The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

I know it's the off season and this forum is pretty much dead, but an interesting subject came up on the Drexel Theater's forum about attendance at the marathons. Bruce, help me out here if I am wrong because it is all second- and third-hand knowledge. Apparently the hosts at the all-night horror marathon made a comment about how they wished the marathons could get to a point where they would sell out without any advertising or any film announcements. Even if that is incorrect or falsely attributed, it brings up an interesting topic for discussion.

How can we keep attendance to the marathon high? I will come to the Science Fiction Marathon every year for the forseeable future as long as I am able and as long as the Mighty Bartoo is able. It's in my blood. I don't give a damn what movies are showing and quite frankly the best marathon experiences for me have been movies I didn't expect to like. This years crowd size was encouraging, but how many will come back for no particular reason?

Obviously, there are not 500 or so people out there who feel the same way as I do. Hell, there are only a handful of users of this forum and the Marathon website forum. So the question is, how do we transfer this obsession to others to maintain consistent attendance? I'd be glad to hear everyone's thoughts.

I work in the grocery industry and one of the biggest challenges is in customer service and getting our customers to come back to our store. While there are no competitors for the marathon to worry about, the question remains how do you get your customers to come back?
If the event needs more financing, I'm willing to pony up a few dollars more for my ticket. How about a VIP section? Reserved seating for a few dollars more, like at the Grand? Maybe donations like they do for performing arts where you give them money and you get your name in the program (woo hoo!). Or maybe there's something like this in place already, I don't know.

Anyway, I was pleased with the crowd size this year and hopefully they all come back, except for that annoying yelling man near me.

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

One of the best things we can do is bring someone. If you have the means, even offer to pay their way. I went to the first 6 SciFis alone. I knew people there, some from seeing them once a year and some, the first few years, from High School.

Starting with year 7 I started bringing folks. I brought my grilfriend, now wife. She went from 7-11 and then gave up because it just wasn't her thing. For 8 and 9 though we brought a friend of hers and for 9 that friend brought her dad, who came to 10 as well. For 10 & 11 I talked a couple other friends into coming, but while they liked movies, they had a it of an aversion to B&W films and movies where stuff didn't blow up or where you had to think too much, so they were a bit bored by the more artistic films of the Riffe Center years. My girlfriend (still not wife, we date a looong time) got a new roommate. i started going to these with her. She has been a regular ever since, though she had to miss the last couple because of the inconsistent date, though she has been able to make the horrorthons, because of a consistent date. (Hmm, wonder if that horse should be beaten some more.) She has started bringing a friend to the horror's the last few years. And I have another friend a few years back who has made most of both the SciFis and horror's with me, including the trailerthon. This year for the scifi I took my nephew who is ten. I plan to take my son when he is old enough. So after years of trying I now have a core of 2 other folks who are regulars to the marathon and they are starting to bring people as long as well. Kind of like the old Calgon commercial.

DEAD HORSE BEATING: I think the Boston marathon sold out was it was President's Day weekend and everyone knew it was that and everyone could plan for it. The Sci Fi's here have been all over the map. Hopefully this is finally resolved, I was pleased to hear Bruce re-affirm the April 14-15 date.

BRUCE'S DEFENSE: The other thing about the early years of Boston was the only way to see most of the films was either to perhaps catch them on something like Night Owl Theater, the Superhost show, or some such off hours, trying to fill programming time with something cheap, program. Even into the mid 80s VCRs were expensive, tapes were expensive and the studios only released recent films and perhaps a few classics. A couple of my friends who I brought but didn't like the marathon had home theater systems and could watch 24 hours of what they wanted (Terminator, Alien, etc) without haven't to endure (to their way of thinking) City of Lost Children, or some of the older campy films that they see as just stupid. Bruce, when he was talking about word of mouth bringing folks out, also mentioned he blamed video and I think he is right.

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The wages of sin are royalties.

You local types could give free crash space to us out-of-towners.

Maybe if Joe twists a few arms when he comes to Boston in February, he could convince some of us to make the trip. I have scrawny little wrists that twist easily. And I am highly susceptible to Jedi mind tricks.

The constant of President's Day weekend definitely helps Boston maintain its audience, although it should be noted that while the crowd is still sizeable it's not selling out every year like in the past. Another factor to be considered is that the Boston 'thon began in the mid-70's, way before video became affordable on a mass scale and even farther before DVD opened the Pandora's Box of rare titles. The Columbus 'thon debuted when home video was entering a period of critical mass, so the loyalty factor was different. In essence, Boston had more time to build a loyal audience before home video, the internet, etc. took hold.

A greater factor to be considered is the cultural makeup of the respective audiences. To me, Boston's audience reflects a major part of the town itself: tradition. The Boston crowd seems more tied to the tradition and loyalty of the event. Not to say there aren't a gaggle of dedicated hardcores here in Columbus. However, there has always seemed to be a prevailing "what have you done for me lately" attitude amongst the crowd.

There's been discussion on the Boston board for a few years now on replenishing their greying audience, and how attendance has fallen a bit without a constant influx of new blood, so perhaps the problems of the two Marathons are beginning to converge.

Joe, you mention that these things are "problems" for the two marathons. As someone more on the inside can you answer me please. How much of a "problem" is attendance? I mean, is the marathon in danger if attendance does not improve drastically, or is this a minor concern at this point?

I agree that the internet and DVDs, etc., I'm sure have contributed to declining interest. It is probably challenging to "sell" the event to the average schmoe. I just wish there were more loyalists out there and more people who understand that the whole experience is enhanced by the environment and it's not just about watching something you can see on TV whenever you want. People who are turned off because they would rather watch the DVD are probably the same type of people who don't like letterbox because "the black bars are annoying."

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

Lots of good debate and points made by all previously in this thread. As one who has gone to the Boston SF Marathon since Number 4 back in (gulp!) 1979 (!), I too have seen a lot of the changes that technology (VCR's, Satellite TV, DVD's etc) have wrought to the Marathon.

To echo a point made earlier, it may be impossible for younger Marathoners to even comprehend that there was a time when you literally COULD NOT SEE many many older films that were shown at the Marathon. If the few local TV stations in your area did not have the rights to a film, that's it, there was basically no way to see the vast majority of older movies (and, even if they did air, they would be butchered for length, censored for content and divided up by commercials).

But, even back then, the idea of seeing them on the big screen was far more important to me, than just catching up on rarities. This too, is something that has become less and less important with the 'convenience' of home video in its many forms. We also were watching 19 to 25 inch TV sets in the 70's, not the 50 and 60 inch sets of today (but, compare that to 25 to 50 FOOT screens and it's still no comparison for moi!).

One other factor that hasn't been mentioned in this thread is the theater itself - The Orson Welles Cinema. As Bruce will attest, the Welles was a truly legendary movie house in Boston. It had a unique spot in the film community in the city. If the Welles was showing it, it got noticed. That reputation combined with a SET DATE had the Marathon at a point where it sometimes was virtually SOLD OUT 6 weeks in advance (in Ohio, it appears you don't even have a set date that far ahead!). Even when the Marathon eventually moved to the Coolidge Corner theater (after the Welles burnt down), it too was a significant player in the Boston filmgoing scene and sellouts did happen.

But, all of the tech advances, the change in filmgoer habits, moves to other locations (and a minor one in date) have all added up to eventually eat away at the Boston base as well.

The fight continues!

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

Me and a co-worker having been attending together for the past several years, and we have now managed to get someone else interested in going, but this individual is in the process of buying a home and starting a family so more than likely he will not become a regular I'm afraid. But in any case we will continue to try. Me and my friend are facing several problems however. Everyone we know either doesn't like sci-fi, thinks anything old that doesn't have megabudget effects is crap or cannot attend due to their work schedule or limited time off.



Hell yeah! Fritz the nite owl is God!!!!!

Well, uh okay maybe not , but he still kicks ass! Ah the memories.



Thank you! If someone else wasn't going to say it I was. The crowd and the atmosphere is half the reason that I attend. There have been thons where I had almost every single movie being shown either on dvd or vhs but it still didn't matter. This is probably a stupid question, since the rest of you may be more privy to this information than I am, but how much advertising for the thon is there? Is there anyway to boost that by any chance? I know that it was mentioned that it would be nice if the thons would sell out without the need for it so as to save money, but what if a bunch of us took it upon ourselves to make flyers or something or post things on the internet that address or get the attention of the local community, I dunno, I'm kinda grasping at straws here. Thoughts?

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Mecha brings up t he point of having to convince his friends/family to go (this applies to advertising as well). In there is the notion that a lot of "potential" Marathoners may not be interested in the full range of SF films that us hardcore Marathoners usually are.

If it was made before STAR WARS, a lot of fans roll their eyes, Snark out loud, go out for dinner or just fall asleep.

Here's the Question: Should the Marathon(s) experiment and show Mostly NEWER FILMS for a Year and see if that improves attendence??

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

I think a more interesting experiment would be to show 1 or 2 films that are not only recent releases, but perhaps still playing in wide release. Next spring, for instance there will be a couple genre movies in theaters at the time of the marathon, namely 300 and GRINDHOUSE. Though neither is technically Sci-Fi, I'm sure they appeal to the same audience.

Of course there's the argument that the studios would never let you show these in the middle of something like the marathon, but perhaps if ticket prices were raised slightly so the distributors got a fair cut. I don't know how these things work, I'm just grasping at straws here.

As far as advertising goes, I think you really only need 1 or 2 good solid films and then promote the hell out of them. Like, "come see a rare screening of such-and-such on the glorious big screen and oh by the way stay for these cool movies too."

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Aliens? Us?
Is this one of your Earth "jokes?"

It seems that even among those who consider themselves sci-fi fans who enjoy various genres, the number of those who shy away from or dislike older science fiction seems to be growing. Even the buddy who goes with me every year says he wishes there were more newer films and fewer older films. To me this is a frightening trend, but to each his own I guess. Newer films don't really bother me, especially when it's the rare or odder movies that you can't see on TV or purchase on DVD(another thing that makes our thon great may I add ).



In regards to trying to get people interested in going, I managed to possibly turn someone's head. I was in town yesterday wearing my Forbidden Planet t-shirt(not the marathon one, this one has the theatrical poster art on it) when I saw this guy with a greyish/black beard walking up to me with eyes as big as saucers. He told me he loved it and asked where I got it, I told him about a convention that I attended where I purchased it and then asked him if he was a fan of classic science fiction. When he said yes I began to tell him about the marathon, asking him if he had ever heard of it, giving him all the major details, telling him about the Gateway theater and even giving him the website address and the date of the next thon.

Buuuuut, when I mentioned the fact that it was indeed a 24 hour strait marathon he kinda cocked one eye and suddenly looked rather concerned. Anyway he went on his merry way afterward, don't know if he was too ecstatic about the idea of trying to get through the whole marathon and he didn't seem too thrilled about the price tag either.

Ah well, as always, I will continue trying.

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To Mecha74 & IamJacksUserID.

First, yes, it would be difficult to book films that are in current release. The only exception would be if the film were playing at THAT theater at the time (you could even be...heh...heh...covert and run it without telling the distributor). But, there are all kinds of clearance issues depending on where in the local area the film is playing etc. etc.

Second, if you really went full bore on finding films that aren't on DVD you'd have basically a festival set-up with films not yet released. Some may turn out OK, but most are turkeys along the lines of BREAKFAST OF ALIENS that we showed in Boston (I hear there have been several painful to sit thru "premiere" films in Ohio as well). Our Marathons are simply not deemed "commercial" enough for most distributors to give us enough quality films to fill out a schedule.

Plus, is that what most marathoners want? A Film Festival?

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Long Live the Orson Welles Cinemas

Personally I prefer the mix of old and new to be honest but when the marathon does get newer indie, low key or odd ball films(thinks back to fond memories of Equilibrium ) they seem to be very unique viewing experiences so I definetly don't mind so far. In truth it kinda frightens me that there are those that would rather see the classic films get eclipsed(not referring to anyone here mind you), they are IMHO an important part of the thon.

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I've long been opposed to too many newer films, especially those that had a recent theatrical release. Sky Captain, for example. I enjoyed, hadn't seen it before the marathon, but I'm still not sure it should have been there. Same with Firefly.

Looking back at the list of the early 'thons, I had forgotten how close some of the movies were between their release date and the Thon. Blade Runner was only a couple years old, Robocop came out the year before. As I look at the list, I guess when I was younger I didn't mind if I happened to catch a film in the theater and not too long after at a 'thon. I guess I am just getting cranky in my old age. But looking at that list there was always a mix and a good mix at that.

Preimeres are so hit and miss. I'm still dd we didn't get MST3K. I still dislike a few we had recently, but there have been some gems. My favorite premiere probably is Frequency.

It really does come down, in some form or fashion to all the options people have. It is a tougher sell now because you can get most of these on DVD you can watch them at your own pace and you can blog about them to your heart's content and don't have to interact with other people. It is a general trend in the movie business but that is a whole other rant. The other problem is trying to recruit folks our age. It is harder for me now than it was 10 years ago. In garduate school or undergrad staying up all night was no biggie. No kid to worry, didn't have to worry about on call, etc. I have a tough time with the wife as it is, but I have the defense I have been going since it started and I always have said I would go. I've gotten a lot of push back on the horror marathons because Ididn't always attend those, and whenever I bring up a trip to Boston it gets shot down.

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The wages of sin are royalties.

Well I might be persuading 3 more people to attend this year who have never attended before. All three of them are co-workers and one of them is my older brother no less. The funny thing is, is that the other two actually live in Columbus and have never even heard of the marathon(me and my brother live an hour south). But in any case, none of them are a lock yet, cuz they all want to know what the final lineup will be before deciding. Also, my brother and one of the others are not really big fans of older films, they prefer big budget effects, so that could cause a problem.

Yeah I know, it ain't much, but I'm tryin anyway and hopefully other marathoids will too.

Spread the word!

One of us...one of us...one of us...one of us...

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