Leap Con
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Leap Con |
| Dates: | 1992-1996, 2009-? |
| Frequency: | intermittent |
| Location: | Southern California |
| Type: | actor convention, for profit |
| Focus: | Quantum Leap |
| Organization: | Creation Entertainment, later Leap Time Inc. |
| Founder: | |
| Founding Date: | |
| URL: | history of Leap Con conventions |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Leap Con is a series of for-profit Quantum Leap conventions held in Southern California.
Some cons were by Creation Con, and others were not.
The first Quantum Leap con was called "Quantum Con"; the name was changed to "Leap Con" the next year. Most fans probably don't make this distinction and refer to them all as "Leap Con."
1992 ("Quantum Con")
It was organized by Creation Entertainment, and took place March 1, 1992 at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City, CA.
The day before was Leap Weekend, where Dean Stockwell got his Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
There is a transcript of the main panel (Bellasario, Stockwell, Bakula) printed in The Imaging Chamber #10, as well as online here.
Many photos and videos are here.
It was at this first "Leap Con" that a California Crew music video was re-edited and shown without its creators' permission, something that fans had mixed feelings about:
The distribution is erratic on song-tapes only if you don't make them yourself, really. Hanging around with Judy, I found that the MW vid-makers generally swap copies of their year's work. I don't think California Crew does anymore, though, since Creation got hold of one a copy of their 1991 tape and RE_MADE "You Can Call Me Al" and "Oh, Boy" and one other QL video and showed the RE-CUT versions at the LeapCon. California Crew are of the opinion that since the song and the TV show are copyright works, they can't copyright their vids, but I wonder if song-vids would fall under compilation-copyright, or even under whatever copyright holds for collages. So, because the commercial vipers swiped the videos and re-made them (it's not just that they were shown, it's that Creation re-did them, and not as well), nobody gets to see California Crew vids outside MediaWest. [1]
1992: Con Reports
The first official Quantum Leap convention was produced by Creation Entertainment. Featuring Q&A sessions with Don Bellisario, Scott Bakula, and Dean Stockwell plus the ceremony for Dean Stockwell's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! This convention was held at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City, CA. Dozens of guest stars were in attendance and a favorite of the weekend was the costume gallery."[2]
1993
The convention was held in Los Angeles, CA on February 13 & 14, 1993. It was organized by Creation Entertainment.
Some guests were Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell, Jim Thompson, John D'Aquino, Richard Herd, Mary Gordon Murray and Brad Silverman. Neil Patrick Harris, Larry Minetti, Jason Priestly, Harrison Page, John Cullum, Milan Nicksic, Renee Coleman, Carolyn Seymore and Dennis Wolfberg
Fan Stacy Doyle attended the convention and set her photo album of her convention photos to music and combined it with her camcorder video she shot to share with other fans. It is has been uploaded to the Internet Archive here
1993: The Vid Contest
On , a fan, Sally Smith, wrote about the vid contest:
I am turning over the rest of this message to my friend Joyce Hatcher, known to those of you who attended QL Con 1 as The Microphone Lady. Take it away, Joyce!
Hear ye, hear ye to the #1 net!
This is the second call for the QL music video contest to be held in Los Angeles, place and date to be announced (sometime shortly before the QL con on Feb. 14, 1993).
Rules are simple:
1. No pornography, nudity, bestiality, etc. In other words, videos must be rated "G". Any inappropriate scenes will lead to instant disqualification.
2. Videos can be no longer than 4 minutes, 30 seconds.
3. Videos must be submitted on VHS cassette, NTSC standard, recorded at SP.
4. Entering this contest gives consent for duplication (but _not_ sale or public distribution) of video and videos will not be returned unless return postage and packaging is included.
5. You do not need to be present to win.
6. No original music allowed.
7. Employees and relatives of employees of Universal Studios, Belisarius Productions, NBC, or any organization directly connected with "Quantum Leap" are not eligible to win. They may enter videos which will be shown but not judged.
8. This contest is not in any way connected with, involved with, approved by, sanctioned, or anything with Universal Studios, Belisarius Productions, NBC, or any official organization; it is strictly a fannish endeavor.
9. If a video was shown at the Dean Stockwell luncheon or the QL con, it is ineligible for any prizes.
10. Please send your tapes to:
Joyce Hatcher [address redacted]
Entries must be postmarked by JANUARY 16, 1993 to be eligible. [3]
1993: Con Reports
There are seven con reports for this con in Quantum What? #12.
All conventions and especially Creation Conventions have good points and bad points. The highlight of course was seeing Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell in the flesh -- they are sooo cute! I also really enjoyed hosting a room party and seeing the videos that people brought to the party.
There were lots of different technical people who discussed, in length, about what they do to pull an episode together. I never seemed to hear a lot of their talks, I was always doing something; it might be the fact that our seats were on the extreme left side of the stage and it was uncomfortable to twist the neck in that position for any length of time.
We also managed to miss a good portion of the convention by taking a side trip into Hollywood. The convention started at 10:00 am on Saturday and lasted until 4:00 p.m. ONLY. The whole day was filled with the technical people, a drawing to win a 'walk on' on the show, and the showing of an episode. Scott, Dean, and Don did NOT make an appearance on Saturday!! By the time we got in from the airport, had lunch, and picked up a book in Hollywood, we only saw the drawing and the episode.
Universal, when they found out that they (the convention) intended to show an episode, asked for it's cut. So only highlights of the episode were shown. At soon as it ended, we had to go and get stuff for the room party!
We did manage to load up (I always tend to go overboard) and get dinner on the run -- Mel's Drive In exists in L.A.! When we got back to the room, the party was waiting outside our room. We had about 10 or more people in the room the whole evening until we closed down around 1:00 a.m.!
The discussions covered various topics while we waited for the VCR delivery. We decided at 8:45 that we had to find our own! It wasn't easy, but once we had the right video store, it was a piece of cake.
Before 9:30, we had videos rolling continuously until 12:30! There are a lot of interesting videos out there! Joyce Hatcher and I put together a music video for the convention to the song Sharp Dressed Man, by ZZ Top. (Yes, it took hours!)
Sunday, the convention started at 10:00 and went until about 5:30. Sunday morning, clean up, check out, and get out, was a comedy of errors.
I had decided to go in costume, which included a red fedora! In trying to decide what we could leave behind in the room from the party, it was fun to debate what food groups are important -- (we should take the cake, the sodas might be handy, the pretzels are worthless, etc). We had breakfast included, so we were going to have breakfast -- which means, we missed some panels and Don Bellisario's ideas for the show.
The guest stars panel was incredible! They managed to get Neil Patrick Harris, Larry Minetti, Jason Priestly, Harrison Page, John D'Aquino, Brad Silverman, John Cullum, Milan Nicksic, Renee Coleman, Carolyn Seymore and Dennis Wolfberg. The questions ranged from incredibly stupid to rather intellegent. It was a lot of fun to see these guest stars up close. I did manage to get some rather good pictures - being in the front row in a red fedora helped a lot!
The convention was a lot of fun, and I think everyone who went had a good time."[4]
1995
Leap Con was held February 18-9, 1995 at the Burbank Airport Hilton, Burbank, California. Creation Entertainment was its producer.
There were celebrity guests, panels, a video room, a charity auction, and a dealer's room.
Tickets in advance were $40 ($50 at the door).
Guests were Dean Stockwell, Scott Bakula, John D'Aquino, Richard Herd, Mary Gordon Murray, Brad Silverman, Jim Thompson, Gillian Horvath, Ginjer Buchanan, Elizabeth Storm [5], Ashley McConnell, Julie Barret, Willie Garson, Sheryl Francis Harrington, Michelle Joyner, Donna Magnanai, Clive Barker, Diamond Farnsworth, Michael Stern and Michael Watkins, Rodney Kageyama, Beverly Leech, Beverly Mitchell, Michael Genovese, Arthur Rosenberg, Jean-Pierre Dorleac, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Rodney Kageyama, Beverly Leech, Beverly Mitchell, Michael Genovese, Arthur Rosenberg, Jean-Pierre Dorleac, David Brooks, Otto Coelho, Jeff Corbett, Corie Henninger, Greg Millar, Jennifer Rhodes, Pat Skipper, Maree Cheatham, Renee Coleman, Susan French, Leila Hee Olsen, Carolyn Seymour and Rich Whiteside.
1995: Programming
- Welcome! (a short "hello" and video introduction)
- Editing Quantum Leap (Assistant Editor Jim Thomson)
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (John D'Aquino, Charles Dugan, Marion Dugan, Richard Herd, Mary Gordon Murry, Brad Silverman)
- Writing for Quantum Leap (Gillian Horvath, Jule Barret, Ginjer Buchanan, Ashley McConnell, Elizabeth Storm)
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (Willie Garson, Sheryl Francis Harrington, Michelle Joyner, Donna Magnani, Bruce McGill, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn)
- Costume Desight (Costume Designer Jean-Pierre Dorleac will show a video of the fantastic costume show from Leap Con #1, answer questions)
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (Rodney Kageyama, Beverly Leech, Beverly Mitchell, Michael Genovese, Arthur Rosenberg)
- Lord of Illusions Preview (Clive Barber and Terry Erdmann will present slides and a trailer for the movie, Lord of Illusions)
- Fan Fiction Brown Bag Lunch ("A discussion about writing and editing fanzines hosted by Carol Davis, with a panel of other talented fan fiction writers and contributors.")
- German QL Episodes
- Breaking Into Screenwriting (Gillian Horvath and Donna Letto)
- Brown Bag Lunch with Harriet Marguiles
- Behind the Scenes of Quantum Leap (Diamond Farnsworth, Michael Stern, Micheel Watkins)
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (David Brooks, Otter Coelho, Jeff Corbett, Corie Henniger, Gregory Millar, Jennifer Rhodes, Pat Skipper)
- Charity Oction
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (Maree Cheatham, Renee Coleman, Susan French, Anne Lockhart, Leila Hee Olsen, Carolyn Seymour, Rich Whiteside)
- Tribute to Dennis Wolfgerg
- Producing the Quantum Leap CD (Mark Banning)
- Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell
- "The times for the Electronic Fandom panel and Music Video panel have yet to be determined." (It is unknown if these actually occurred.)
1995 programming
1995 programming
1995 con staff
1995 photo collage by a fan
1995 auction items
1995 auction items
1995: Con Report
Okay, gang, here goes. I promised my con report and I'm going to do my best to give you a good one. There is only one _little_ problem. I'm doing this whole thing from memory with only the schedule of the con in front of me to help jar the old grey cells. If I make a mistake, apologies in advance. There were a _lot_ of guest stars. If you have any other questions, post them, and I'll try to answer them.
Before the main programming began, the dealer's room opened. Pictures, keyrings, refridgerator magnets, zines and other various goodies were available for purchase. The room should have been a little larger. When there were a lot of people in there, it was very hard to navigate the room. I'm sure there was at least one or two things that appealed to everyone there.
First thing I noticed (although I'd heard the news the day before) that Don B. wasn't going to be there on Sunday (or Saturday for that matter). He had "a hectic weekend shooting schedule" and could not attend.
The backdrop for the stage was the opening scene from the Pilot episode, complete with the headlights of Al's car off in the distance (sorry, no blond in the foreground). It was a nice backdrop, but a little too busy and tended to draw the automatic focus of cameras (video and still) away from what I was really trying to focus on. Thankfully, the Con Committee was taping the entire thing.
Okay, on to what I remember of the con, starting with Saturday, February 18th.
_Editing_Quantum_Leap_
Jim Thomson gave this little talk, and I did not attend this one. He showed the Making of Marilyn tape, which I'd seen at another con and I wanted to say 'hi' to friends that I knew where there and would be wondering around at this point. I hope that someone else can report on what was said at this panel.
_QL_Guest_Panel_One_
John D'Aquino, Richard Herd, Mary Gordon Murray and Brad Silverman.
This group played well off each other. Like I said, I'm only giving impressions here, unless something really stands out in my memory, and unfortunately, nothing really does from this panel.
_Writing_for_QL_
Gillian Horvath, Ginjer Buchanan, Elizabeth Storm, Ashley McConnell and Julie Barret
I was volunteering during this panel, but it was checking con passes at the door, so I did manage to catch a little of the discussion. Gillian talked a little about screenwriting while the other the other ladies discussed writing the QL novels and concordance. If you're interested in writing a QL novel, send a SASE to Ginjer and she'll send you the specs. I had talked briefly with Elizabeth before the panel and she is one really nice lady, a true fan of the show as well as a writer. Small plug here -- her novel, _Pulitzer_, looks like it's going to be really great. The cover art is the best yet (she had advanced copies with her, which she showed me) and the brief synopsis I read tells me it's going to be a great book. Sorry, this turned into a commercial, but I was very impressed with Elizabeth.
_QL_Guest_Panel_Two_
Willie Garson, Sheryl Francis Harrington, Michelle Joyner, Donna Magnanai and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
I was out kibitzing with my friends and missed that panel.
_Costume_Design_
Jean-Pierre Dorleac showed a tape of his fashion show from 1992 and then answered a few questions. The tape took most of the time and I wish that it was available to the fans. It was a professional looking tape and well put together.
_QL_Guest_Panel_Three_
Rodney Kageyama, Beverly Leech, Beverly Mitchell, Michael Genovese and Arthur Rosenberg
I don't remember much about this panel, other than the fact that they were having a lot of fun. There was a lot of laughter and joking around. Rod was asked about his kiss with Scott (in LHO) and he joked about how many times they had to practice that and the large number of reshoots -- actually, he said the whole shoot was very professional.
_Lord_of_Illusions_Preview_
Clive Barker was a good speaker -- and he seemed so normal. :) He showed a couple of clips of LOI. Looks like it's going to be a good movie. The really weird stuff with this panel had nothing to do with Clive. Partway during his Q&A, the fire alarm went off; a very high piercing noise with flashing lights. False alarm of course, but I was a little surprised that no one got up to leave. Later, A party that was next door let loose with some really awful music. Before that, it had been smurf-like music, but this stuff was awful. Clive said he'd rather have the smurf music and have this image of small blue bodies doing -- things -- on the floor of the next room.
Sunday, February 19
_Behind_the_Scenes_of_QL_
Diamond Farnsworth, Michael Stern and Michael Watkins
These guys were just plain fun. They told stories of jokes on the set -- which I believe that someone else has already mentioned. I have to admit, though, that the thought of Scott's car horn being wired to go off everytime he hit the brake is hysterical -- almost as funny as the mind-picture I have of the van shaking with the laughter of the crew as they watched Scott start up his car. Diamond did mention that there were some stunts that he wouldn't let Scott do, but that Scott did do a lot of his own stunts.
_QL_Guest_Panel_Four_
David Brooks, Otto Coelho, Jeff Corbett, Corie Henninger, Greg Millar, Jennifer Rhodes and Pat Skipper
Another great bunch. The con committee did a great job of putting together guest panels that got along great together. Nothing really stands out from this panel, other than the fact that Jeff (Chip--Leap for Lisa) said that he got engaged on Valentine's Day and that LfL was his first job in LA (he's originally from NYC) and that the cast (meaning Scott and Dean) and crew were absolutly wonderful. Actually, any guest panel you went to, this was the feeling they came away with. The set was obviously a very happy one to work on.
_Charity_Auction_
I was helping to work this one, and it was a lot of fun. In case you were there, I was the runner wearing the Dean Stockwell airbrushed shirt -- and the one who was yelling out the bids for the woman who finally got the towel that Scott wore on MB. She ended up bidding $3,500 for the towel. No offense, but I thought it was a bit excessive. I did get close to the towel, and it isn't black. It had a pattern running through it and was dark green. I myself bid on, and got an autographed photo of Dean and an autographed copy of the script to _Married_to_the_Mob_. I think the total rasied for charity by the auciton was around $15,000, but Adina will have to let us know for sure.
_QL_Guest_Panel_Five_
Maree Cheatham, Renee Coleman, Susan French, Leila Hee Olsen, Carolyn Seymour and Rich Whiteside.
Another fun panel -- especially for the ladies. Renee told us about the scene she did with Scott in the first Evil Leaper episode. Scott, it seems, was a little shy about the bedroom scene, while Renee was all set to have a lot of fun. Renee was no longer the shy little girl we'd seen at previous cons -- she was having fun. BTW, ladies, Renee said that Scott has very soft lips. Susan (baseball team owner in Play Ball) said that the scene when she had Scott on the desk was their first scene and they hadn't even met at this point. She introduced herself and then threw him on the desk. Some intro. :)
_Tribute_to_Dennis_Wolfberg_
This was a montage of clips of Dennis's career. Some of his standup stuff, receiving the Commedian of the Year award, clips from QL and his obit from _Entertainment_Tonight_. Very nice. Dennis is definitely going to be missed.
_Producing_the_QL_CD_
Mark Banning spoke for about 30 minutes or so on the CD. Right now, there are no plans for another CD. Problem with this panel is that people weren't paying all that much attention because of what was coming on next. This had originally been Don's time slot.
_Scott_Bakula_and_Dean_Stockwell_
Scott walked on first. This time, he was on time and Dean was late. My first thought when I saw Scott walk on was that he needed a comb. He definitely looked scruffy. Nice, but scruffy. Hair was mussed, shirt wasn't tucked in and one of his boots wasn't laced. <sigh> He still looked good though. Dean, on the other hand (when he showed up about ten minutes later) looked nice. Multi-colored shirt, nice pants and shows, and his hair was combed. :) Scott gave Dean a wrap-around hug when he showed up.
The best thing I can say about Scott and Dean is that it is obvious that these two men really do like each other a lot. At one point, Dean called Scott 'son' and Scott's face lit up. It was obviously a compliment that Scott appreciated.
The two of them were playful on stage as well. As a promo for LOI, there were these little plastic knives with blades that sunk into the hilt when you poked someone (or thing) with it. Dean got his hands on one and kept stabbing Scott in the leg. There was a lot of joking about that. At one point, Dean turned his back to Scott when Scott had the knife, expecting Scott to stab him in the back. Of course, Scott would never stab Dean in the back (and he didn't).
We heard the car horn story from Scott's point of view, as well as the story about the golf balls Dean got for his birthday one year.
The guys were scheduled to be on the stage for an hour and they stayed for an hour and a half. They were more than generous with their time, spending time with the con committee afterwards to thank them (I assume) for the con.
I already told you about my 'brush with greatness,' meaning Dean, so I'm not going to repeat it here.
I had a wonderful weekend and I would like to take this time to thank Adina and the rest of the con committee for a wonderful weekend. The whole weekend was very professionally done and if there were any problems, I certainly didn't see them and I've been to a great many cons -- both larger and smaller ones.
CONGRATULATIONS ADINA AND CREW!!!! You did a great job and I'm looking forward to next year's already. [6]
1996
Leap Con was held Feb 17-18, 1996 at Beverly Garland's Holiday Inn in North Hollywood, California.
There were celebrity guests, panels, a video room, a charity auction, and a dealer's room.
The guests were Deborah Pratt, Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell, Mark Banning, Julie Barrett, Ginjer Buchanan, SaMi Chester, Doran Clark, Kimberly Cullum, Otto Coelho, John D'Aquino, Carol Davis, Mike Genovese, James Harper, Richard Herd, Gillian Horvath, Donn Magnini, Harriet Margulis, Marjorie Monaghan, Ashley McConnell, Penny Peyser, Rodney Kageyama, Arthur Rosenberg, Ryan McWhorter, Daniel Roebuck, Michael Watkins, Clive Barker, Rich Whiteside, and Chris Ruppenthal.
Con proceeds went to "All Children Count," "Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS," "The Los Angeles Mission," and NIRS (Nuclear Information and Resource Service."
Tickets in advance were $40 ($50 at the door).
1996: Programing Book
- Video Footage of Scott Bakula in concert at "Wizards"
- Welcome! (short "hello" and video introduction)
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (John D'Aquino, Rodney Kageyama, Donna Magnini, Ryan McWhorter, and Brad Silverman)
- Video (behind the scenes of "The Last Gunfighter")
- Lunch ("Music videos or food? Decisions! Decisions!")
- Breaking into Screenwriting (Gillian Horvath)
- The Making of the Quantum Leap CD (Mark Banning, the soundtrack producer)
- Fans and Fandom (a chat with Executive Coordinator Harriet Margulies)
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (SaMi Chester, Otto Coelho, Michael Genovese, James Handy, Arthur Rosenberg)
- Bloopers and Music Videos
- Ask the Quantum Leap Guest Stars (Doran Clark, Kimberly Cullum, Harry Groener, Richard Herd, Rich Whiteside)
- Come As You Are Leaper's Party
- Dean Stockwell Film Festival in the Beverly Garland Theatre
programming
programming
con staff
2009
Fan videos were also shown at this event and there were plans to put the vids on DVD.
[1].
2016
Plans had been underway for a possible convention. Their page.
References
- ^ comments at Virgule-L, quoted anonymously (December 2, 1992)
- ^ Convention: Quantum Con 1992 - Q&A with Scott, Dean, and Don, Archived version
- ^ QL: Video contest (Dec 8, 1992,)
- ^ Stacey D. 1993 convention report, reprinted with permission.
- ^ Storm wrote several official Quantum Leap novels, as well as fiction in Green Eggs and Ham.
- ^ con report by Beth Beth Hlabse at Con Report (repost) at rec.arts.sf.tv.quantum-leap, February 1995