Last year I had the joy of going to the first of these events – created and run by David Tree – called Andmore. I was very open about my thoughts about the event: it was the best convention I had ever been to. For me, it was better than any celebration I had attended or sci-fi convention that I’ve visited. Last weekend, Mr Tree was back with his newest convention, Thank the Maker. More guests, more panels, a new location and just more awesomeness was promised. With expectations that were so high, I didn’t even know if they could be met, I drove down to Winchester, to the new venue at St Swithun’s School Winchester on Saturday 17 October 2026.
The old venue was in a small village called Fordingbridge. I won’t lie, I adore the place: it’s quaint, small and is next to the New Forest which is a stunning area to explore. It holds a very special place in my heart, and I was very unsure about the change in venue… until I actually got there. The trip down from the Midlands was a lot easier, shorter, less random roads, it was a pleasure to do. Then the venue itself had ample parking that didn’t need paying for. As I walked into the school itself, there was a reasonably sized area for snacks, some Star Wars displays and for people to mill around. This last part would be crucial, and I’ll come back to it in a bit. There were far better toilets, with more of them so you did not have to queue, and the hall itself was vastly bigger, allowing for more seats, a more spacious size on stage and just overall an upgrade to the old location. The autograph and stalls were set up in a separate hall only a few seconds away from the main hall which helped with congestion. I did not want to admit it… but it was so much better.
Walking in, I had my ticket QR code scanned and received my VIP bag, with pin badge, poster and baseball cap and then walked to my front row seat. The perks of paying VIP! The cost of the ticket – £65 for VIP – is a steal, for the better seating alone. For me, the extra gifts are just a cool bonus. This event was focusing on the tenth anniversary of Rogue One, with a smattering of Andor thrown in. I’ll quickly go through the panels before giving my overall review of this event.
David Tree introduced the event before leading into the first panel: ‘The Preproduction of Rogue One’ with Adam Teeuw and TJ Falls. TJ was the visual effects producer for the film and Adam was the production supervisor. These two bounced off each other so well, providing incredible highlights of the production of the film and what it all entailed. The hecticness of building sets, the stresses of schedules having to work. It might sound mundane, but it was a sheer delight to hear this side of Rogue One that fans have not heard of before. A mouse droid drove onto the stage to let us know that the thirty minutes were over – I would have happily listened to them for twice the time.
It was then onto ‘The Storyboarding of Rogue One’ with Duncan Fegredo. This was very interesting as Duncan is also a comic artist, who has worked on Hellboy but also did a cover for the old Tales of the Jedi series. Having only read these in graphic novel form, this had completely passed me by! We got to learn all about the move to having storyboards digitally and saw some of Duncan’s amazing work up on the screen. You could see from these just how much some camera angles and shots owed to these storyboards. The mouse droid returned too quickly to tell us it was over!
There was then time given to signings. This allowed people to get signatures from people and buy merchandise that was on offer. It also meant that attendees could get food, drinks and nip to the loo. Unlike my last time, I didn’t bother with autographs, I was very content to just mill about in the entrance to the hall, that section was a reasonable size. I ran into Mark Newbold – one of the presenters of the day who did an incredible job – and David Whiteley – ITV Anglia presenter and creator and presenter of the documentary The Galaxy That Britain Built. Always good to catch up with friends… but then we noticed the guests were hanging out there. This was the social area! Before we knew it, we were chatting away to Adam Teeuw, who was so gracious with his time and telling us even more about Rogue One. This extra area was a site of magic. Fans could carry on talking with the guests and interact with them in a very calm, relaxed atmosphere. This just added something that you don’t get at normal conventions. It also made me glad that I hadn’t gone for autographs, this was the special part right here! It wouldn’t be the only time I was mingling with the people who had made Rogue One.
The next panel was ‘The Visual Effects of Rogue One’ with TJ Falls, Mohen Leo and Yannick Lorvo. I’d heard the former two talk at Andmore but that was all about Andor. This was Rogue One and it was so fascinating. They talked about their work on Jedha, Scarif, how they had to work timings out, were things realistic in terms of how fast you can move, it really just provided such an insight into how the team goes about trying to get everything to look right. Again, this panel could have gone on for longer, it was so interesting. But that pesky mouse droid drove onto stage to tell us that would not be the case!
It was then onto ‘The Electronic Design and Animatronics of Rogue One and Andor’ with Matt Denton and Josh Lee. These two both referred to each other as work wives and while that in itself was entertaining, you could see how well these two complimented each other. It was fascinating to hear about the electronic side of things, explaining how the droids were designed and made, about Josh’s nickname ‘gold card’ and so many other things. I would have listened to them talk all day! But then Josh says he’s brought something that has never left Pinewood studios, the shoes for Alan Tudyk wore to make him taller for the role as K-2SO. That was amazing to see, but then he asked if we wanted to see them on?! Silly question really! To see Josh modelling them on stage (which was a bit off the ground and made me slightly nervous!) was something else, a real treat for the show. The mouse droid was soon on to tell us their time was over. Before we all left, we were treated to a video message from Hal Hickel, who couldn’t be there but explained some of his role doing the animation of Rogue One.
After another signing break, it was onto ‘The Feel of Rogue One’ with Lee Sandales (set decorator) and Rut Villamagna ((Hand props and weapons painter). We got to hear about the weathering of the weapons as well as how the sets were dressed to give each one a story. I’d heard something similar about Andor, but it was so interesting hearing how that had started in Rogue One. The care and attention to detail was superb and I loved hearing how Lee had created a Wizard of Oz collection of toys for Jyn, Star Wars style. That mouse droid was soon back out to move things along.
Then it was onto ‘Editing Rogue One’ with Col Goudie. I’ve been thinking long and hard on this, my favourite panel, and it is not easy with so many fantastic guest speakers, but this might –might – have just edged out as my favourite. Col took us through the process of getting the job as editor and what they had done to get the look of the film right. This was done by combining preproduction images with scenes from other movies to get the idea across. Col had brought some of these videos with them. It was fascinating! It really made you appreciate just how much a film owes to its editor and it was yet another panel I just wanted to listen to for longer. Thankfully, this would happen twice during the remainder of the day, when Col was explaining sitting in on Michael Giacchino conducting the score and so many other stories. I mean it doesn’t really get better than that!
After another break it was the last two panels of the day that were focused on Andor. The first was ‘The Art of Andor’ with Barry Gingell and Tereza Hudakova. They had been at Andmore and had even more stories to share. I knew this pair would not disappoint. Story after story, details picked out about the panel designs, the alphabets, another duo I could have listened to for hours. Then the mouse droid came out! Thankfully, I got a chance to talk to Barry afterwards, finding out even more things!
Finally, ‘The Visual Effects of Andor’ had TJ Falls, Mohen Leo, Claudio Bassi, Scott Pritchard and Marcus Dryden all on stage talking about the work Industrial Light and Magic do. Some of these were new faces, some from Andmore, all of them offered new insights, new stories and just brought attendees along with even more stories about the work they had done. That mouse droid was out too quick, but again, I got to talk to Scott about the work he had done and he shared even more stories. Before the day completely ended, there was an auction, with rare items on offer to anyone who wanted them. Signed items, rare items, they were all here. With that done, it was then time to head home.
You can probably tell, it is a busy day! This is a schedule that just keeps everyone busy and yet always wanting more. There are a lot of panels. At only thirty minutes, they go quickly and you don’t want them to end. Would I like them longer? Absolutely, but I also understand that you never get bored, they never drag and I’m starting to appreciate that. I’d rather be left wanting more than be thinking, oh I’m glad that’s over.
Growing up, I was constantly watching all the making of documentaries because, sometimes that was all we had to expand our knowledge and just to expand more things to watch about Star WArs. As DVD came into its own, I then started to watch all the documentaries on them. With streaming so prevalent, these documentaries have almost died a death. When we get them – I’m thinking of Light and Magic – they are fantastic but there’s just not enough. Thank the Maker fills that gap and it fills it in with a live documentary. It is so fascinating, so in depth, that I could happily have the whole thing twice as long and I still not get bored. The vast range of people that are there is incredible, to have a schedule that filled is unbelievable.
Then add the fact that the new location is just better in every way and you can hang out with the guests, talk to them, find out even more stories, more things about the creation of these amazing films and television shows is just a whole new level to the experience. The guests are happy to talk, happy to share, happy to be appreciated. I don’t know how many conventions you can go to that allow such a relaxed atmosphere with the guests. And guests that don’t make many appearances outside of their work.
I said of Andmore that David Tree had created something special. He has continued to make something just as special and somehow has raised the bar even further. This is the sort of convention that goes beyond the norm. It gives fans a very rare glimpse these days of how Star Wars is made, of the detail and love that gets poured into these projects. Not only that, it allows you to talk to these guests directly as well as allowing them to see just how much their work is appreciated by us. These conventions are clearly going in one direction and that is up. David Tree has listened to feedback, has listened to the fans and has provided a day that will stay with everyone who attended. An amazing event and if you have yet to experience, make sure you get a ticket for the next one. It is cheaper overall than any other convention but provides something so much more. This is something that has to really be experienced to understand just how special it is: A monumental achievement like nothing else.
