Posted in: Comics | Tagged: cbldf, Comics

CBLDF "Comics After COVID" Online Panel Today

Published Thu, 25 Feb 2021 07:00:45 -0600

The CBLDF – or Comic Book Legal Defense Fund – recently talked about their new leadership structure and plans to expand their role beyond a free speech charitable activist movement. Bleeding Cool represented this as "defending whistleblowers and challenging algorithms."

The CBLDF will be addressing recent issues over the last year regarding the pandemic, looking at questions such as "How can comic shops adapt to laws that not only reduce the risk of contagion but make it difficult for store owners to pay the rent? What can we do about contracts that made sense before the pandemic but create real problems today? Will we ever be able to go back to in-person comic-cons? And how can creators, publishers, and stores thrive in today's new world of large online platforms?" at their next membership meeting, hosting a panel on Comics After COVID.

The CBLDF panel, open to all, will be held on Zoom today at 10-11 am PT, 1-2 pm ET and 6-7 pm GMT. The panelists will include Anna Warren Cebrian and Gamal Hennessy while CBLDF Interim Director Jeff Trexler will moderate the discussion. There will also be time for live Q&A and discussions.

Anna Warren Cebrian decided to try her hand at being a comic shop owner after a few years of running an indie publishing company and took over a former Brian's Books in Santa Clara, creating Illusive Comics & Games, LLC n June 2007. In 2015 she opened Isle of Gamers, also in Santa Clara. She has also worked with many libraries, including the Santa Clara and Menlo Park Libraries to build their annual Comic Cons.

Gamal Hennessy is an experienced entertainment transactions attorney with expertise in comic book publishing and IP licensing. He began his career as the general counsel for the anime and manga company Central Park Media before moving to Marvel Comics to become their International Publishing Manager. After Marvel, he set up Creative Contract Consulting to help independent creators and publishers protect their rights and maximize their business models. In 2020, joined GlobalComix as their General Counsel and VP of Content and he crowdfunded a book entitled The Business of Independent Comic Book Publishing that hit more than 600% of its funding goal. He is currently working on the follow-up book, The Business of Freelance Comic Book Publishing which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2022.

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