Aaron Sagers from Syfy is hosting this panel.
Behind the scenes clip playing showing action films being filmed.
LOTS of explosions!
Some amazing shots of how they get footage of vehicles moving through explosions.
Showing Michael Bay directing the kids from the beginning "No Man's Land" scene.
Showing Anthony Hopkins' last shot, crew applauding him.
Showing Bay thanking the crew at the finish of filming.
First on stage Brian Goldner (CEO of Hasbro).
Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura on stage.
Host: Film franchise is 10 years old now.
Goldner: Loves hearing from fans about fave characters, what they love etc.
Goldner: After 10 years this is still only the first couple of chapters.
Bonaventura: I'm exhausted! *laughs* Michael Bay has an incredible amount of energy.
Bonaventura: Tries to learn from feedback. Huge level of commitment to the story & characters.
Bonaventura: No matter where he goes people ask him about
Host: Fans are like a built in focus group.
Goldner: After movie 1 there was a USAToday poll about who people wanted to see. Dinobots won.
Host: Talk about transition from cartoons and toys to live action.
Goldner: We worked on G.I. Joe with Lorenzo first during a project called "The next soldier"
Goldner: Getting Steven Spielberg involved was critical.
Goldner: The "boy and his car" story was crucial for the first movie.
Bonaventura: About two years ago they decided to make the Bumblebee movie.
Bonaventura: Wanted to spend a lot of time with one character.
Bonaventura: We brought in Travis Knight known for Kubo & the 2 Strings.
Bonaventura: Filming is halfway done.
Bonaventura: Hailee Steinfeld latched onto the emotion of the film very quickly.
Goldner: The backyard scene in RotF where Sam leaves for college was a good emotional moment.
Bonaventura: Film is set in the 80's and the hair styles were SO distracting on set! *laughs*
Bonaventura: It is fun to explore different eras because it breaks out of routine.
Bonaventura: Bumblebee will feature very different action sequencing than the main films.
Goldner: This movie will allow us to tease out Bumblebee's more emotional side.
Moner: Found Hopkins and Wahlberg very welcoming on set. She was nervous at first.
Bonaventura: First rule on set for newbies - don't leave scripts around!
Moner: Scripts had to be shredded on set.
Moner: Read the script and fell in love with Izzy right away.
Moner: Thought that playing such a strong character would inspire kids.
Moner: Taped a sheet to the wall to do an audition video.
Bonaventura: She killed the self take. They almost cast someone else but the tape blew them away.
Bonaventura: 50-100 actresses auditioned for the role.
Goldner: In the junkyard scenes it was very hot outside but Moner was a pro.
Goldner: It was heartening to watch how hard the actors work.
Host: Do you feel there is a reception from young kids connecting to Izzy.
Moner: Yes. In a theater she saw the "like a girl" trailer...
Moner: ....someone was so excited they yelled out "Yes!"
Moner: Also met someone who was not into TFs but saw TLK because of Izzy.
Goldner: Favorite character is Optimus Prime.
Bonaventura: Loves Ironhide because that was his son's favorite character.
Moner: Unsure. Gives love to Sqweeks.
Host: Any interesting behind the scenes anecdotes?
Bonaventura: We had gotten them to close off a road near Buckingham Palace...
Bonaventura: We crashed a car into an ancient building and he was amazed it was allowed.
Bonaventura: In RotF, 6 F-15's came in and the vibrations knocked people to the ground.
Moner: Wahlberg was very protective of Moner and would stare down her male friends on set.
Host: Asking to talk about the writer's room.
Bonaventura: Expectation was not met but the result was extraordinary.
Bonaventura: This is a 6 billion year old mythology and there is a lot without explanation.
Bonaventura: The unexplained leaves a lot of room for stories to build up.
Bonaventura: The writer's room helped break out of a certain cycle of thinking.
Bonaventura: Replicating the same formula over and over can be dull.
Bonaventura: The future of the series is so large (time travel, history etc.)
Bonaventura: For Bumblebee we want to give the audience a lot of time with one character.
Goldner: Bay said he wanted to make the films "really real"
Goldner: Bay wanted people to look at every day cars and wonder if they were TFs.
Goldner: Wanted to explore why TFs are linked to humans.
Goldner: How do you take 30 years of history and 10 years of movies and have fun with that.
Goldner: Wants to make fans happy in a fun and inventive way.
Host: To Moner - does she wind up in conversations with lots of granular bits.
Moner: It's mostly people asking about behind-the-scenes or her fave TF.
Moner: Excited for Bumblebee and asked if there is another movie coming (the answer is of course, yes).
Host: What was the most challenging part of "The Last Knight"?
Moner: "I'm not as built as Mark Wahlberg." so running was taxing.
Moner: Acting against nothing was easy b/c only 5 yrs ago she was still imagining the floor is lava.
Moner: Was there from the day Sqweeks was a sketch. Bay asked her what her fave color was...
Moner: ...she said blue and that is the color he became. Now he's a superstar.
Host: Asking about Anthony Hopkins.
Bonaventura: Worked 2x with Hopkins. We are all in awe of him. He is the actor's actor.
Bonaventura: When he walks on set everything stops for a second (esp. the first time).
Bonaventura: Actors will forget lines because they are watching Hopkins act.
Moner: He's so nice too. The humor you see in the movie is improv and genuine.
Host: Wahlberg coming on stage!
Wahlberg surrounded by security, signed some autographs.
Wahlberg: Bay always wants to top himself.
Wahlberg: Giant chase with the drones was the hardest one to film.
Wahlberg: To Moner "She kept everyone's energy up."
Host: What sets TLK apart?
Wahlberg: It wanted to explore the mythology and added great new cast members.
Wahlberg: It was a fish out of water story too, bringing humor.
Wahlberg: Kids come up to him about Transformers.
Wahlberg: His kids liked it when "dad could just be dad".
Host: What keeps you coming back to these films?
Wahlberg: Bay allows him to make his characters his own. He enjoys working with Bay.
Wahlberg: TF also lets him reach an international audience.
Wahlberg: On Hopkins - he was such a sweet, enthusiastic and sharp guy.
Wahlberg: Hopkins was very sweet and down to earth.
Wahlberg: Bay is very specific. He wants comedic elements but everything is played very real.
Wahlberg: Bay makes sure the comedic actors still keep it real.
Panel is over! People are rushing at the actors.