This year’s EagleCon, a science fiction and fantasy conference hosted by Cal State LA and the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, will honor award-winning filmmaker Alex Rivera, legendary art director Herman Zimmerman, and the nonprofit Organization of Transformative Works.

With the theme of “Resistance,” EagleCon 2025 will take place on September 23 and 24, exploring Latina(o) futurism, Afrofuturism, and speculative visions of resistance. The event will include hands-on workshops, industry panels, student presentations on creating works of resistance, and sessions on pursuing careers in the entertainment industry. 

Among the featured honorees, Latino futurist filmmaker Alex Rivera will be presented the Prism Award, which is given to creators for their outstanding contributions to diversity in speculative genres across media. Rivera explores themes of globalization, migration, and technology in his work. His first feature film, Sleep Dealer, a cyberpunk thriller set on the U.S.-Mexico border, won awards at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, and received international commercial theatrical release. Rivera’s second feature, The Infiltrators, won both the NEXT: Audience Award and the Innovator Award at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

Herman Zimmerman, a legendary art director and production designer, will receive the Imaginator Award for his wondrous achievement in visual conceptualization. Through his long career in Hollywood, Zimmerman has shaped the look of many different science fiction stories of resistance, such as Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999).

Additionally, the Organization of Transformative Works (OTW) will be honored with the Lemonade Award, which recognizes individuals or organizations for acts of kindness that further science fiction communities. OTW is a nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fan works and fan culture in its myriad forms.

The two-day program will include a panel featuring Cal State LA students discussing their journey from readers of comics to comics creators, as well as a panel with local poets from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

The convention will also include an Art Directors Guild exhibition titled The Art of Resistance in Film and Television, highlighting this year’s Imaginator Award winner Zimmerman and previous Imaginator Award winners, such as Harrison Ellenshaw, Rick Carter, Dawn Brown, and Wynn Thomas. On display on the second-floor bridge of the University Library from September 5 to October 30, the exhibit will include production art from the Star Trek universe, the Star Wars universe, and many other popular films and television shows.

EagleCon was co-founded by the College of Arts and Letters and the University-Student Union at Cal State LA and the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800. Together they work to educate the students of Cal State LA and members of the Greater Los Angeles community about the history, impact, and continued necessity of the contributions of women, BIPOC, the LGBTQIA-identified, the differently abled, and the variously aged to the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Established in 1937, the Art Directors Guild, IATSE Local 800, represents over 3,300 members who work throughout the world in film, television, and theater as: production designers and art directors; scenic, title and graphic artists; set designers and model makers; illustrators; and matte artists.

To view the full schedule, please visit the EagleCon webpage. 

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California State University, Los Angeles is the premier comprehensive public university in the heart of Los Angeles. Cal State LA is ranked number one in the United States for the upward mobility of its students. Cal State LA is dedicated to engagement, service, and the public good, offering nationally recognized programs in science, the arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education, and the humanities. Founded in 1947, the University serves more than 22,000 students and has more than 270,000 distinguished alumni.