Endless ‘Pasta’bilities at the ‘Luca’ Press Conference

The countdown is on! In approximately one week, Luca, Pixar’s latest masterpiece, will be hitting Disney+ on June 18. The film, helmed by first-time feature director, Enrico Casarosa, the film tells the coming of age tale of two sea monsters who spend an unforgettable summer in the one place they’re not supposed to be; the monster-hunting Italian village of Portorosso.

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‘The Sandman’ is Coming to Netflix

One of the most beloved mature comics of all time is finally coming to life! Netflix is unleashing The Sandman, courtesy of its legendary creator Neil Gaiman! And at last, this week, they’ve given us a look at the upcoming series with a behind the scenes feature and cast announcement!

Check out the behind the scenes feature right here:

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Owen Wilson Talks About Being in the MCU in New ‘Loki’ Featurette

It’s been a long time coming for the celebrated actor Owen Wilson to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s hard to believe he’s never been in a Marvel film or television series. Having been part of the Disney family since 2006 in Disney Pixar’s Cars as the voice of Lightning McQueen, Wilson never really thought about being part of the MCU until he was pitched to by Loki director Kate Herron. Now, Wilson plays Time Variance Authority (TVA) agent, Mobius, who works with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) to stop a rogue variant from killing more of his Time Agents in Marvel Studio’s Loki.

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Diving Further into the Depths of Pixar’s ‘Luca’

Earlier this year, The Nerds of Color was invited to see an extended preview and behind the scenes look at Pixar’s latest film, Luca. The film tells the tale of a young sea monster named Luca, who ventures out to an Italian seaside town with his best friend, Alberto, to experience life, danger, food, and fun during the best summer ever.

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‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ Director Calls Film the ‘Most Warren-Centric’

After four years since the announcement of a third Conjuring film, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is finally being released next month on June 4. Director Michael Chaves has been patiently waiting for this moment. While working on The Curse of La Llorona, Chaves was chosen by The Conjuring 1 & 2 director and executive producer James Wan to spearhead the third installment of The Conjuring films. Since finishing production in the summer of 2019, the film was set to release sometime in 2020, but with the global pandemic, The Conjuring 3 was placed on hold.

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The CW’s ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ Season 3 Has Officially Wrapped

The cast of Roswell, New Mexico has just shared that they wrapped filming the third season! To celebrate the occasion, many took to social media to share some content from their time working on the new season, which does not officially have a release date yet, but fingers crossed it’s soon.

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Moving ‘Onward’: The Personal Story Behind The Upcoming Disney/Pixar Feature

“We’ve all lost someone, and if we could spend one more day with them,” Dan Scanlon, Writer/Director of Onward wonders aloud, “what an exciting opportunity that would be.” Disney and Pixar’s upcoming feature, Onward introduces two teenage elf brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest after receiving their late father’s letter along with a mysterious spell that will give them one day with him. The story is inspired by Writer/Director, Dan Scanlon’s relationship with his brother and their connection with their dad who passed away when he was about a year old.

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15 Things We Learned from the Set of ‘Birds of Prey’

With the holidays around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with news from the anticipated Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. The Nerds of Color was invited to the set of Birds of Prey this past April to explore the dangerously fun production of the all-women led “superhero” movie and chat with the cast and creatives of the film. 

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Interviewing the Crew Behind ‘Frozen II’

Well folks, after a month-long countdown on our site, we are in the homestretch leading up to the release of Frozen II, and we’ve only just begun to break the ice (Wow. That was bad. Sorry.). I would like to extend my humble thanks to everyone who counted down to the film’s release with us, and we have a couple more surprises in store for you Frozen fans this week! For one, we had a chance to talk to the Heads of Animation for the film (Becky Bresee and Tony Smeed),  as well as the Head of Story (Normand Lemay) and Director of Story (Marc Smith) about the evolution of the project. Here’s what they had to say!

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Exploring the Enchanted Forests and Dark Seas of ‘Frozen II’

To countdown to the release of Frozen II, we are providing all of you with an inside look at the making of the movie, as well as interviews with the filmmakers and artists who worked incredibly hard to bring Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and, of course, Olaf to life. Earlier this week, we brought you a look at how the talented team at Walt Disney Animation brought a future classic musical sequence to life. Today, we’re excited to reveal another new sneak peek at the magic to come!

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How to Create a ‘Frozen’ World: Inside the Production Design for ‘Frozen II’

To countdown to the release of Frozen II, we are providing all of you with an inside look at the making of the movie, as well as interviews with the filmmakers and artists who worked incredibly hard to bring Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Sven, and, of course, Olaf to life. Last week we brought you a look at the evolution of the sequel’s story. This week we’re excited to reveal another new sneak peek at the magic to come!

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An Afternoon With the Crew Who Brought ‘Dumbo’ to Life

The early years of Disney Animation are marked by some of the most seminal classics in the history of everyone’s childhood. Among one of the most dear and tearfully sentimental was 1941’s Dumbo. It came at a time when folks had never conceived of the possibility of seeing something as grand as an elephant flying. But Walt Disney, and the first generation of Disney animators, dreamed of what it would look like and brought it to life in vibrant colors and adorable designs. And the results have since become something of legend.

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Right Here, Right ‘Bao’

Oakland and the surrounding East Bay Area is a welcoming, casual town. The standard uniform of jeans and a hoodie is a ticket to pretty much anywhere: a Warriors game, a UC Berkeley lecture hall (as a student or even as the professor), a Michelin-star restaurant, R&B paint night at the Complex. The few exceptions are three-fold: the Piedmont School District, an available slice of sweet potato pie at Lois the Pie Queen after 10:00 AM, and Pixar Animation Studios.

I have lived in the East Bay for more than twelve years, and I have never gotten closer than peering through the iron gates while driving past to get my son to badminton practice. Until now.

To celebrate the upcoming in-home release of Bao and Incredibles 2, Pixar opened their gates to The Nerds of Color as well as other media outlets for dinner and interview opportunities with their creators.

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A Behind the Scenes Look At My Process

Originally posted at Medium

I recently got an email asking about my latest appearance on Madam Secretary and I thought I’d draw a cartoon about the whole thing.

Here was the email:

Wow!! I saw your episode last night and I’m blown away! So I had a question that you partially answered with a tweet. Do you speak Russian? At all? I saw that you had to learn 4 pages but did you have any background in the language. Also, your accent was amazing!!! Did you ever study the accent or did you just learn it when you got the audition?

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How to Be Black in Comics

by Darryl Ayo

[Ed. Note: This essay originally appeared as a series of tweets on Darryl’s Twitter timeline.]

I’ve tried for years to draw black people as real characters as well as visibly dark; it’s expensive with screentones.

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My 20 Steps To Getting Published

With two novels under my belt, Hollowstone and West of Sunset, one of the things I’m asked the most is advice about getting published. Shifting into writer mode which coincidentally looks a lot like Puppet Angel (hence the above pic).

The following is an email I sent to readers sharing my experiences which I think may serve as a useful resource for other writing aspirants.

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What I Learned by Failing in Comics: Hustle & Flow

Let me start by saying, I’m not a writer. I’m a hustla that raps a lot. For the duration of this causerie, I’m a rapper. Like your favorite rhymes sayer: I got a story to tell.

About decade ago, there was a cipher with the man who gave Bruce Leroy his glow. That build set me on a journey; I took my lyrics and went looking for Sun Dum Goy.

My rhymes, evolved into a screenplay. I rapped in the studio, my rhymes became a novel. I kept on rapping until I had a demo tape.

When I was hustling my original novel in the streets, OGs put me on to the comic book route. Considering the nature of my rhymes: martial arts fantasy fiction, many figured it was best way for people see me lyrically.

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Meet Patrick Lin, Layout Supervisor for Inside Out

by Grace Hwang Lynch

This post is part of a series I’m writing based on my recent visit to Pixar Studios, courtesy of Disney.

On my recent trip behind the scenes at Pixar studios in Emeryville, I met several prominent Asian American and Pacific Islander animators who are playing a big role in the making of the upcoming animated film Inside Out, which opens in theaters June 19. One of them is Patrick Lin, Layout Supervisor for the movie.

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HapaMama Goes Behind the Scenes at Pixar

A few weeks ago, I was in California on business and stayed in a hotel in Emeryville, just outside Oakland. Emeryville also happens to be home to the most successful animation house in the world: Pixar Studios. Even though the studio headquarters was just a stone’s throw from my hotel, I was unable to go beyond the front gate (which is still cool, by the way) because Pixar isn’t typically open to the general public. However, friend of the NOC Grace Hwang Lynch — the creator of the awesome blog HapaMama — got an all-expenses paid trip to see what life is like on the other side of that gate!

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The Show of Shows: Being at Wrestlemania 31

The Granddaddy of them all. Wrestlemania.

I’ll start this off by stating how special this year’s ‘Mania was for me, mainly because my favorite wrestler ever, Randy “Macho Man” Savage, had such a huge imprint on the event.

Wrestlemania IV in 1988 took place in Atlantic City, NJ, not even 90 minutes from my childhood home in Philadelphia. We had plans to attend, but tickets were sold out, so the Spectrum — the local basketball stadium — had decided to open the stadium up and broadcast Wrestlemania on the JumboTron for a small fee. I was so excited, I had to go. My mother agreed and took my cousin Howie and me to South Philly for my first Wrestlemania moment. I bought a Macho Man poster, a foam finger, and a program.

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