Veronica Mars at PaleyFest 2014

For the opening night of PaleyFest 2014, The Paley Center returned to Neptune, California and the world of Veronica Mars. After a very successful Kickstarter campaign that started a year before the panel, Rob Thomas and the main cast spent an evening discussing the movie, fans, and the Kickstarter campaign with moderator Alan Sepinwall from HitFix.com.

The evening opened with an introduction from Barbara Mitchell, President of the Paley Center and a surprise visit from an LA Councilmen to honor the festival, and then the archival footage was from Freaks and Geeks (one of Thomas’ favorite shows) that featured new to Neptune actor Martin Starr.

After a very heartfelt introduction from Thomas about the possibility of Veronica Mars returning to PaleyFest, the audience was allowed a first look at the Documentary that will be featured on the DVD that followed the process of making the movie – from the start of the Kickstarter campaign, to filming, to Comic Con and to the potential use of this model for other shows. It was a great way to see the making of the movie from another perspective and to follow allow with some very dedicated fans to be apart of the process.

Panelists for the event included Tina Majorino (Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Francis Capra (Eli “Weevil” Navarro), Chris Lowell (Stosh “Piz” Piznarski), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), Enrico Colantoni (Kieth Mars), Jason Dorhing (Logan Echolls), Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars), and Rob Thomas.

Sepinwall did a good job of asking about the practical and nitty-gritty of launching a campaign like that to what the cast through of the idea. Lowell, as he has done through most of the press, was self-deprecating about his role, going so far as to suggest that he thought he’d have to pay $10,000 to be in the movie. Daggs had a similar sentiment, but in the end it felt like the cast was was grateful to be back and together again.

As questions came from Sepinwall, the cast opened up more and more; Bell suggested that “we all wish Rob [Thomas] could write our lives” and it seemed as if everyone else agreed. Hansen, especially, suggested that “Dick is just a bigger dick,” and that is true in what fans had seen in a few of the released clips.

Near the end of the panel Bell suggested that one of Veronica’s best qualities was that “she doesn’t care” what people think and that is why people like her. Later, during a fan question about the qualities between Logan and Veronica, she suggested that they “are two wounded birds who found each other.” Many many fans would agree with her there.

The Veronica Mars movie can be found in select theatres, is available for purchase at Amazon and iTunes, and available at Video On Demand.

Below are a few photos taken during the panel. For more, you can also visit the Paley Center‘s tumblr account.