January 2019 Archives

We have details of the 2020 Xena Convention in Los Angeles to celebrate Xena's 25th Anniversary. I've added a 2020 Xena Convention Page for all the news as it comes in. You can find it here:

http://ausxip.com/conventions/2020LAX/

All the news related to the convention will be posted on that page. Here's today's announcement from Creation:

Set your calendar! Creation Entertainment will be presenting A Salute to Xena’s 25th Anniversary on August 28-30, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles Airport giving fans from around the globe the opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the series and its stars that made it what it is!

It’s hard to believe it will be 25 years since Xena: Warrior Princess first aired in 1995! As a spin-off from the popular series Hercules, Xena was praised for having strong female protagonists, including Xena and her comrade-in-arms Gabrielle who took up their chakram and staff to help those in need.

Played to perfection by Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor, respectively, the epic journeys of Xena and Gabrielle have stood the test of time, became part of pop culture history, and, more important, our social culture, placing strong women heroes as stars of major television shows and films. The show gained a loyal and adoring fan base whose support for the series continues to this day.

Over the past two decades, Creation Entertainment has had the honor of presenting many wonderful Xena fan conventions. The Salute to Xena’s 25th Anniversary convention in 2020 will provide attendees with three days filled with wonderful celebrities, special events, and fond looks back at what made the fandom and the conventions such memorable events. Confirmed talent includes fan favorites: Michael Hurst ("Iolaus"), Jennifer Ward-Lealand ("Zehra/Boadicea"), Brittney Powell ("Brunhilda") and more to come!

If you were a Gold patron at the 2015 Xena Convention in Burbank, you are eligible to purchase a Gold Weekend ticket, prior to them going on sale to the general public. If you’re interested, please contact us at leticia.serafin@creationent.com and on the subject line type "XENA 2020" (as we will have a list of the people who purchased the 2015 tickets).

Our room block is filling up fast! Click here for details on how to reserve your hotel room TODAY, and make sure to check back for more guest announcements the closer we get.

We look forward to celebrating this milestone anniversary with the Xena family!

Your friends at Creation Entertainment

LOS ANGELES, CA
Fri., Sat. & Sun.
August 28-30, 2020

Hyatt Regency Los Angeles Airport
6225 West Century Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Confirmed Talent:
Michael Hurst Iolaus (Day TBD)
Jennifer Ward-Lealand Zehra/Boadicea (Day TBD)
Brittney Powell Brunhilda (Day TBD)
(More talent announcements to come soon)

Hotel Rooms:
Flat Rate: $169.00 Single (One King Bed), $169.00 Double (Two Double Beds)
Call 1-424-702-1234
Or use web link: Coming soon.
Cutoff Date: August 6, 2020
Parking Rate: Self-parking day use: $22.00 per vehicle/day. Self-parking overnight: $30.00 per vehicle/day

Airport Transportation:
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Airport Phone: +1 855-463-5252
Hotel direction: 1 block east of LAX.
Hotel provides 24-hour complimentary airport shuttle service
Estimated taxi fare: $12 USD (one way)
Visit LAX airport website: https://www.flylax.com/

Awesome video of Renee O'Connor supporting Beth Ryne's Feeling Seen Film. A documentary film about the impact of lesbian, bisexual, and trans/masculine representation in mainstream television. Find out more about it here

2020 is going to be EPIC! Creation Entertainment has announced A Salute to Xena’s 25th Anniversary on August 28-30, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles Airport!

The Xena Horde are going to stream in from around the world!

For those going to the convention, AUSXIP will also have the new book celebrating Xena's 25 Years called "Xena: Their Courage Changed Our Lives" available to pick up a few days before the official release on September 4, 2020!

If you would like to submit your story on how Xena changed your life, go to http://xena25years.ausxip.com plus you can enter the art competition, video, and other goodies!

Here's the announcement!

Thrilled to be a part of the documentary @feelingseenfilm with Director Beth Ryne and Producer Gretchen Landau, supporting the representation of LGBT stories in television! @beth_ryne @gretchenlandau Thank you, Steve Sears making sure I didn’t miss it! ??

Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs05ZT_FHpU/

Beth from the Being Seen Film has posted some gorgeous Renee photos from the interview she conduced with Renee for the film

You can find the high res versions on Beth's Instagram account

Being Seen Film is a documentary film about the impact of lesbian, bisexual, and trans/masculine representation in mainstream television.
kck.st/2HXcILw

From Renee O'Connor's Official Instagram Account: RealReneeOConnor

Gratitude for all the people who made these memories possible and for all the kind comments for our family. Thank You! All Love, Renee https://www.instagram.com/p/Bswkcx8lAxn/ #ReneeOConnor

Check out all the photos!

Queering the air: The highs and lows of LGBTQ characters on TV - features Xena (of course because there wouldn't be a list featuring lesbian characters without our dynamic duo (yes yes they weren't OFFICIALLY a lesbian couple but now it is official and all although Xena was bisexual - you know that whole bad boy thang she had going for a while.

We won't talk about Gabrielle's dalliance with Ioalus (now that was awkward), that short lived whateveritwas thing she had with the bard in the Academy and then of course...who can forget Perdicus (we would like to). Dear ol' Perdi. Long story short...Xena and Gabrielle were lovers. End of debate.

Here's the blurb the Spin Off had about our girls

A few years later another television show would give rise to a queer icon in the form of Xena, played by Kiwi actor Lucy Lawless. It was queer shipping before shipping was a thing: with fans taking the relationship between kick-ass warrior babe Xena and her dutiful (and beautiful) lady companion Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor) and running with it.

As Lawless recalls on the new RNZ podcast Pop! Culture: “Renee and I were standing on the side of set and Rob, who’s now my husband, the executive producer, brought in a fax… of a Village Voice article which was talking about these two queer women kicking ass on TV. And we were really amused because it’d never occurred to us’!”

Lawless has since gone on the record saying that Xena was “definitely” gay, but back in the 90s if queer representation existed at all, it was almost entirely sub-textural.

“The line in the first episode of Xena [that resonated] was Gabrielle saying “I’m not the little girl that my parents wanted me to be”, and I just thought, ‘Oh well that’s normal teenage angst’… But all the gay girls out there knew! The message was clear to them,” says Lawless.

Hungry for stories they could relate to, queer audiences got good at scanning media for clues – and media makers got better at planting them. Famously, car manufacturer Subaru targeted the lesbians who loved to buy their cars by placing a car in an ad with the number plate “XENA LVR”.

Read Full Article

I think USA Today got this right. Hercules: The Legendary Journeys gave us one of the best spinoffs on TV. Far superior to Hercules.

If at first you do succeed, try, try again. Television spinoffs, which seem to have been around since the invention of the cathode-ray tube, are in the spotlight again. Of the legion of offshoot alternatives, some have spun peripheral concepts into gold. Others simply became canceled dross. Our take on the best and the worst:

'Xena: Warrior Princess' (Syndicated)

Few probably remember "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," but its spinoff, "Xena: Warrior Princess," is a pop-culture touchstone that's easily identifiable even if you've never seen an episode. "Xena" outstripped "Hercules" in every way, from the magnetic talent of stars Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor to its irresistible campiness.

See full list

From Renee's Official Instagram Account:

realreneeoconnor
Why does everyone say I’m wicked like it’s a bad thing?! If you are able to donate to ENCORE South Bay, the proceeds continue to offer students and families the opportunity to explore the world of theater. Let me know if you do and I’ll release a flying monkey to come and ‘thank you’. (cackle, cackle)

View this post on Instagram

Why does everyone say I’m wicked like it’s a bad thing?! If you are able to donate to ENCORE South Bay, the proceeds continue to offer students and families the opportunity to explore the world of theater. Let me know if you do and I’ll release a flying monkey to come and ‘thank you’. (cackle, cackle)

A post shared by Renee O'Connor (@realreneeoconnor) on Jan 4, 2019 at 12:52pm PST