Jaws3dfan wrote:
none of this would be an issue if the sci-fi switched to the Grandview like the Horror did. We would have a date and a line-up already.
Maybe. Do we know that Dave and Jen could effectively host both? I dunno. I haven't discussed it with them.
Part of the reason of the switch for the Horror was that Jeff Frank and the Drexel were never as enthusiastic about the Horror as they were for the Horror. Jeff was happy to let the Horror marathon go elsewhere. And there is something to be said about "Going home with the person who brought you to the dance."
Leaving the Drexel family of theatres when Jeff is willing to still hold it there could burn a lot of goodwill. Could the marathon keep it's name and numbering? Maybe, but again, I don't know.
Before anyone jumps down my throat, I would like to point out that:
1) I very badly want a set, reliable date for the event. Even if that date is something nebulous like "The 2nd weekend in April unless that conflicts with Easter, in which case it's the week before".
2) I hold no particular loyalty to any one venue, but I do hold a great deal of loyalty to the event.
But at the same time, I've never been involved in the back-end planning of the marathon. I have no idea just how much work goes in to planning it, booking films, getting prints delivered, arranging for employees to be at the theatre, negotiating contracts with distributors who may not want the theatre's biggest (or only) screen tied up for a movie marathon when they have a certain film set to be released, working with the owners and managers of the theatres, etc.
Without that knowledge, it feels an awful lot like Monday Morning Quaterbacking to say "The event should have a set date, regardless of conflicts" or "The event should move to a different venue."