What a Mighty Fine Big Damn Shindig!
It’s hard to believe that the Big Damn Shindig in Newhall, California has already been in the rearview mirror for well over a month and a half. The one-of-a-kind (and likely also once-in-a-lifetime) event was a first for the Browncoats community– a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the motion picture Serenity, featuring the annual Browncoat Ball and Can’t Stop the Serenity Los Angeles in the same location on the same weekend as one combined event. There were no less than eleven Browncoats from the Rivers and Bridges Brigade at the shindig, which was the largest contingent of Pittsburgh Browncoats ever at a Browncoat Ball and the first time that there were more Browncoats in attendance from the Rivers and Bridges Brigade than the Delaware Valley Brigade, a.k.a. Philadelphia Browncoats (not that we were really keeping score).
If you didn’t go and already regret it, you might want to stop reading right here. But if you’re thinking you could stand to hear a little more, then buckle up, because I have a lot to tell you about one mighty fine shindig!
There were three members of CSTS Pittsburgh’s crew on the planning committee for the event (Bob Averell, Brian Diederich and yours truly), so we arrived early on Wednesday to help the California Browncoats prep the SWAG packages and gather together the t-shirt and merchandise orders for the attendees, who would begin arriving on Thursday. While there was plenty of work to be done, it was also shiny just to meet and hang out with the people we’d only seen on our computer screens during Zoom meetings up to that point. I don’t need to tell you that Browncoats are a special group, and it didn’t take long at all before we all felt thick as thieves.
Thursday was the day of the Browncoat Ball’s annual welcome reception, which was held at “Badger’s Den,” the outdoor bar on the second floor of the Hotel Lexen (host to most of the weekend’s festivities) decorated to look a bit more like guests had stepped into the Firefly ‘verse. Browncoats played games (including CSTS Pittsburgh’s very own “Zoe’s Shootin’ Gallery,” which made its West Coast debut), connected and chatted with friends new and old, swapped ‘verse-themed t-shirts and pins and entered raffles to win all manner of geeky prizes. Some of the Browncoats went down to the hotel’s ground floor for “Browncoat Karaoke,” where I understand there was many a song from “Once More With Feeling” and “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” belted out, along with a few pop tunes as well. I can’t personally attest to that though, since I myself never took mic in hand. (I had it on good authority there would be no green-skinned demons in attendance who could tell me the innermost workings of my soul if I would just sing a few bars of a Barry Manilow song, and besides I was on the crew that was working at Badger’s Den on the second floor.) Those who did go down to Karaoke also had the opportunity to purchase ‘verse-themed merchandise from vendors, including some limited-edition items specific to the event. (I made sure to sneak downstairs later in the evening to purchase a Big Damn Shindig challenge coin and a special Newhall print that were created exclusively for the event by Nick Kremenek of Dreamforger Studios before they sold out.) The welcome reception had all the energy of a CSTS Pittsburgh event– and the weekend was just getting started!
I know that for a lot of Browncoats, the highlight of the Big Damn Shindig was probably the Browncoat Ball on Saturday night, because who doesn’t want to dress themselves up and get taken out somewhere fun? But for me, what made the Big Damn Shindig something that was not to be missed was the opportunity to visit some of the actual locations where Firefly and Serenity were filmed. So, while some Browncoats stayed in Newhall on Friday to participate in tracks and activities that were more local, I was one of those who boarded a bus to spend the morning and afternoon touring Laurel Canyon Stages, where the Firefly episode “Bushwhacked” was filmed, as well as Sable Ranch, which was a shooting location for more than one episode, though the only part of the facility we were allowed to see was used while filming the episode “Jaynestown.”
Even more special than seeing the shooting locations though, was having the opportunity to talk to three men who were part of the original production crews of Firefly and Serenity. Mr. Danny Nero, who was a stand-in for Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin as well as an extra on Firefly and was Nathan Fillion’s stand-in again for Serenity, accompanied us throughout the tour, telling us stories from his days spent on the sets and answering our many questions, and once we arrived at Laurel Canyon Stages, we met both Mr. Mike Deak, who did special effects work and appeared on-screen as a demon and a robot on the first season Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later did some (uncredited) special effects work disguising Serenity as a reaver ship in the Big Damn Movie, and Mr. Skip Crank, who worked as a prop master on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. The stories and information those guys shared with us made the experience truly unforgettable. Skip, whom I can only describe as “punk rock” in both his look and his attitude, was especially interesting to talk to, and after meeting us at Laurel Canyon Stages, he accompanied us on the tour of Sable Ranch. Having Skip and Danny together was especially interesting, because they filled in gaps in one another’s stories and helped each other remember specific details that they may not have recalled on their own. All three men were very generous with their time and seemed to genuinely appreciate how much we cared about these projects and the work they had done on them, and they were a lot of fun to be around. I remember Leslie Maynard of the Browncoats of New York City remarking to me at one point that she could’ve gone home right then and still felt like she’d gotten her money’s worth out of the weekend, and I knew exactly what she meant.
The fun didn’t stop after Sable Ranch, however. Even though it wasn’t a shooting location for Firefly, we were treated to a bonus stop at Vasquez Rocks before we returned to the hotel. Vasquez Rocks is a natural rock formation in the county of Los Angeles that is iconic not only for its unique appearance, but also for its use as a filming location for numerous Hollywood westerns, classic movies like The Ten Commandments, and more recent movies and television series such as Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It is probably best known for being the backdrop for the showdown between Captain James T. Kirk and the alien known as the Gorn in the episode “Arena” from the original Star Trek series (a fact that the LA County Department of Parks and Recreation utilizes to the fullest in its nearby gift shop). Everyone enjoyed taking photos and selfies among the rocks, and some of the more adventurous members of the group even climbed them (I decided against it as soon as I heard the local Browncoats’ warning that it was rattlesnake season).
Although we returned to the hotel later than expected after lingering at Vasquez Rocks, we still had plenty of time to prepare for the evening’s shindig– Los Angeles’ Can’t Stop the Serenity (CSTS) charity screening benefiting Equality Now and the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. This was my first CSTS event outside the Steel City (I have attended Pittsburgh’s screenings every year since 2011, and have been the local event coordinator since 2013), and it was all kinds of fun and interesting to see how Browncoats in another town organize their CSTS shindig. The Big Damn Movie was screened on the roof of the Hotel Lexen at sunset, and included an intro video from Jewel Staite (a.k.a. Kaylee Frye) thanking Browncoats for their passion and their many years of charity work. Two interesting facts about how things were done at CSTS on the West Coast are that the movie was screened with subtitles and there was an intermission a little less than halfway through the film, during which Browncoats could purchase more food, drinks and raffle tickets or answer nature’s call. Those who preferred not to watch the movie hung out at Badger’s Den, drinking, mingling and watching a reel of Firefly outtakes that were compiled by the California Browncoats. When the movie was over, those of us who were up on the rooftop joined those down below for the raffle drawings. The number of prizes that were donated and/or autographed by Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer cast members was impressive, but I suppose it should come as no surprise that the California Browncoats could offer them up, given their significant con presence and geographical proximity to many of the actors themselves. The fact that they did, though, made the evening even more special, especially for those lucky enough to win them!
Friday’s celebration went late into the night, but there was to be no sleeping in on Saturday morning. I was one of those who were scheduled to attend the first of two special presentations by Mr. Geoffrey Mandel, who served as a graphic artist on Serenity and is credited with designing the now-iconic Serenity logo. It was fascinating to hear him talk about his creative process and how he developed many of the graphic images with which we Browncoats are so familiar. Like the members of the production crew we had met the day before, he was more than happy to answer our questions and share personal anecdotes.
Many of us who were at Mr. Mandel’s first presentation had to leave immediately after its conclusion because we were driving out to Pomona, California to visit Diamond Ranch High School, which had been used as the filming location for the scenes in Serenity that took place on the planet Miranda. To say this experience was worth the long drive from Newhall to Pomona and back would be a major understatement. The moment we stepped onto the Diamond Ranch campus, Miranda was instantly recognizable. It took us a while to figure out exactly which scenes were shot in exactly which spots (with the notable exception of the band room’s loading dock, which was obviously the location of the crashed scientific ship where Mal and his crew found the message from Dr. Caron), but the campus itself still looks and feels like Miranda even without the benefit of the CGI effects of the movie. I can only describe our time there as being simultaneously eerie and fun, and I’m so glad we were able to do it. We took a humorous group photo on the campus stairs for which we all lied down as if dead, and shot a video on a long ramp in which we all yelled, “It’s the Pax!” I can only imagine what the high school students who were on campus for the day’s extra-curricular activities thought of us. Our time there was short, but unforgettable, and when I look at the photos I took, I still sometimes can’t believe I was actually there
Saturday morning was the first time that weekend that the Inara to my Mal, Emily Kohnke, didn’t accompany me. She stayed back at the hotel in Newhall to participate in an arts and crafts track while I made the trip to “Miranda,” and I returned in the afternoon to find two beautifully painted parasols inspired by Kaylee and River drying in our hotel room. We had just enough time to grab some lunch (from In-N-Out Burger, because you can’t pass that up when you’re on the West Coast) before we had to start preparing for the main event– Browncoat Ball Los Angeles at Hart & Main.
This was the third Browncoat Ball I’ve attended (since 2017 I’ve attended the ball every four years, more by coincidence than by design), but this year’s ball was my favorite by far. Not only was the weekend an unparalleled experience, but the ball itself was more fun than either of the previous ones I attended. For the first time, I had someone to escort, and Emily looked stunning in her purple and black Gothic Victorian gown. The evening’s entertainment had something for everyone, with the cheeky dance troupe Les Folies Rouge, who had also briefly performed at the welcome reception on Thursday, and the Southern California Americana rock band the Fallen Stars, who had an entire set inspired by Firefly. The silent and live auctions and raffles featured items that were unique and highly sought after. (I came away with a signed 8x10 photo of Summer Glau as River Tam, which I won in a silent auction, and Emily won a Dark Horse Comics Buffy the Vampire Slayer promo poster in a raffle.) There was a small collection of props from the Big Damn Movie on display on the third floor as well. But perhaps the shiniest thing about this ball is that it featured more dancing than any other ball I’ve attended, with both traditional dances (like those featured in the Firefly episode “Shindig”) and dancing to modern music at an after party that happened somewhat spontaneously at the Lexen Hotel bar and continued past midnight. I’ll always remember dancing at the after party with Emily to “Midnight at the Oasis.” I’m pretty sure this was the first and only Browncoat Ball that ever featured an after party!
Sunday morning we all headed over to Hart Park, which was a short walk from the hotel, for a Browncoat brunch. (I understand there was also some dueling in the park at dawn, but my fencing days are long done, so I opted for a bit of extra shuteye.) It was a nice opportunity to see everyone one last time, because a lot of the Browncoats were going to be headed home by Sunday afternoon. Those of us who weren’t leaving yet planned to meet for dinner later that evening at a restaurant in historic downtown Newhall. Emily and I took the opportunity to use the time in between to explore Newhall a bit. Using the town’s app, we found all of the buildings that had been used to film parts of the TV shows Justified and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and we followed the town’s Walk of Western Stars. I was amused that the icehouse across from the hotel, which I had passed dozens of times over the course of the weekend, was actually a shooting location for Justified, a series that is also on my short list of all-time favorite television shows. Spending a quiet Sunday in Newhall was lovely, and it gave us plenty of time to reflect on the tremendous weekend we’d had and the many friends we’d made as a result of the experience
I would be remiss if I didn’t end this blog by saying that the Big Damn Shindig would not have been everything that it was were it not for the hospitality and hard work of the California Browncoats, who were the shiniest hosts anyone could ever ask for. While it goes without saying that only the shindig’s Southern California location could have provided the Browncoats community everything that this event had to offer, it was still the love of the California Browncoats themselves that kept it in the air and made it such a wonderful occasion. Their captain, Lynelle Miliate-Ha, and her husband Andrew obviously put their heart and soul into the venture, and Lynelle’s leadership and organizational skill and her ability to deftly manage the various personalities of the crew and the unexpected challenges that inevitably arise with something of this magnitude were crucial to the success of the event. I know I learned a lot from working with her, and I hope that will help me be a better captain here in the Steel City moving forward. As a group, the California Browncoats set a new standard for what national events like the Browncoat Ball can be. I am certain that they inspired many of the Browncoats groups that were in attendance to “up their game,” and I heard more than one talk about putting in a future bid for the Browncoat Ball, which is encouraging. They have been supporters of CSTS Pittsburgh many years, and our brigade has long considered the California Browncoats the epitome of what a successful Browncoats group can be. They certainly proved that with this event, and we can only hope we’ll be able to show them the same shiny hospitality they showed us in a couple of years as we aim to host our own national shindig to celebrate the silver anniversary of Firefly.
So, there you have it– my long overdue account of the Big Damn Shindig in Southern California, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the motion picture Serenity. Whether it stirred up your own happy memories of the event or made you wish you’d been in attendance, I hope you enjoyed reading what all the fuss was about. Watch for photos from the Big Damn Shindig to pop up in the galleries on our website before too long, and in the meantime…
Keep flyin’.
Chris