Comic-Con International and Lionsgate Unveil Launch Plans for Comic-Con HQ

<p>Comic-Con International and Lionsgate unveiled their launch plans for Comic-Con HQ&comma; their newly named subscription video-on-demand &lpar;SVOD&rpar; platform debuting shortly before San Diego Comic-Con this Summer&period; Comic-Con HQ will launch with free beta access on May 7 with its official premiere in June leading up to Comic-Con International&colon; San Diego in July&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The ad-free streaming service will feature an evolving slate of programming including original scripted and unscripted series&comma; recurring daily and weekly entertainment commentary&comma; plus unique access to a growing library of live and archival programming from their world-class events&comma; a highly-curated selection of film and TV genre titles&comma; and behind-the-scenes access and bonus features from genre titles that defy and define pop culture&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;<em>For nearly half a century&comma; Comic-Con has served as the definitive common ground where the fans of genre entertainment come together to express their passion for comics and pop culture&comma;<&sol;em>&&num;8221&semi; said Seth Laderman&comma; EVP and General Manager for Comic-Con HQ&period; &&num;8220&semi;<em>Comic-Con HQ aspires to extend that exchange 365 days a year&comma; bringing everything we love about Comic-Con to the world in ways never before seen and experienced&period; The new platform will provide a year-round destination to enjoy all facets of the community and access the vast diversity of content the world has come to expect from the largest and longest-running pop cultural celebration of the year&period;<&sol;em>&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;<em>CCHQ is welcoming both attendees and fans new to the Comic-Con phenomenon to join our community and enjoy all aspects of the experience in ways never before imagined&comma;<&sol;em>&&num;8221&semi; said David Glanzer&comma; Chief Communications and Strategy Officer for Comic-Con International&period; &&num;8220&semi;<em>Lionsgate is a terrific partner in this venture and uniquely qualified to provide quality programming that speaks directly to our fans&period; We&&num;8217&semi;re excited to see what we can accomplish with a dedicated Comic-Con channel 365 days a year&period;<&sol;em>&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Comic-Con HQ&&num;8217&semi;s slate of original&comma; licensed and live programming for the Comic-Con community and genre enthusiasts everywhere will include&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Recurring daily and weekly programs featuring well-known personalities curating entertainment news and commentary across all facets of pop culture&period; G4 alum Adam Sessler &lpar;X-Play&rpar; will executive produce programs on comics&comma; science and gaming&comma; along with hosting his own insightful 1&colon;1 interview series&period; Fellow G4 star Kevin Pereira &lpar;Attack of the Show&rpar; and his company Attack Media will executive produce an entertainment pop culture news show and a late night talk show format&period; Other formats on the fast track are two roundtable discussion shows&comma; one weekly movie talk in partnership with Complex&&num;8217&semi;s Collider inspired by their popular Collider Movie Talk series&comma; and another all-female panel on pop culture from a female perspective&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Original scripted and unscripted series debuting on the platform include&colon; the scripted comedy series Kings of Con inspired by real-life fan convention experiences from Supernatural stars Richard Speight and Rob Benedict&semi; the science entertainment program Impossible Science starring world champion illusionist Jason Latimer&comma; who explores breakthrough technologies capable of achieving his seemingly impossible feats of magic with real science&semi; and the formerly announced unscripted series with fangirl fashion company and lifestyle brand&comma; Her Universe&comma; hosted by founder and actress Ashley Eckstein&comma; following contestants as they design their geek couture concepts for the catwalk of a live San Diego Comic-Con fashion show in July&period; These series are the first of many originals to be revealed in the weeks leading up to SDCC&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>Unparalleled San Diego Comic-Con access with live-streamed CCHQ programming&comma; airings of select Comic-Con panels&comma; and immersive access to the convention floor and sanctioned events never before available to the public such as the Masquerade and the Eisner Awards&period; Members will enjoy interviews and previews available only on CCHQ in a growing library of new and archival panels&comma; bonus features&comma; behind-the-scenes previews and more&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>An eclectic collection of licensed film &amp&semi; TV series featuring genre greats and hidden gems from science-fiction&comma; fantasy&comma; cult classics&comma; action&sol;adventure and horror&period;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>More news about upcoming programming and partnerships will be announced in the coming weeks&period; Anyone can now pre-register for free beta access on <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;comic-conhq&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">www&period;Comic-ConHQ&period;com<&sol;a> to enjoy a full platform of programming starting Free Comic Book Day on May 7 via their browsers and iOS&sol;Android devices&period; The paid subscription service will roll out across more connected devises in the months to come such as Roku&comma; AppleTV and Xbox One&comma; with additional devices and distribution platforms becoming available throughout the year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Source&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;variety&period;com&sol;2016&sol;film&sol;news&sol;lionsgate-comic-con-channel-1201728963&sol;">Variety<&sol;a><&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;