Nothing beats the anticipation of waiting for a studio presentation to start, especially when it contains one of your favorite superheroes of all time. Last year when I went, I was in the throes of one of the worst chapters of my life (post-getting laid off) and was stressed out the entire time, even if I did have fun most days.

This year I went into it with only simpler expectations: to enjoy myself, bond with my buddies, and maybe make a friend or two. Proud to say I fucking did that.

Ended the week exhausted as hell, but thrilled I got to see some cool shit (the red bike show and amazing orchestra and THE WEEKND’s surprise performance) and some genuinely dope announcements like The Beatles’ being turned into a bingeable four-movie event coming in 2028. Truly insane and I’ll be interested to see if they pull this off.

CinemaCon isn’t just about the studio stuff (for me, anyway), it really is about the people I connect with. Some of these folks I met way back at San Diego Comic-Con in 2023 and that one connection has spanned into a multi-state friends group made up of press, writers, editors, and media people trying to grow their own channels.

I’m so big on community, and have been missing a bit of that since moving to Vegas, the pandemic, and having my baby, so this past week has been so necessary; food for my soul. I also have a tendency to self-isolate when I’m overwhelmed, which I am working on.

Honestly, you can’t really have a bad week when you spend most of your evenings at rooftop bars and pool parties, ya know?