Hello there.
For me, Star Wars is life. Literally my first memory is watching the Wampa cave scene from The Empire Strikes Back on the couch with my dad.
The idea for Bright Suns Media started in 2021 during a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was our first time going since they completed Galaxy's Edge at Hollywood Studios, and as a lifelong Star Wars fan, I was very excited. But as a fan of the Prequel and Sequel trilogies, I was very accustomed to being ridiculed for my enjoyment of "modern" Star Wars.
Batuu changed all that. The people who go to Galaxy's Edge are the type who are eager to celebrate Star Wars in all its variations, not demean. Sitting at Oga's Cantina, sipping my Jedi Mind Trick with a table full of strangers, we all immediately bonded over our shared love of all things Star Wars.
This is how it should always be.
So when I got home, I got to work starting Bright Suns Media, so I could never again feel like I couldn't share my love of Star Wars, of Marvel, of DC, of sci-fi movies, of comic books, of science, of revolutionary tales of courage against Empires. And maybe, I thought, I could be that stranger at the Cantina for someone else. A reminder to all that it's so much more fun when we all love things, and let people love things.
That's why I called it Bright Suns. Named after the Batuuan greeting. Because in the Geekdom, we are all welcome.
-Mike Upton
What I believe in
It's risky being a content creator with a conscience in this day and age, it seems. Brands seem to be very eager to turn the other way when atrocities are being committed because acknowledging them is uncomfortable. Many creators sacrifice speaking out politically in favor of access to events and celebrities, but if that's what I'd need to do in order attend a red carpet then I'll gladly pour gasoline on that bridge and burn the fucker down.
I will instead very gladly say "fuck ICE". I will put "FDT" on my t-shirts. I will donate profits to organizations that protect trans youth. I will denounce any administration's cruelty, malice, xenophobia, and hate. And I'll celebrate every single time a Nazi enters the "find out" stage.
If you cannot stand with these very simple aspects of human decency, then you have no place in the Geekdom because you failed to understand anything that these stories were trying to teach you.