Welcome to the Legion!

Tiffany Smith is the host of DC All Access along with Blair Herter, hosts for places like Fandango and G4 and does a zillion podcasts, including Schmoes Know, Game of Thrones (along with yours truly) and Far Far Away. She’s also one of the biggest fans of geekdom out there! Check out what she has to say about getting into the business, geekdom, ladies in the industry and what’s coming up next.

Tiffany Smith

Legion of Leia: Tell us about how you got involved in DC All Access and what the experience has been like.

Tiffany Smith: Working for DC comics has been a dream job for me. The audition process was fun but also really scary because I wanted the job so badly. Haha, I remember I went in and just chatted comics with them, they quizzed me on some stuff and I when I left I just prayed that I got the job. I remember also that they went to my comic shop, Blastoff, to find out if I actually went there on the regular to get my book. I just thought it was hysterical, but also awesome because I was excited that they wanted a true comic book fan and reader.

Then getting to work with Blair Herter who I knew from G4 days was just the icing on the cake. He really has become like a brother to me. Which means any guy I date has to go through him, haha. But, seriously it’s a dream job for me and I hope it goes on FOREVERRRRRRR! I mean one day you’re going to interview Geoff Johns the next day Jim Lee and the next day John Romita Jr. it’s mind blowing. It has been so surreal where I need to pinch myself, I mean going to pick up my comics on a Wednesday and seeing the ad for DC all access in a DC Comic was pretty freaking awesome!

Legion of Leia: How did you get into hosting?

Tiffany Smith: Well I went to school at Syracuse communications program for broadcast journalism. And I just remember everyone at school wanting to do something like sports or news and I always knew that I wanted to do entertainment hosting! My very first job I found on Craigslist which I know sounds crazy. Then from there I worked for AT&T and hosted a technology show. And from there I got to host a show for Activision called 30 Second Gamer. And I was just so excited because I was getting to host show that were about the things that I loved and was already talking with my friends about. Then I moved to Los Angeles with a hope and a dream that I would maybe get to work for G4. When that became a reality and I got to cohost Attack of the Show, do The Feed and work on X-Play, again, mind blown. And that’s actually how I met you, at my very first junket for Attack of the Show which was for Fast 5.

Legion of Leia: We’ve known each other a loooong time, and we bonded over comic books in Brazil. When did you get into geekdom and what challenges have you faced as a girl geek?

Tiffany Smith: Yeah we did meet in Brazil at the Fast 5 junket which was just the craziest thing ever. I mean I love those films and we were in BRAZIL! And then getting to meet cool girls like you and Alicia Malone made the whole experience that much better. I think being a female in this industry there are you know some challenges here and there. A lot of times you get quizzed by people to make sure that you are actually a true geek fan. I don’t mind having conversations with people about the things that I love! But I wish that the questioning went for both males and females. There are definitely some guys at Cons who cosplay that don’t know anything about the character that they’re dressed as. Just as much women who cosplay that may not know about their character.

It’s a little disappointing when people underestimate you and the things that you know about comic books or video games or action films just because you’re female. But, when I get to prove them wrong or prove that I actually know my stuff and change the stereotype a bit it makes me so happy.

Legion of Leia: What was the first sci-fi or fantasy character you connected with as a kid?

Tiffany Smith: The first sci-fi comic book character that I remember really connecting with was Storm of the X-Men. She was a leader and she looks a little bit ethnically like me, haha. I just felt like she was the first one that I could pretend to be and see myself as, which was so cool. Then obviously there was Wonder Woman, Jem and the Holograms, Spider-Man, Batman, the Animaniacs, all of those characters really just spoke to me. The older I got the more excited I got about action heroes women like Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, Or Angelina Jolie as Laura Croft.

Legion of Leia: What does it mean to be a part of a group of women like this?

Tiffany Smith: Living in Los Angeles and meeting girls who are like-minded and love similar things is just the best. And finding women who just want to help eachother as much as possible is even better. There definitely feels like there is a female geek club in LA and once you’re in you are all there to support, cheer for, open doors for and just be friends for a long time. I mean you and I are proof of that. We have regular geek beers with a small crew and those are some of my fav nights!

Legion of Leia: What new projects do you have coming up? Podcasts, shows, etc.

Tiffany Smith: There always seems to be fun things on the horizon. Right now I work for Fandango doing junkets, and DC All Access. I also co host a few podcasts; Schmoes Know (movie podcast) Far Far Away (Star Wars podcast). So hosting is keeping me super busy but, some new doors in acting have been opening too that I am super excited about. I am going to be doing a short film called, Tenspotting, that is a Dr. Who themes rom com and I am super excited about that and just seeing where that path may lead. I honestly just feel super blessed that I get to do what I love and continue to challenge myself along the way.

You can follow Tiffany on Twitter @TiffanysTweets.

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Jenna Busch

Jenna Busch is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Legion of Leia and has hosted and written for sites like Nerdist, ComingSoon.net, Metro, Birth. Movies. Death., IGN, AOL, Huffington Post and more. She co-hosted Cocktails With Stan with the legendary Stan Lee and has appeared on Attack of the Show, Fresh Ink, Tabletop with Wil Wheaton, in the documentary She Makes Comics, on NPR and Al Jazeera America, and has covered film/TV/gaming/comics for years. She's currently a co-host on Most Craved. She's been published in the comics anthology Womanthology, is a chapter author for Star Wars Psychology: Dark Side of the Mind, Game of Thrones Psychology and Star Trek Psychology and more, and owns a terrifying amount of swords and 20-sided dice. There are also those My Little Pony trailer voice overs that give one nightmares.

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