going, for several reasons: Getting to see friends I hadn’t seen in quite some time, learning interesting tidbits about the upcoming Season 3 of Sanctuary, getting to interact with the cast and crew of the show, and of course, help Sanctuary for Kids raise money throughout the entire Con. In fact, the total money raised throughout the con surpassed an incredible $90,500 CAD!


The entire event lasted from Friday evening to Sunday evening. This report will cover each of the different days separately.

Within a few moments of entering the hall, we were greeted by the Gabit folks all of whom were wearing outfits that made all of us Sanctuary fans reminisce about Kali parts 1 and 2. After being given a bindi, I felt as if I was really truly integrating into the Sanctuary Experience. We mingled, we talked, we had a couple of drinks, and then the Sanctuary team arrived. (Well, Damian Kindler arrived a few moments later, sporting his motorcycle helmet and gear)

After a short intro into what the Sanctuary Experience meant to each of the actors and producers, they started mingling around the tables. First off, Producer and Director, Martin Wood stopped by our table. We asked him what his favorite episode so far in Season 3 was, and he answered ecstatically “Breach!” While talking with Martin, we discovered that it will be episode 5 in Season 3 of Sanctuary, and is an epic battle between Dr. Helen Magnus and a new character played by Ian Tracey. In fact, the episode has been such a long time coming, that Damian and Martin had conceived this episode before Season 1 even aired. When he left, our table was a buzz with excitement over the prospect that this episode was going to knock our socks off apparently.

Next up was Robin Dunne, who stopped by the table. With a smile, he asked us where we were all from, and after explaining that we had people at our table from the four corners of the world, we asked him what his favorite episodes so far for Season 3 were. He told us to watch out for the arcs between episode 5 and 6, which basically changes the entire course of the series. He also explained how the first episode, Kali 3, is extremely big for Will. One can only imagine how the Sanctuary gang was going to get us away from Big Bertha, and into the arcs that will change how we see the series.

Next up was Lee Wilson, who is the visual effects supervisor from Anthem Visual Effects. We found out that Lee directed episode 8 this upcoming season, entitled For King and Country, which focuses on the 5, and possibly… wait for it… the “6″! He joked around with us for a bit about how he had thought that they would be asking him to direct a more visual-effects filled episode, but found out that it was in fact much more drama filled, and plot-driven. He said it’s mostly set in Victorian England. I don’t know about you fans, but I know that we, at our table, got very excited when he talked about this episode. We also found out that his favorite shot out of all of the elements that he’s worked on was in Season 2, when they did the pull back on Ashley Magnus, and the other warriors that The Cabal had made. I have to agree that that shot was visually stunning.

When Lee left, everyone talked amongst themselves, and you could just feel the excitement bubbling up for Season 3. Within an hour of being there, we had found out that two episodes (Breach and For King and Country) sounded absolutely amazing. Ryan came to our table next, but didn’t give too much away about the season, although he did say that we were in for a treat. He was closely followed by Agam Darshi . While they didn’t tell us too much about Season 3, because time was starting to run out quickly, both of them seemed extremely excited about attending The Sanctuary Experience. In fact, it was Agam’s very first convention!

After Agam left, Amanda Tapping walked up to our table, and knelt down in between me and a friend, and in her exceptionally bubbly way, was able to have everyone chattering away within moments. She thanked us all for coming and supporting Sanctuary and Sanctuary for Kids. She seemed genuinely excited about the upcoming season, but didn’t give too much away that evening. After clinking wine glasses with her, she flashed her signature smile and walked onto the next table.

The next one to show up at our table was Chuck Campbell, who you may know as “The two faced guy” but who we also learned is also a stand in for a lot of the actors on the show, and is a full time employee within the Sanctuary team. Chuck was a breath of fresh air, and made me giggle more than I had in a very long time. When we said that the trailer for Season 3 looked amazing, he jokingly added little tidbits of information about the different scenes, such as on the call sheet, Ian Tracey’s character doesn’t have a name, but was referred to as “Jekyll and Hyde”! This juicy little tidbit made all of us at the table breath in a collected gasp.

Last, but certainly not least was Robert Lawrenson who let us know that Declan will indeed be back in the Sanctuary. (This fan girl let out a silent squee when he told us that). In fact, he’s in 3 of the first 10 episodes, so we won’t have to wait too long to get a dose of Declan! We also learned that this was Robert’s first convention! So many firsts at the first ever Sanctuary Experience!

Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we weren’t able to talk with Christopher Heyerdahl or Damian Kindler during the meet and greet. However, during a rendition of the Kali dance put on by the Gabit folks, we were privy to some awesome dancing skills from Chris. 

Our surprise for the evening was a great showing of the spectacular dancing skills of the Gabit team. As soon as the Kali song came on, the entire room started cheering, and then the reason for why each of the ladies from Gabit was sporting a Kali-inspired sari. I was thoroughly impressed, and I’m pretty sure every fan there, plus all those from the Sanctuary team were also equally impressed!

Unfortunately the Meet and Greet had to come to an end, and while The Sanctuary Experience had only just begun, as we filed out of the hall, and into the night, we knew that this weekend was going to be amazing.

Thank you for reading, and please keep an eye out for the remainder of my writeups about The Sanctuary Experience for both Saturday and Sunday, which will be coming shortly.

Oh, and let me just leave you with this one image…

Please note. Pictures were taken by @Ash0283 @Paganx and @Grandsovereign at The Sanctuary Experience.

Ash0283

Hi Charity Fans!

As you may be aware this weekend is The Sanctuary Experience also known as Vanctuary! The TSE convention being held in Vancouver British Columbia this weekend to the delight of Sanctuary fans the world over!

Our reporter Ash0283 is on-site due to courtesy from the wonderful Julia Hague and her team at GABIT Events and Ms. Carole Appleby of the Sanctuary media relations department.

Their team does outstanding work and it has been our honor to be associated with and meet them recently at Comic-Con.We are even more honored to lend our support to Sanctuary For Kids!

WHR will have detailed reports for you about the event in general and the fantastic Sanctuary For Kids charity auction at The Sanctuary Experience in the coming days ahead from Ash all due to the courtesy of the great people at GABIT, Sanctuary and of course Dr. Helen Magnus herself, the lovely and extraordinarily talented Ms. Amanda Tapping.

What not everyone may know is that one of the primary purposes of The Sanctuary Experience event is to raise money for a extremely worthwhile charity; Sanctuary For Kids! For those attending whom are donating their time and monies to make the event a success, our team also ask that you visit Sanctuary For Kids and make a donation to support the worlds most precious resource, our children.

We know things are tough for many due to the world-wide economic situation, however we here at WormholeRiders News Agency respectfully ask that if you have the wherewithal, please click the Sanctuary For Kids links or image and make a donation to help the children.

Thank you for your consideration is making a donation to Sanctuary For Kids!

Best Regards,

WR_Systems (Kenn)