Last week, Comic-Con, the largest comics-themed festival in the western hemisphere, once again descended upon San Diego.  The convention, which has been celebrated annually since it's creation in 1970, marks the pinnacle of summer's cult conventions, drawing attendees from all over the world, flooding the hotels of downtown San Diego, congesting traffic throughout the region, and generally unleashing a pandemic of hysterical fandom that celebrates some of the most outlandish personalities, celebrities, costumes, media spectacles, advertising campaigns, products, and franchises that geek popular culture has to offer.

While it began primarily as a means to discover, share and support comics and graphic novels, the convention has expanded into "pop culture elements, such as horror, anime, manga, animation, toys, collectible card games, video games, webcomics, and fantasy novels" (via Wikipedia) and, notably, has become one of the most important events for the various players of the Hollywood film industry, as the die-hard demographic companies clamour to engage delivers itself wholesale to the enormous convention floor.  Tron 2, for example, has been a major supporter of Comic Con for the last 3 years, using the event as a platform to tie-in themed branding, advertising, and to generally whip up the fan-driven media engine into a perfect storm of publicity.  This convergence of fanboy devotion and major-studio marketing hype gives Comic-Con a very special place in the geek zeitgeist, and endears it to many a Chapman student as well.

It's no surprise then, that Dodge students and alumni look to this important gathering as a vehicle to secure some publicity and recognition for their works – and this year was no exception, with five short films accepted to various prestegious panels and screenings.

Three films secured screenings at the festival, garnering attention and hopefully catching some important eyes:

And, we've just learned this morning, that two films won their respective screening sections!

These are all enormous achievements, sure to propel these filmmakers into new and exciting opportunities!  We all know how much these geeks love to communicate and share what excites them (and I'm certainly no exception) so attracting some significant attention at Comic-Con is sure to open up the door to even wider possibilities for them in the future.  Be sure to keep tabs on these short films, as they're poised to take off, with this nod from Comic-Con.  Kudos, filmmakers!

Have any photos or stories you'd like to share from your own Comic-Con adventures?  Share them here in the comments, or write to us at @CU_DodgeCollege on Twitter!