Scream Awards 2009
by Mike Sametz
Oh Jesus, help us! The lovely Erica and I are hiking up to the Greek Theatre today to try and see what transpires are the Scream Awards. I have never heard of the Scream Awards myself, but apparently they air on Spike TV. You see, I don’t have cable, I know I know… I hear it all the time when I ask my friends to TIVO True Blood, but I digress… The Awards show has a LOT of big names in the Sci – Fi genre, so God willing we will at least get a few people to come over and sign. So, on to the hike up to the Greek, I didn’t know collecting would force me to get into shape!
1:44 p.m. – Erica just arrived in LA at 10:30 a.m. so that means she had to be up at 4:00 a.m. needless to say, she’s cranky. LOL… No, I’m kidding she is always pleasant. We just parked the rental car, and are heading over to the Greek. There is about a mile walk up a hill... A hill I say... sigh…
1:46 p.m. – We just went to the bathroom at the gas station. I’m afraid there won’t be any bathrooms up at the Greek, which means no relief for the next several hours. I bought a Coke Zero, but I’m afraid to drink it. If I have to pee now, the whole day will be shot! Sigh…
1:56 p.m. – This is a very steep hill. I think Erica is about to melt. It’s 95 degrees out, I have two bags, my normal over the shoulder and my wonderful bright yellow Buffy The Vampire Slayer bag from Comic Con (http://www.mishmashmagazine.com/tabid/106/itemid/639/San-Diego-ComicCon--Day-3--72509.aspx) that I actually got the last day I was there. It was a tough pursuit but I still got it. Erica wants a special shout out for asking strangers to swap me for their Buffy Bags because I didn’t want to talk to strangers, but she’s short and unassuming.
2:03 p.m. – Erica keeps asking me how much further. I tell her, “Ah it’s the blue tent up ahead” really I have no idea; I’m toying with her… heh heh heh…
2:10 p.m. – We just reached that elusive blue tent. Nope, still not there yet… And did I mention it’s hot and my bag weighs like 20 pounds…
2:13 p.m. – Erica needs to stop and take a breather. She’s going to pass out and then I’ll have to drag her dead lifeless body up the hill, and really who has the time for that? Not me I say.
2:21 p.m. – I think we’re going the right way… wait a minute… yeah, this looks right… kinda…
2:25 p.m. – Oh we see spotlights up ahead. God I hope I don’t have to pee.
2:33 p.m. – We’re here! Whoo hoo… Let’s go sit in the shade and rest…
2:35 p.m. – Thank Jesus for shade! Thank you Jesus…
2:38 p.m. – There are karate kids doing faux fighting for an indie film. I think they are staring at us panting. Still I don’t drink the Coke Zero for fear of having to pee. Did I mention there are no bathrooms?
2:48 p.m. – There is one other collector here. He’s telling us that the setup is different from last year, and our chances might suck. I’m still panting… Erica is lying on the cement picnic table. We need to exercise more.
3:01 p.m. – Erica is whipping out her apple! She’s a crazy person! She’s going wild! She’s not even afraid she might have to… ahem… relive herself later on! Wild! Simply wild!
3:22 p.m. – So, after deliberating for a second, I tell Erica that she should go ahead and find out what’s going on, and do a scouting trip. A reconnaissance mission if you will. So, off she goes. Good luck Erica! May The Force Be With You!
3:40 p.m. – Erica isn’t back yet... I think some Imperial troopers might have gotten her! More than likely she made friends with someone doing the tech on the show.
3:46 p.m. - She baaaaaaaaaackkkkkk! I was right; the lovely Erica made friends with this guy smoking on a bench. He turned out to be one of the managers of the sound crew. He gave us some info, so off we go! Whoo hoo!
4:01 p.m. – A few other people are starting to show up now. We’re taking some of the barricades and pulling them close together to form a line. We’re not total barbarians! We’re somewhat civilized Dammit!
4:11 p.m. – Some of the people who are scheduled to attend are the casts of True Blood, Big Bang Theory, Vampire Diaries, Battlestar Galactica, Karl Urban, Tobey Maguire, Taylor Lautner, Harrison Ford, Kate Bosworth, Keith Richards, Morgan Freeman, Jackie Earl Haley, Quentin Tarantino, Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Eliza Dushku, and Christina Ricci.
4:14 p.m. – The seat fillers are about to go in… Okay, well they are all in costume. Unlike other awards shows, this one is all about the fans so they asked everyone to arrive dressed up. There are some unique people here to say the least. Mainly I see Goth strippers, and a couple Captain Kirks. This should be a unique night!
4:19 p.m. – Dude five collectors just came out of the woods behind us! Like from the trees! I kid you not. Lol…
4:22 p.m. – There is a lot of traffic. If anyone wants to sign, they are going to have to cross four lanes of traffic. Ugh…
4:33 p.m. – Whoa! There’s a unicorn! A real life (faux) unicorn! That’s something you don’t see everyday. Ah, the Scream awards!
4:47 p.m. – We were told that this year’s theme was Alice in Wonderland and horror… at the same time… Horror and Alice… hmmmm… What kind of rabbit hole are they going to crawl into! Oh Alice, ahhhhh It’s Michael Myers!
5:01 p.m. – There are about 30 fans/collectors here now. Most seem okay… now… give them a taste of fresh meat and watch how nice people turn into rabid dogs!
5:26 p.m. – The carpet is about to begin! Yay, we made it all this time, in the sweltering heat! Whoo Hoo! Oh, a car is pulling up… A blonde woman is getting out… holy crap it’s Julie Benz! Everyone starts screaming their heads off. Oh course I have to have bright yellow Buffy bag with me… Oh I’m a dork. She is coming over and heads right for us. Thank you Buffy bag! I grab my Dexter DVD from Erica (she was holding it for safe keeping). Julie is the sweetest, and signs it for me. She also was nice enough to pose for a pic as well. She looks amazing! She signs for everyone on the barricade. This is a great start to the day!
5:33 p.m. – The fog machine is out of control on the red (black and white checkered) carpet. It’s madness... I say madness!
5:37 p.m. – Kunal Nayyar from the Big Bang Theory just arrived. People are screaming for him. He runs right over. Erica and I whip out our handy dandy Comic Con posters for him. He is really cool. We both got him. Now hopefully, we’ll get the rest of the cast as well.
5:43 p.m. – Next to arrive is another tall blonde…it’s… it’s… it’s… Crap Erica just screamed in my ear. I’m like who is it? She says with a sigh, “It’s Kate Vernon! Kate Vernon!” I’m like… “Yay?” Apparently, she is on Battlestar Galactica. I still have yet to watch it, but Erica assures me next time she is in town she will bring me the DVD’s so I can start watching it, and then I’ll be sad because I’ll have missed getting all these people… grrrrrr…
5:46 p.m. – Kate signs Erica’s BG poster, and was really great, cause she signed her full name, and Erica was super happy about that, cause usually she signs with only a “K” apparently.
5:49 p.m. – There is a long line of black cars pulling up. It’s like they are waiting to go in, but no one really knows. It’s like a conga line of limos!
6:09 p.m. – Oh crap, Erica is going crazy again! She turns to me and says, “I want a picture with the Hot Cylon!” I was like, “K” I’ll get you, your pic baby! Michael Trucco is the Hot Cylon and he’s coming over to sign for everyone. Erica REALLY wants this pic, because she has lost all sense of the barricade now and walking next to him to get a signature.
6:10 p.m. – Erica just got her pic. Within a minute she got her signature and a picture. You go Erica. See, she looks unassuming but she always gets what she wants… Generally speaking, yes, she gets what she wants. (She’s sitting next to me as I type this up, and just hit me on the arm… twice… three times now).
6:13 p.m. – Christina Ricci, just got here and only waved. Also some more Big Bang Theory cast members arrived and went and did the carpet.
6:15 p.m. – Jackie Earle Haley from Watchmen just arrived. He’s also the new Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street. Everyone is going nuts for him. I had my picture disc for the Watchmen soundtrack that I got Carla Gugino, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan to sign for me at the premiere. There is frenzy around this man! LOL… People have Freddy hats, gloves, etc… Crazy times. He signed my picture disc and drew a cool little design under his name. Nice!
6:18 p.m. – Oh look, it’s Jennifer Carpenter! She plays Michael C. Hall’s sister on Dexter (and is married to him in real life!) She is really nice and signing a bunch of stuff. I grab my Dexter DVD cover and take off to the other end of the barricade. For some reason she keeps skipping me! LOL…
6:20 p.m. – I just got Jennifer. I was actually the last one she signed before she ran back through four lanes of traffic to the red (well checkered) carpet!
6:31 p.m. – Paul Wesley from Vampire Diaries just made his way to us. He is signing a bunch. Erica and I already got our Vampire Diaries poster signed, so we really didn’t have anything for him. (http://www.mishmashmagazine.com/tabid/106/itemid/639/San-Diego-ComicCon--Day-3--72509.aspx)
6:33 p.m. – The crowds are going nuts for Paul when Ian Somerhalder runs over. I have my Rules of Attraction DVD cover for him. Hey, it’s all I had! He keeps missing it though, and runs back across with Paul.
6:34 p.m. – A limo pulled up… no one can really see who it is… Suddenly the crowd erupts in “Karlllllllllllll” Karl Urban just pulled up! Erica is screaming, the crowd is screaming… Karl is one guy everyone wants. Both Erica and I need him on our Star Trek posters (http://www.mishmashmagazine.com/tabid/106/itemid/636/Chris-Pine-Leonard-Nimoy-Chris-Noth-Signing-Repo.aspx) and he isn’t around a lot… sigh…
6:36 p.m. – Erica is still screaming. She just turned to me and told me she was getting light headed! LOL… Here he comes… Karl is crossing traffic. Suddenly, it feels like there are twice as many people at the barricades as before.
6:38 p.m. – Erica got two from him, one on her Star Trek, and the other on her Lord of the Rings book, and I got him on my one ST poster. He signed for pretty much the entire barricade, which is great. I wish I would have gotten him on my other ST poster, but I’m very happy I got him on the second poster!
6:44 p.m. – It’s getting late and we are watching people going in. Eliza Dushku just arrived and went right onto the carpet, some Battlestar people arrived and waved, but didn’t have time to cross.
6:57 p.m. – Eli Roth arrived and ran over to sign a few. I already got him (http://www.mishmashmagazine.com/tabid/106/itemid/650/Inglourious-Basterds-Premiere-Signing-Report.aspx) so I didn’t even really try.
7:11 p.m. – They are breaking down the event, I mean they are pulling plants and loading them onto a truck for God sakes… lol… it is over!
7:15 p.m. – The Scream Awards have begun. We still have not seen any of the giant names yet.. Oh wait, William Shatner just arrived. Wow, he waved on the way in but that was it.
7:21 p.m. – I’m doing a little scouting around…
7:24 p.m. – Okay, there are a lot of doors in and out, and a lot of collectors have split up to cover different doors. Some people are coming in late, leaving early etc… it’s hard to say where to go. I’m going to check this out more intently… I’ll get back to you with what I find… check out my Scream Awards coverage Part Deux!!
Check out the full set of photos from the Scream Awards arrivals.