Educational Content at MCM London

Professional Geeks: How to Build a Niche Freelance Writing Career

Friday 2PM Creator Stage

We’re all passionate about our fandoms, but how do you make the leap from enthusiast to journalist? There are more opportunities to cover topics like video games, anime, comic books, and films than ever before, but making it a career can be a tough path. Bring your questions for our panel of professional writers, who will be covering how they cover their niche topics, what they’re looking for in an outlet to write for, and how they built a career writing about the things they love.

Worldbuilding For New GMs

Friday 5:15PM Creator Stage

Ever wanted to try your hand at running a TTRPG but don’t know where to start? Is worldbuilding overwhelming to you? Come create your own world and set an amazing story for your players to explore. This interactive panel will have sneaky tips and tricks to help you through all aspects of world creation.

Fantasy & Folklore: Creating Modern Myths 

Saturday 2:30PM Creator Stage

Join a legendary panel of authors as they discuss the influences, challenges, and thrills of writing genre fiction and its importance among modern literature. Featuring Laura Sebastian (Ash Princess), Kit Whitfield (In Great Waters), Lucy Holland (Sistersong), Francesca May (Wild and Wicked Things), and Samantha Shannon (The Bone Season)!

Environmental Fantasy: How Modern Challenges Shape Fiction

Sat 4:30PM Creator Stage

From The Lord of The Rings to The Lorax, fiction is rife with themes and allegories about our own very real surroundings. Now, as climate change and environmental challenges shape the world around us how can fiction prevail as a voice of reason and authority. Join an exciting array of authors as they discuss how environmental issues have influenced their own work and the state of Environmental Fantasy.

Suspenseful Thrillers and Captivating Crime Fiction 

Sunday 11AM Live Stage

Join authors Eve Smith (Off Target), Matt Wesolowski (Demon), Will Carver (The Daves Next Door), and T.L. Huchu (The Library of the Dead) in a deep dive investigation into crime fiction and the addictive themes that keep us coming back for more!

What makes an African story African? From Afrofuturism to Bonzo 

Saturday 11AM Live Stage

Join Kugali’s CEO Danson Njoka and Kugali co-founder Hamid Ibrahim as they discuss what they think makes a story ‘African’. From the rise of Afrofuturism to the creation of the term Bonzo, learn about their new African-centric way of viewing cultural storytelling.

The Sunday Film Club Presents: Behind The Scenes With Indie Filmmakers

Saturday 10AM Live Stage

Gifted young independent creators and filmmakers : Sanchez, Valentina, Ros, Gabrielle, Michael, Darryl and Domingos break down various fundamental parts that will give young potential filmmakers and creators more knowledge of pathways into the industry. Such as the script supervision, the actors process, music scores and the process of getting independent films into festivals.

Poster Posse Portfolio Reviews

All Weekend

Back with a booth, they'll also be hosting portfolio reviews and panels throughout the weekend, more details to come

Editing Comics the Titan Way

Friday 1PM Creator Stage

Titan Comics invites you to sit down with the editors behind best-selling comics such as Doctor Who Blade Runner Cowboy Bebop Horizon Zero Dawn Life is Strange (and more) as they pull back the velvet curtain on the mysteries of the editorial process. From assembling a creative team to sending an issue to print our team is here to tell you about all the steps involved in publishing comics and their own journeys through the comics industry. Editors include Phoebe Hedges (Life is Strange Bloodborne) Jake Devine (Doctor Who/Horizon Zero Dawn/Cowboy Bebop) and David Leach (Blade Runner Phantom of the Opera), all chatting with Titan’s Executive Vice President (and Forbidden Planet TV host) Andrew Sumner. This panel includes time for questions at the end AND you’ll have the opportunity to sit down with our editors 1 to 1 for a portfolio review!

Legendary Comics presents: Collaboration across the pond

Friday 3PM Creator Stage

Join author Paul Cornell (Doctor Who) and artists Steve Yeowell (2000 AD) and Christian Ward (Aquaman, Invisible Kingdom) in a lively round table about the team work required in making comics, as well as the particular joys and travails of adding American publishers to the mix!

EDDSWORLD: Turning Stupid Cartoons into a Career!

Friday 1:45PM Centre Stage

Eddsworld is a long-running animated show that started with flash cartoons by a single person on Newgrounds and now it's viewed by millions of people around the world and employs a growing team of animators and artists. Current showrunner Matt Hargreaves and co-director Andy Clift will speak about their experience making the latest 'eddisodes' and take questions from budding creatives in the audience.

The Science Behind the Superheroes

Saturday 11AM Creator Stage

Ever wanted to crawl up walls like Spider-Man? Be a super-speedster like the Flash? How about wishing for Wolverine’s regenerative power? Whilst most superpowers are things you can only dream of some are closer to reality than you think. This panel discusses the science behind the superheroes and how advancements in technology means being like your favourite hero is closer than you think.

Designing Posters for Marvel

Saturday 3:30PM Creator Stage

Ever wondered what it’s like to draw Spider-Man swinging through New York or Batman overlooking Gotham City, ask the artists behind the poster art of your favourite superheroes

Studying Comics

Sunday 3PM Creator Stage

Ever thought about studying comics at university? Ever wondered what you could do with a degree in Comic Arts. Staffordshire University explores some of these elements as its students sell their work at the Convention. Learn about what makes the course from general art advice to learning script writing and marketing your work. Find out what other potential jobs exist in the market place. If you have a passion to draw Cartoons and comics but have been told at school not to do it come and talk to us.

Creating and Marketing your Manga Comic with Shao Dow

Sunday 4PM Creator Stage
Writer of Shonen Jump style action-comedy manga adventure "The Way of Shao", Show Dow, will speak on the process behind making your own Manga publication; from concept to creation, this insightful panel session will have you inspired to try it for yourself.

Keep Calm and Cosplay: Correcting common cosplay mishaps and mistakes

Friday 12PM Cosplay Central

We've all been there right? You've made a mistake on your cosplay and suddenly all that time and effort feels wasted‚ but don't despair! Sphinxy Cosplay will turn that frown upside down by showing you some potential fixes to common mistakes, such as restyling wigs cut too short; resizing clothes that are too big or small; and smoothing out rough finishes on your foamwork. And of course we share a few top tips on avoiding these mistakes in the first place!

Tips and Tricks for Cosplay Performances

Friday 12:55PM Cosplay Central

Want to learn how to enhance your cosplay competition entry? Or the work that goes into an award winning performance? Alovxra is here to share her experience so that you can enhance your own performance on stage. This panel will go through all the basics such as how to pick the right music an stage presence, as well as tips on how to use performance to enhance your cosplay and introduce your character's story to the audience in the short time you have on stage.

Picture Perfect

Friday 1:50PM Cosplay Central

They say a good picture is worth a thousand words and one of the most common goals in the world of cosplay is to create amazing images. This requires effort on all sides: the photographer who captures the image; the compositor who provides effects; the creative director who guides the poses; tailors and builders who create the costumes and props and the cosplayer who channels the spirit of the character bringing it to life. This diverse panel will showcase an image they helped create and discuss their respective roles in creating stunning visual images behind the scenes and in front of the camera. Topics covered include location selection, lighting and how to light brown skin properly, image composition, character research, how to use social media to publish and distribute images, costume creation, fabrication, visual effects and more.

History of Cosplay

Saturday 11:40AM Cosplay Central

Cosplay, what do you know about it? It’s a big part of pop culture, and there’s always some amazing costumes to see at conventions. Maybe you’re wearing one right now! But what do you know about the history and cultural impact of this subculture? Because there is so much more to it than you might think. Come and learn about a century of cosplay, and more in the History of Cosplay talk with author and cosplayer Holly Swinyard.

Working in Leather

Saturday 3:10PM Cosplay Central

Join Jules of Cosmic Workshop for a master class in the skills and tools you'll need for using leather in your cosplay

Wig Styling for Beginners

Sunday 11:45AM Cosplay Central

Songbird Cosplay is a qualified Hair Stylist who's worked on short films catwalks and assisted stylists who have worked on Fashion Week and competitions. This panel will cover all of the basics, from where to buy wigs, how to cut and style them and good products to use

How to Be Creative

Friday 12PM Creator Stage

Ed Jowett and Leo Cosh of Shades of Vengeance discuss how to approach creative projects. They will cover techniques for getting started how to build worlds that work and discuss overcoming the common pitfalls of creativity that you might come across. Whether you're creating a game comic novel or audio project this is the panel for you!

Content Creation: More Than Just a Side-Hustle?

Friday 4PM Live Stage

From professional cosplayers to streamers, to aspiring esports stars - content creators are breaking the mode of traditional careers. A panel will hold a live session discussing content creators and how people are turning their passions into professions and redefining careers.

Origami Lessons

Pop Asia Space, all weekend

Did you know…? According to ancient Japanese legend, if you fold one thousand cranes you will be granted a wish! 

Get started today in our Origami drop-in workshop run by members of the British Origami Society and learn some creative paper folding skills!

Manga Drawing Workshops

Pop Asia Space, all weekend

Discover your inner Mangaka at our drop-in workshop; figure out the basics, draw your manga-style portrait, or try out a specific technique…we’ve got everything you need to get creative!

British Sumo Champions

Friday 2PM, Pop Asia Space 

Discover the ancient sport of sumo wrestling, with an appearance and live demonstration from the current British Sumo Champion, Mandeep Singh Kundi.

Learn about Japan!

Pop Asia Space, all weekend
Speak to representatives from the Japan National Tourism Organisation and find out more about this vibrant, eclectic and exciting country!

Levelling up your D&D: A guide to role-playing and character building with Roll The Damn Dice

Sunday 3PM Live Stage

The cast of Roll The Damn Dice (An actual play D&D podcast) talk about all aspects of D&D roleplay - including good roleplay etiquette (from horny bards to edgelord rogues) how to encourage roleplay in your party (as a DM) controlling Non Players Characters and continuing roleplay through combat.