1. Comic-Con International
San Diego
#1 Entertainment Industry Event
From its start in 1970 with 300 people and a handful of panels to today’s juggernaut that has more than 130,000 people filling the San Diego Convention Center for 700 hours of programming, the convention has come a long way. The format for the event has stayed the same; it’s the scope that has exploded. Hollywood was a partner from the start—Frank Capra was an early attendee—and the event has become a crucial promotional stop for film and TV series. “We try to produce the type of convention we would want to attend ourselves,” spokesman David Glanzer says. “We’re all fans, we love comic books, movies, toys, games, television, generally popular art. We may not all like the same things, but we can appreciate the diversity of what each of us finds interesting and I think that transfers to the event itself.” Next: July 9-12, 2015
Photo: Courtesy of Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc.