PCM had the amazing opportunity to participate in the fifth annual Syfy Digital Press tour which took place at the stunning Loews Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando, Fl. The Syfy Tour also provided us with an amazing experience at Halloween Horror Nights and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando.
During our time spent in Orlando, Syfy Network held several panels with the cast and producers of it’s hit shows such as “Being Human”, “Haven”, “Warehouse 13”, “WWE Friday Night Smackdown”, and more! We were able to ask a ton of great questions and got several sneak peeks at upcoming episodes, story arcs, and a first look at a few of Syfy’s upcoming new shows which included “Lost Girl”, “Monster Man” (preview below) and “Total Blackout” hosted by Jaleel White (interview below).
The weekend started out with a luau at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort’s Wantilan Luau hosted by Josh Gates star of the Syfy series “Destination Truth”, followed by an exclusive tour of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando park. Halloween Horror Nights was a wicked experience with our group which included Warhouse 13’s Eddie McClintock and his family and our friends from Scifistorm.org, Blastr.com, Geekstronomy.com, and AirlockAlpha.com. Eddie McClintock playfully named our group “The Spiders From Mars” and despite the rain we had an amazing time touring the different houses and scare zones, and Eddie kept us all in good spirits with his jokes and enthusiasm. The houses were terrifying and we guiltily admit to letting out a scream or two especially in the “Saws N’ Steam” house…definitely worth checking out but not for the faint of heart! While I wish we could have seen all of the houses, we departed Halloween Horror Nights around midnight, as we had a long day of ahead of us with all of Monday’s talent panels.
The next day after a much needed cup of coffee we got started with the panels for the Syfy shows. The panels started off with “Being Human” which revealed that the new season will premiere on Jan 16th, 2012 and from the sneak peek we were shown it appears the characters are definitely going to be headed in some interesting directions this season and overall it has a darker feel. We can’t wait to see what is in store! The next panel was for the upcoming Syfy mini-series “Neverland” which is a prequel to the Peter Pan story and stars Rhys Ifans, Anna Friel and Charlie Rowe. All of the actors seemed incredibly excited about the project and after spending a few moments with star Charlie Rowe, we can definitely say that this kid is headed for stardom and “Neverland” may just be the project to propel him straight into the spotlight.
The panel that everyone was waiting for was the Eureka/Haven/Warehouse 13 panel to discuss the upcoming Christmas episodes that will air on Dec 6th. The talent on hand which included series stars Colin Ferguson, Emily Rose, and Eddie McClintock provided us with some great insight into the episodes, which will be stand alone, and after having a chance to view them we can not urge you enough to be sure to tune in! Another popular panel was for WWE Friday Night Smackdown, which has been one of Syfy Networks most successful accquistions. WWE Superstar Wade Barrett and WWE Dive Alicia Fox discussed some of the upcoming story-lines WWE has in-store for them, as well as, sharing some advice and wisdom to those looking to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
To close out the panels for the day Syfy revealed details about their upcoming new show “Total Blackout” which will be hosted by Jaleel White. Jaleel and producer Henrik Neilsen discussed with us some of what to expect from the new show and they also led us in a demonstration of what the show will be like using a few of our colleagues which made for a hilarious experience! We can’t wait for this show to air! After the “Total Blackout” panel it was time to head out to our adventure at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which was truly amazing! The park was closed off for our group which included the press, talent, and executives from Syfy and it was such an incredible way to experience the park which provided us with a truly intimate environment that will last in our memories for a long time to come!
I want to take a moment to thank everyone at Syfy and New Media Strategies for putting together and organizing such a great event and we are certainly already looking forward to what will be in store for next year!