Often events happen that we can’t get to cover extensively or at all. This year that dubious honor fell on Anime Expo in Los Angeles. As much as we might have wanted to go there and show you everything from the expo we have Comic-Con to plan for and that has to take presidence.

Fortunately, we’ve got friends. And one of those friends, SamProof, went to the expo and shot a lot of video, cut it together and we’ve got it for you today. We think it captures the essence of Anime Expo and helps us get over (mostly) the fact that we couldn’t be there this year.

Check out the video after the jump. For more from our pal SamProof, head on over to his site.

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The San Diego Comic-Con schedule continues to roll out and now Friday’s list of events, panels, screenings and more has been released. Where Thursday was chock full of diverse programming from comics to movies to a super geek extravaganza in the Joss Whedon / J.J. Abrams panel, Friday has more of a recurring theme going thought it. That theme? Star Wars.

That’s right, Comic-Con has chosen to honor one of the greatest film franchises of all time and bring you several panels and events directly related to that theme. Some of the highlights of Friday’s schedule for us include screenings of Batman: Brave and the Bold, Dimension Film’s Piranha: 3D panel, the Dark Horse Comics panel, AMC’s The Walking Dead panel and the Big Bang Theory panel.

In addition, one of our favorite shows, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, comes to the Con for the first time as well as these: Sony Pictures’ The Other Guys and The Green Hornet panel, a Girls Who Kick Ass panel, the True Blood panel and premiere screening of 30 Days of Night: Dark Days and Batman: Under the Red Hood.

Yes, Friday at San Diego Comic-Con looks to be yet another day chock full of great things to see and experience. Sadly, you won’t get to see it all because you just can’t be in three paces at once. If only they could perfect that cloning technology. We can dream. Until then, get used to some disappointment.

Click through for the full Friday schedule. Of course, be sure to check back right here for more on San Diego Comic-Con.

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Last week in ‘Countdown to …’ we launched a new Q&A format, exploring what San Diego Comic-Con is like for the typical exhibitor. You know, those hard-working and creative artists that manage to secure a booth every year? This week, The Flickcast sat down with Melody Severns, a veteran skater with the L.A. Derby Dolls who has worked on ‘King of the Hill,’ both  ’The Simpsons’ TV show and ‘Simpsons Movie’ as well as being the founder of GirlsDrawinGirls, a group of  over 90 active female artists.

The group provides collaborative projects for its artists (such as book collections, group art shows, and opportunities to participate in charity art events such as the Pasadena Chalk Festival), in addition to promoting each member’s individual artistic endeavors through cross-promotion and marketing prints, original artwork and other art-related merchandise. You can find Melody and many of the girls at booth #5429, or look them up in the official guide under ‘GirlsDrawinGirls.’

Without further ado, let’s find out what the Con is like from Melody’s perspective as an exhibitor, what are some of her likes and dislikes regarding the Con itself and what she looks forward to this year at SDCC 2010.

The Flickcast: San Diego Comic-Con 2010 is less than a month away, what are you and your artist associates doing to get prepared as an exhibitor?

Melody Severns: Right now we are currently waiting with great anticipation for the release of our new book, ‘GirlsDrawinGirls: Vol. 3: Sugar and Spice.’  The book will be released along with our opening reception on July 9 at the Animation Guild’s gallery in Burbank, CA.

The book will also premiere at comic con.  I’m really excited about it.  We got stunt woman, and actress, Zoe Bell to write the foreword, and I’m telling you, this looks like our best book yet!

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Make no mistake, the love for San Diego Comic-Con is strong with all of us here at The Flickcast. In fact, we’ll be covering the Con like no one’s business next month. And yet, as much fun and eye-candy as SDCC can offer the attendee, I wondered, what’s it like for the typical exhibitor? You know, those hard-working and creative artists that manage to secure a booth every year? I decided to find out.

This week, I sat down with Cutter Hays, artist and writer of the Mouse Knight series and perpetual Comic-Con exhibitor (please visit him at booth #I-2; check the official guide under “Mouse Knight”). I wanted to find out what the Con is like from his perspective, what are some of his likes and dislikes regarding the Con itself, and what he looks forward to this year.

The Flickcast: Comic-Con is nearly a month away, what are you doing to get prepared as an artist and an exhibitor?

Cutter Hays: Oh, you know, playing lots of WoW, sleeping 20 hours a day and getting it on with my 20 year-old girlfriend. Actually none of that is true. My girlfriend is 22. No, okay – actually, I’m incredibly busy, under the gun hardcore.

One month ago, a UK publisher signed my books (all of them, the entire Mouse Knight series), signed contracts even.  They were going to be doing a special limited run of 200 of each of the first two books, numbered and everything – they were going to say “2010 Comic-Con” on them for collectability.  Then, two weeks ago, they wrote to say they weren’t going to be doing any of it this year for some reason (they declined to say).

This left me and my agent in a very bad spot. Not enough time to do it ourselves.  Fairly certain that was some kind of break of contract, but maybe not.  Who cares?  They flaked hard, last minute, and now its up to us. We’re in a time crunch from hell to get those same special editions (minus the hard covers) printed in time for Con and at a huge cost to myself.

Sucks hard, but…whatever. Definitely not the first time publishers have broken their word, it’s just too bad that it’s the rule and not the exception.

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This past weekend, the gaming community from Ontario to Hawaii descended upon the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA for PAX East 2010, the first Penny Arcade Expo on the East coast. PAX Prime, a mecca for all things gamer, has been held since 2004 in the home of Penny Arcade, Seattle WA, so this was the first chance for us this side of the Mississippi River to attend this epic experience.

And what an experience it was. In between concerts by Jonathan Coulton and MC Frontalot and panels with geek gods like Will Wheaton there were tabletop games, demos of huge upcoming titles like Skate 3, Red Dead Redemption, or Dungeons and Dragons tournaments.

Whether you were looking for someone to play Rock Band with or you just wanted to connect your Pokemon with someone else’s Pokewalker, there was never a shortage of things to do at PAX East. And while this was the convention’s debut to our coast, it felt like home already.

While the convention may be over, our coverage at The Flickcast is just beginning. If you didn’t get a chance to attend the convention, or you went but didn’t quite get to see everything, keep an eye out for our articles on PAX East 2010 including some epic cosplay snapshots, our favorite indie games, and some of the newest gaming tech you need to keep your eye on.

As the SXSW Film, Music and Interactive festival gets closer, more and more announcements are coming out about what programming we can expect during the event. Friday, it was announced what film would cose the competition and in addition, more features and shorts were added to the program which already features over 100 films.

Here’s all the info about the new items from the official press release. As we told you previously, we’ve got a great team going to SXSW this year so be sure to check back often for more.

SXSW FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES CLOSING NIGHT FILM,

ADDITIONAL FEATURES & SHORTS FOR 2010 EVENT

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced Chris Morris’ pitch-black satire Four Lions as its Closing Night film, to play on Saturday, March 20 at the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas. SXSW also released additional feature and short titles or the 2010 event, which will take place March 12 – March 20, 2010. The festival will open with the world premiere of Kick-Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Aaron Johnson, Cholë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage.

SXSW will also host more than 80 Film Conference panels, which will take place Friday, March 12 – Tuesday, March 16. Previously announced participants for the 2010 SXSW Film Conference include Michel Gondry (The Thorn in the Heart, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), David Gordon Green (Eastbound & Down, Pineapple Express), Jeffery Tambor’s Acting Workshop, and Academy Award-winning Argentine composer, solo artist and producer Gustavo Santaolalla, among many others. For full panel descriptions and participants, as well as the complete film lineup and schedule, visit http://sxsw.com/film/.

Additional Feature Films in the 2010 SXSW Film Festival include:

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Diversity seems to be the key this year at the SXSW festival, which takes place in Austin, TX from March 12-20, as they’ve now announced the full lineup of Panels and short films that will be at this years event. As with the feature films schedule, this list of panels and shorts should provide an almost endless supply of diverse and interesting programming for attendees.

Following sre some highlights of panels we think are worth checking out. For a full list and descriptions, head over to the SXSW official site. Also, be sure to check back here at The Flickast as we’ll be at SXSW this year to bring you all the details on these great events and much more.

A Conversation with Michel Gondry
The stratospheric rise of Academy Award-winning visionary Michel Gondry is one of the great success stories of modern film. Working with fellow travelers like Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman and Bjork, Gondry has made his mark on the film landscape with iconic work like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. Come and enjoy what promises to be a fascinating discussion as Gondry discusses his latest, highly personal and emotionally raw documentary A Thorn in the Heart with TCM’s Elvis Mitchell.

Directing the Dead: Genre Directors Spill Their Guts
How does modern horror take gore beyond the purely grisly to the level of grand guignol art and imagination? How does bone-cracking violence and flesh-rending horror contribute to the hallowed pantheon of art and cinema? Join five of the most striking genre filmmakers in modern movies as they lock horns over the all-important issues of blood, guts and gratuitous gore. Featuring Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), Matt Reeves (Let Me In) Eli Roth (Hostel), Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds), Ti West (House of the Devil), moderated by Scott Weinberg (Cinematical)

Filmmakers in TV: A Case Study
Carving a niche in the world of film is tough enough, and achieving the same feat on the small screen is no easier. Successfully mastering both is in yet another league, but somehow the creators of HBO’s Eastbound & Down are pulling it off with style. Find out how Danny McBride (Your Highness), and filmmakers David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) and Jody Hill (Observe and Report) made it look easy in this illuminating, entertaining glimpse at the art of combining technical skill, sharp comedy writing and moving from the packed auditorium to the living room couch.

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With the Academy Awards just around the corner, it’s always fun to make predictions as to who the winners might be. To help you in this, and promote its Oscar-related content, Vanity Fair magazine is launching a free iPhone app that will allow you to make your picks for all the awards and receive realtime results on the night of the show.

Of course, you can also invite friends to vote for the people you think have the best chance of winning, compare your selections to friends and the Vanity Fair editors, and chat via the app the app in Facebook. On Oscar night, the app will show you who is winning from your picks.

The app also offers access to Vanity Fair‘s content including background information on nominees, stories, photos, profiles, trailers of nominated films, and slideshows. Hey, they gotta pay for the app somehow, right? With some much hype surrounding the Oscars, its nice to see an app that caters to the most important aspect of the night: who’s gonna take home the golden statue.

If you check out the app, tell us what you think in the comments. Also, after the break, we’ve included a little video that helps you understand Vanity Fair’s vision for this app and a little more on how to use it. So check that out too.

The Academy Awards take place on Sunday, March 7 at 8/5P on ABC.

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Today, one of our favorite companies (Apple, if you couldn’t guess) sent out invites to an event next week on January 27th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. In the invitation, the company cryptically says, “Come see our latest creation.” Cool. We hope its the long-rumored tablet, but you never know. Based on the look of the invite it might just be a great new paint application.

It’s going to be a crazy day since so much anticipation and hype has been building for an Apple tablet and the room will probably explode if Apple doesn’t announce one. Still, with all the things going on in the world, it’s nice to see a company that’s able to suprise people now and then.

Although the company’s near-obsession with security may annoy some, it’s sometimes okay not to know everything that’s going on all the time. Surprises are actually nice sometimes.

The event starts at 10 AM Pacific so be sure to check in right here at The Flickcast for all the scoop.