Looking back on the 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' press event

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which also means it's been 10 years since I attended the secret press conference for it in LA. As a huge Star Wars fan, I still consider it one of the most memorable moments of my career.

I was freelancing for GamesBeat at the time, and the outlet was invited to the event because Disney Infinity 3.0 — remember how big the toys-to-life genre was? — had a set of figurines and levels to coincide with the film's release. I couldn't say "yes" to that email fast enough.

The event took place at the LA Convention Center (for the E3 vets, it was in the Concourse between West and South Hall). They closed off the lobby with a giant curtain blocking the entrance, and inside was a bunch of press and all sorts of folks from Disney and Lucasfilm. There were demo stations for the Disney Infinity content, props from the movie, and a section for previewing all the new toys and merchandise.

But the highlight for me was the press conference itself. I'd never been to one with Hollywood actors before, so this felt like a big deal! They split the actors into two separate panels, but almost all of them were there: Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Daisy Ridley, etc. Disney didn't screen TFA for us ahead of time, so it was only a very broad chat about the characters and themes of the movie.

When it came time for the audience Q&A, I asked a question to John Boyega and Oscar Isaac about reprising their roles in the game. I was extremely nervous. Partly because of the amount of people in the room, but also because of the sheer star power on stage — I remember thinking "that's Han-freaking-Solo staring at me."

The rest of the night was a blur. Me and a colleague said hi to J.J. Abrams in the hallway. I got to see the wonder that is BB-8 in person. Took a picture with Finn. And even got to see Princess Leia herself casually walking around with her dog as the event was wrapping up.

I was sitting at a table jotting down some notes when I noticed that Carrie was just a few feet away talking to some of her people. I froze, unsure of what I should do next. Do I say hi and try to chat, or would I just be bothering her? I ended up assuming the latter, and was just content to soak up the moment and appreciate how surreal the whole night was. (I did regret that decision a year later when she passed away.)

There's been nothing like that night since then. And how could there be with a moment as historic as the return of Star Wars to theaters? It was the perfect storm of hype and nostalgia, and I'm glad I got to witness a small part of it behind the scenes.