Project Geek Couture: News From Her Universe

Posted By Eric Searleman

BreakingModern — Nerd culture has become the prevailing zeitgeist. That’s a fact, Black Jack. For proof, just talk to the 170,000 people who attended this year’s New York Comic Con, or the 400,000 subscribers to Loot Crate or the 18 million people who continue to watch The Walking Dead each Sunday. If you don’t play games on your smartphone, subscribe to Comixology or ship Felicity Smoak and Caitlin Snow then you are sadly out-of-step with your generation.

Taking advantage of the times, the San Diego Comic-Con and Lionsgate have joined forces to produce an upcoming show about geek couture.

Scheduled for early 2016, the as-of-yet titled reality program will mirror the format of Lifetime’s Project Runway and Syfy’s Face Off. According to a recent article on StreamDaily, each contestant on the show will compete for the opportunity to score a gig with Her Universe.

Founded in 2009 by actress Ashley Eckstein (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Her Universe provides stylish, fashion-forward merchandise for female science fiction fans. Clients include Star Wars, The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Transformers and Star Trek among others. Says the website: “It’s a place for fangirls to step into the spotlight and be heard, recognized and rewarded.” Eckstein and her crew are working overtime to promote “geek chic.” God bless ‘em.

The Lionsgate and Comic-Con partnership was formally announced a few months ago during the summer’s annual comic book confab. But it wasn’t until recently that the companies rolled out any sort of programming details. The entertainment icons have agreed to build a new subscription video-on-demand service that would target the convention’s fan base and air original content created especially for subscribers. This content would encompass films, TV shows, short-form video and (no surprise) exclusive archival footage from Comic-Con’s 45-year-plus history.

Only 300 people attended the first Comic-Con in San Diego back in 1970. In those days James T. Kirk and Jack “King” Kirby ruled nerd culture with an assortment of phasers and S.H.I.E.L.D. knickknacks. Nobody could have predicted the cultural tsunami that would eventually take place. Reading comic books and science fiction novels back then was simply a pastime for a small (but wildly enthusiastic) niche audience.

The Comic-Con subscription channel is the third streaming platform from Lionsgate. The company recently joined forces with Alibaba to start a content service in China. And it has additional plans to launch a site featuring content provided by the Tribeca Film Festival.

For BMod, I’m Eric Searleman

All Screenshots: BMod Staff