Today we’ve got a treat for you guys: a Q&A guestpost by the Star Wars Actors’ Guild 77, an amazing online cosplay/Star Wars performance group! They are a great example of how fans from all over the world can use social media to get together and celebrate all of Star Wars together. Have a read and find out what they, online cosplay, and this fascinating aspect of Star Wars are all about.

Star Wars Actors Guild 77 (SWAG 77)

 Who is the Star Wars Actors Guild 77?

The Star Wars Actors Guild 77 (SWAG 77) is a performance troupe of devoted fans of Star Wars movies, novels, reference books, comics, games and online content. We are a transmedia organization that performs and portrays Star Wars characters. We write stories as our entertainment and a strong desire to assist Disney Lucasfilm Star Wars in their professional release of creative content: books, novels, comics, television shows and movies. We are like cosplayers or costumed performers, except we are on social media and we perform as if we were in a play production online.

What does SWAG 77 do?

SWAG 77 creates social media to portray and perform characters in upcoming entertainment media projects by Lucasfilm Star Wars Story Group.

Doesn’t Lucasfilm have that?

Star Wars is owned by the Walt Disney Entertainment Corporation and Lucasfilm. At this time, there are general pages and websites on social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, etc. While major productions and business social media accounts are on Facebook and Twitter, such as the award winning “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels”; there are no specific character accounts and the corporation does not perform brief story arcs on social media as entertainment like SWAG 77 does on a daily basis with rehearsals, writing groups for our story arcs, social media programming and immersed engagement with fans.

Other people do this, right?

Yes, other people roleplay and portray Star Wars characters on social media. But many groups are abusive toward excited fans. Other groups cheat with the creation of illegal social media accounts against the platform’s rules and “live through their characters” as if they are fantasizing. This activity exacerbates a negative tone on social media that generates cyber-harassment.

SWAG 77 uses standards and best practices for optimal positive Star Wars fandom™ experience. SWAG 77 reads, writes and performs Star Wars from created scripts, which follow the Writers Professional Association West (WPAw) guidelines. We have adapted our scripts for social media performance. SWAG 77 follows social media platform rules and guidelines, have a post-production process to create fan fictions for our audience to read. Our media marketing metrics are optimized to create effective performances to gain an inherent focus group from our audience. We respect the content creators and their product with support on official Lucasfilm websites and social media accounts. We correspond with Lucasfilm, their celebrities and VIPs with utmost respect and our interactions can be found on our website.

How come other people don’t do what you do?

We read, research, write and perform the latest Star Wars canon, continuity and timeline with strong, accurate and authentic performances of our characters on social media. We create relevant fan art and concept art, attend conventions, and produce podcasts that interview Star Wars celebrities. Our activities keep young people safe, active and engaged in social media by our positive Star Wars fandom™ method. Our methods translate to educational opportunities and works for military veterans.

Some individuals choose to pursue their Star Wars fandom differently. Some individuals are aggressive on social media and relay that angst toward other fans and we have experienced it. The social media platforms choose to ignore this behavior. SWAG 77 has created laboriously a risk management plan that buffers us from the bulk of the targeted attacks we sustain due to our beliefs of positive Star Wars fandom™ and collaboration with all fans and fan groups. We believe that any fan that loves Star Wars, new and experienced, is welcomed by us.

How is what you do different from roleplay?

Our social media process is labor intensive. It is not spontaneous, unplanned or random. We encourage our members to read, write and research from the Disney Lucasfilm Star Wars content creators. We create hypotheses that develop our characters to a plausible presentation to suspend audience disbelief in our productions, and we perform our characters and story arcs that follow our hypotheses. We are 89% accurate in our portrayals without any exclusive content from Lucasfilm. We think that our process is highly effective in the determination of a script will relate to an audience before major television or movie production starts.

Why should I as an entertainment production corporation want to get involved with this?

After episodes air, fans look for the characters on major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, etc. The fans find our characters and they engage with us. We rehearse to engage with fans with our full character voice to enhance the fan experience. When a broadcast has a break, our social media process continues to interact with the fans. We have a proven track record that is dedicated to the interactions with Star Wars fans combined with risk management filters. Through positive Star Wars fandom™, we are your frontlines for any social media production.

Why would you organize your group this way?

We have shown that when we develop screenplays and scripts for our social media campaigns, we find:

• More fan engagement
• More fan excitement for the literature, television show or movie
• More professional actors and crew positive responses to our performances
• More fan respect for the creative process and content.

We also see less confusion prior to performance because the script is written collectively by our group. Our post-production is edited with professionalism.

Do you do anything else besides Star Wars? If so, what is it?

Yes, under our subsidiary company, ISCA – Isle Sanctuary Creative Artists, we portray characters on the television show, Scandal; the cartoon Legends of Korra; interaction with DC comics Superman and Batman through our General Zod account; and Posthumous Celebrity accounts, such as Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt and Josephine Baker.

What are some examples of what you do?

Peruse our performance productions on our website.

There are three main story themes we pursue:

• The Star Wars Legends characters Yuuzhan Vong before the Yuuzhan Vong evasion entitled – “STAR WARS Rising Force, Rebellious Seed”. Basic plot is how a padawan Force user accepts the faith of the Yuuzhan Vong who save her life, but contributes to their integration into the known Star Wars galaxy. This piece is about diverse women of color representation that was lacking in Star Wars stories, until recently – 2013.
• The Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels Mandalorian Women entitled – “Trudge the Same Mud”. Basic plot ishow Mandalorian warrior women serve as Mandalorian combat military personnel and veterans. This piece is about diverse women representation who are combat fighters and veterans and their relationships that are lacking in Star Wars stories.
• Star Wars Lore and Social Action pages, where we petition Disney Lucasfilm to include characters into current broadcast and release productions and discuss the viability of these projects. We use our proprietary method of “positive fandom™” that encourages and promotes positive actions, talents and crafts on social media. Our main social media sites include:

• Get Thrawn In Star Wars Rebels – https://www.facebook.com/GetThrawnIn
  This campaign is dedicated in getting the Star Wars Legends character, Grand Admiral Thrawn (Mitth’raw’nuruodo) back into Star Wars canon through the television show Star Wars Rebels based on the character’s love for art.
• Star Wars: The Force United – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Star-Wars-The-Unified-Force/1615152525390507
  This page is dedicated to the new Star Wars movies.
• Star Wars Sorority – https://www.facebook.com/StarWarsSorority
  This page is dedicated to strong female characters and the actresses that play or voice them.
• Team Tano – http://teamtano.tumblr.com/
  This blog is dedicated to the character, Ahsoka Tano and returning her to production, which she eventually was returned earlier this year, 2015.
• Fem-Mando – https://www.facebook.com/FemMando
  This page is dedicated to strong Female Mandalorian women, fans, cosplayers and female military veterans.

How do I contact you for more information?

Feel free to contact us by email: info@swag77.com, or contact us on our website.