It’s that time of the year again for graphic artists and fans of graphic art. The Lightbox Expo 2023 has opened today, and it will run until the 29th of this month at the Pasadena Convention Center. The event boasts a large variety of exciting panels and demos, making it hard for fans to decide which ones to attend. To help fans know what to expect this year, we recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Bobby Chiu and Jim Demonakos, the co-founders of Lightbox Expo. Yesterday, we released our conversation with Bobby, and today, we are sharing what his fellow co-founder, the talented writer and filmmaker Jim Demonakos, had to say.
Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters
GVN: Thanks once again for sharing some moments with us Jim. Before we get started on Lightbox Expo, let’s touch one last time on your very successful documentary Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters. (Having been one of the supporters of your work, I can’t help but feel a bit of pride in your success, having won multiple film festival awards.) I have asked this before, but now that the film has been so well received and honored, do you have plans to profile perhaps another artist? There are so many to choose from.
Jim: Thank you so much for supporting the film, we could not have made it without the contributions of so many people on our crowdfunding campaign. We’re thrilled with the reception it received on the festival circuit, and we’re hoping to have it available to view on some platform online early next year as well. To answer your question, we are definitely working on doing more documentary productions around comic creators, unfortunately, there’s not much I can talk about publicly right now, but we hope to have something to announce in 2024 on this as well!
Making Plans
GVN: When it comes to this year’s Lightbox Expo, how soon after the previous one concludes do you and Bobby start making plans for the next? I would imagine that with each passing year, you have more and more creators who want to participate.
Jim: The timing of the show allows us to take a bit of time off around late November through December for the holidays, but then we start back up working on the next event as the new year hits. Of course, each year brings a new set of incredible artists and creators who want to be part of the show, so balancing that as well as filling out the rest of the event takes up a lot of time. We have a new policy as of last year to only allow 20% repeats for our artist alley, guaranteeing that the show floor feels like a new experience even for people who come year after year.
New Panels
GVN: Of that I have no doubt. I asked Bobby this so I will ask you as well. Is there a new panel or demonstration that you are most excited about for this year’s Expo?
Jim: That’s such a hard choice, we have over 200 different programs, panels and demos happening this year. I’ll go for an easy one to start with, we’re having a “Behind the Art – TMNT: Mutant Mayhem” panel that features the director and art director talking about one of the most exciting, animated releases of the year. On the other side of the spectrum, we have “Sketching Fantastical Creatures with Pencil and Watercolor” by Iris Compiet, who illustrated the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth Bestiaries, showing people her techniques in an up close and person demo. Overall, there are too many fantastic programs to choose from, with those two being just the tip of the iceberg.
Reasons to Attend
GVN: Thank you once again for sharing a moment of your time Jim. Before I let you go, give us your best sales pitch on why artists and fans alike will want to take in Lightbox Expo 2023.
Jim: If you’re looking for one of the best artist alleys, some of the deepest programming, and a sense of community and love for art unlike any other, then LightBox Expo is the place to be!
Lightbox Expo 2023 starts today and goes through the 29th. If you are in the Los Angeles area and love graphic art, this is the place to be.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.