So many panels and events at Wondercon, so little time. But we’re here to help! The Starwars.com team will be at Wondercon reporting about the latest news, toys, comics, celeb sightings and more. Be sure to check back here on the Official Starwars.com Blog and the Official Starwars.com Flickr Photo Blog for ongoing WonderCon 2008 coverage!

Check out this handy link for the full list of WonderCon programs and panels. But to get you started, here’s a listing of our picks of things not to be missed!

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Now there’s a whole new way to gain fandom fame: Mash up your own fan footage with — ready for this? — actual scenes and music from Star Wars!! Totally serious.

Check out this inspired mash-up “How to Speak Wookie” and then show off your creative genius by making your own at mashup.starwars.com

Make a mash up and enter the AtomFilms Fan Movie Challenge.
Use actual Star Wars clips and fan movies to create an entry in the latest AtomFilms Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge For full contest rules, visit http://starwars.atomfilms.com. Nerd Alert: Wookiee is spelled with two e’s.

With these words, Darth Maul considerably upped the amount of dialog he had in Episode I, but you couldn’t hear them in the movie. You heard a bit of this in the “Duel of the Fates” music video, but to hear this whole monologue and others voiced by Episode I characters, you had to catch the “Tone Poem” television spots that aired in 1999. These were made available on starwars.com as well as the Episode I DVD, and now they’re ingredients in the Star Wars MashUp tool found at http://mashup.starwars.com.

You can now pair up monologues from Qui-Gon, Anakin, Shmi, Queen Amidala and Darth Maul with footage from all six films, video games, and even stuff you’ve shot and uploaded yourself. It’s fast, easy, and free so try it out today. Your work may be featured in the starwars.com video player.

We’ve seen Chad Vader lose his day manager position, but it would seem others in the Imperial executive staff are also between jobs at the moment.

G4 posted “The Emperor Gets a Job” some time ago, but in case you missed it, Palpatine visits a temp agency to find work after the destruction of the second Death Star. Check it out here.

This just in from AtomFilms:

The Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge is ongoing, so you can submit a fan movie at any time. There’s a special theme for the Challenge’s next phase. We’re looking for films about the Women of Star Wars.

From Princess Leia to Pink Five, the Star Wars Universe is packed with kick-butt women. Make a fan movie featuring your favorite Star Wars heroine — or create your own. If it’s great, we’ll put it up on Spike TV.

Your Women of Star Wars movie is due to us no later than August 31, 2007 if you want it considered for TV airing.

Got a different idea? No worries, we love all fan flicks: big budget, low budget, or no budget flick — just grab your gear and make a movie!

Find out more about the Fan Movie Challenge at AtomFilms’ official site.

As the winner for the Best Action Award with his film Essence of the Force for the Fan Movie Challenge presented by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms, Nevada-based filmmaker Pat Kerby discusses the challenges of making an impressive action film on a tight schedule when your Sith Lord has a day job.

What prompted you to make a Star Wars fan film? How has George Lucas and his films influence your work?

George Lucas’s films were a big inspiration to me. Once I decided I was going to be a filmmaker I paid close attention to what he did. I learned that good casting and a good story are very important. I admired his independent spirit of filmmaking, for the most part working outside of the Hollywood system. I hope he continues to work to revolutionize filmmaking. The distribution system needs revamping!

What is the backstory regarding your film? Where did you get your idea?

One day my wife asked me to do something and I told her that I’d try. She said, “There is no try, there is only do” — butchering the quote from Yoda. As I started to explain what Yoda actually said, it hit me that that phrase would be a great punch line for a Mountain Dew commercial. I pitched the idea to some friends, and we decided to do it. I had met Thomas Dupont, a brilliant swordsman who worked at the King Arthur’s Tournament show at Excalibur in Las Vegas at the time (he has since become the sword master on Pirates of the Caribbean, and your very own Indiana Jones 4), and had been wanting to work with him. He loved the idea, and after that everything just fell together. The Las Vegas filmmaking community came together to support the project, and after a month or two of pre production, three nights of shooting, and about six months of post (between regular jobs), we had a product that was a nice demo for myself, Thomas, and the whole Vegas filmmaking community.

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As the winners for the Best Fan Fiction: Drama & Audience Choice Award with their film Forced Alliance for the Fan Movie Challenge presented by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms, filmmakers Randy Bookman and Gerry Santos discuss what obstacles and surprises they had making a film that showcases an impressive lightsaber battle as the Jedi and Sith clash in a far away cantina.

What prompted you to make a Star Wars fan film? How has George Lucas and his films influence your work?

Randy Bookman: The intent of Forced Alliance is to get it to the creators of the new Star Wars television series and use it as our calling card. We want to be a part of the creative force (no pun intended) making the show.

What is the backstory regarding your film? Where did you get your idea?

Randy Bookman: Throughout all six Star Wars films, the balance between good and evil has been a major theme. Yet a true balance is never fully realized. Can there be a middle ground? Or is there only good and evil? The real world reflects otherwise. Like the original Star Wars film, our story has undertones of the current social-political issues that the world deals with today. It’s a little darker and at the same time there is hope for what could be.

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As the winner for the Best Animated Movie Award with his film IG-88: The Dancing Robot for the Fan Movie Challenge presented by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms, filmmaker Anton Bogaty mixes clever animated characters with a catchy soundtrack from friend Ollie Glatzer (aka Mr. Zillion). The Seattle-based filmmaker chats about why bounty hunter IG-88 just so happens to have some skills on the dance floor with a little help from Mixmaster Lobot.

What prompted you to make a Star Wars fan film? How has George Lucas and his films influence your work?

I wanted to try and make a music video using some of the electronic music my friend Ollie Glatzer (aka Mr. Zillion) produces. The first idea was a more original piece starring a nameless robot but I think it was Ollie who started to push for a Star Wars-oriented idea. I figured that I would just try and get all of my Star Wars appreciation out into this one video and then swear to never desecrate Lucas’ creations ever again. I was a little kid when the original trilogy was released and it was clearly obvious even to a five-year-old that the Star Wars films were just so full of amazing artistic detail and love for cinema that only the living dead could escape their influence. American Graffiti is still a film that I watch over and over again. I just make nonsense cartoons but that movie is basically a two-hour film school education for my soul. It’s just an amazing movie.

What is the backstory regarding your film? Where did you get your idea?

For some reason Ollie and I became fixated on the IG-88 character. Along with the Snowtrooper, he was the action figure to have back in 1980. It might have been because he came equipped with two blue guns. As cool as he was, he still came across as a bit awkward. It’s hard to really imagine him truly doing action moves in the heat of battle, having toasters for feet and all. But he compensated by wielding two guns I suppose. Ollie’s music was a solid dance beat so the idea quickly became IG-88 trying to hang out in an Imperial night club of sorts. We fixed on the idea of trying to make the film in early April of this year. I knew of the Star Wars fan film contest and we found out its deadline was May 1. It quickly became a challenge of sorts to do the whole thing in a month’s time. I’m always one who enjoys working under a tight deadline, doing the best I can and living with the results, I guess. Again, I figured that I would never get to make another Star Wars-themed video ever again so I stuffed it with everything I appreciated and could remember regarding the franchise.

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As the winner for the Best Short Subject Award for his film Incident At Toshi Station, for the Fan Movie Challenge presented by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms, filmmaker Michael McMahan gives fans a humorous glimpse of what it must be like to lose an AT-AT in a mall parking lot.

What is the backstory regarding your film? Where did you get your idea for your film?

We had an old AT-AT toy in our kitchen above our fridge, and a couple months later an AT-AT action figure ended up on the other side of the room above some cabinets. I liked the idea of an action figure who wasn’t facing the AT-AT and appeared like he was looking for it in the parking lot. Eventually we started joking that he’s probably clicking his keys, listening for the horn. Combine all that with a group of guys who are already making comedic video shorts, and there you go.

Why did you decide to make a fan film? How has George Lucas and his films influence your work?

I made a Star Wars short because it’s something that my friends and I have always been huge fans of, and we tend to make fun of the things that we love. We have other shorts that have nothing to do with Star Wars, but are particularly proud of Incident At Toshi Station.

As for George influencing our work: I doubt we would have had the tools or the interest in a blue screen, stop-motion animation without him. Would anyone be using a blue screen?

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As the winner for the coveted George Lucas Select Award with their film Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager, filmmakers Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda never realized that their viral cult classic series of the Dark Lord of the Sith (or at least his brother) who works in a grocery store would be seen by the Maker himself for the Fan Movie Challenge presented by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms. The Wisconsin-based filmmakers chat about their hit series, and how hard it can be to use the Force to move produce and stay awake under fluorescent lights at 3 a.m.

What is the back story regarding your film? Where did you get your idea for your film?

Aaron Yonda: The original idea for Chad Vader came from a friend of mine named Tim Harmston. I had a one-page script in my archives he and another friend of mine had written about Darth Vader who works in a convenience store, kills his employees, and basically acts like Darth Vader would. Matt and I had seen a lot of Darth Vader fish-out-of-water ideas in the past and wanted to changed this idea a little so we made it Darth’s little brother, who has the same look and powers but not the same confidence or backbone to use those abilities. And we gave him a heart. Chad doesn’t really want to kill people, he just wants them to like him, but he’s got a lot of inner conflicts. Once we had created a unique character out of Chad we became really excited about the idea and we started trying to find a way to make the film.

I really liked the idea of Darth’s younger brother working in a grocery store. It’s as if his younger brother never left the small town they grew up in and has to live in the shadow of his more successful older brother. We make a lot of short films but I was really excited to wear the Darth Vader costume. And once we had a good imitation of his voice down things really came together.

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