First up we had Chris Hardwick (one of the funniest and most entertaining people you could hope to have moderate your panel) come out and introduce Lucasfilm president and producer Kathleen Kennedy, director J..J. Abrams, and writer Lawrence Kasdan.
Kennedy started off by talking about how we the fans were the one that made Star Wars what it is and kept it alive.
Abrams went on to tease us that there is a cut of the film that we, of course, couldn’t see. Then Kasdan talked about, how since George Lucas brought him in to write Empire Strikes Back, his life has been tied to Star Wars. Hardwick also talked with Abrams about his focus on the practical effects and how people thought some of the things from the first video release were C.G. and, in response to that, they brought out Bobbajo to take a stroll around the stage and show some photos of other characters from the film all created by Neal Scanlan Studios.
After a brief Q&A from the audience, Hardwick prodded J..J. into showing us, the die hard fans, the behind the scenes reel that Hardwick said he had seen the day before and he cried.
Once everyone dried their eyes, next to take the stage were the “light side” of the film: John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac.
All three of were just so humble and appreciative of the fans. Also, Isaac was asked about Harrison Ford’s advice about flying in the film to which he said, “It’s fake, it’s a movie.”
During the next set of Q&A, a pair of Asain fans asked Abrams about more Asians in the Star Wars film to which he said (tongue in cheek) that he wishes he could cast a fully Asian Star Wars film, but he did follow up on how much he loves working with the diversity of cast.
Next up we have the Dark Side…