Wellesnet Convention - Why can't I stop thinking of this?!?

[Steeler1]

Ok Jeff, it's time for me to reappear from the basement of Wellesnet to bring up the Wellesnet Convention again. I would like to purpose a meeting of Wellesnet members and other Welles fans to migrate for the hell of it here to beautiful Orlando, Florida.

Since Jaime M. and I live here, we could organize the shindig. We could start assembling a list of guest speakers, dealers, a cool hotel/hall and line up the some 16mm prints for viewings.

If it sucks, we can all go to Universal.

Here's are some helpful tips you can use to plan your trip to the 1st annual Wellesnet Convention in Orlando.
Here are some excerpts:


Convention tip #1-Use the parks as a way to purpose the field trip to your significant other!

Convention tip #2- The Orlando area has some of the world's best and most diverse resturants. Don't be afraid to venture away from the theme parks.
..........
Convention tip #79- Bring your own water to a theme park! Paying $3 for a 16oz bottle will piss you off.

Convention tip #80- If you become frightened by Jaime Marzol while talking to him at the convention, fake a heart attack to end the tramatic experience. :p



Just a thought that won't go away. I'll return to the basement now. Don't worry, I know the way....

[Steeler1]

Joking aside, I just read the posts by mteal and rkadin under Unfinished Orson. What would it take to organize a convention with showing of these prints?

[R Kadin]

Count me in, folks! I have family in Clearwater and a new grand niece that needs the benefits of her best-looking grand uncle's personal guidance and wisdom. That and a chance to meet other Welles enthusiasts? Not a hard sell proposition for me!!

[Jeff Wilson]

Is the basement at least furnished, with a stocked fridge comfy chair, and nice home theater set-up?

Some kind of meeting would be a good idea, but there would obviously need to be a fair amount of lead time so that people would know about it and be able to plan accordingly. Random thoughts: I'd say sometime early next year would be good. I doubt that dealers would come to a meet that might only have a handful of people. It might be good to stay small; after all, who's going to pay for guests to come in (plane fare, hotel, etc)? Also, where this would be might have to wait until you got an idea of how many people might show up. On the other hand, if this were done through a film convention in your area (if you have one), or in conjunction with a local art theater or what have you, it might help defray costs, etc. And maybe get access to some better or rarer prints. It's definitely worth pursuing. Obviously I can promote this as much as necessary here on the site if it's decided to give it a shot.

If anyone has further ideas/suggestions, post them here...

[R Kadin]

While it's not like we're the Orlando of the North, but as a fallback, Toronto Canada does host a major filmfest every September.

Accommodations during the festival itself tend to get sold out well in advance; but availablility in the prior and post-fest weeks generally rebounds smartly. And, being in September, it's months away from the the cold weather that gets us repairing to our igloos.

There are also many, many post-secondary film study and film production programmes in the city with eager throngs of students and academics to help round out the attendee numbers. A perfect demographic for our purposes, no? And then there's the Canadian Film Institute where some of Canada's best directors (Norman Jewison, Atom Egoyan, e.g.) hang their hats. What this also means is that this place enjoys a disproportionate share of first-rate screening facilities. Come visit our country's very own Walk of Fame: you might be quite surprised at the major names you'll find there.

On top of all this, Toronto's reputation as "Hollywood North" generally means that you'll find yourself tripping over film crews engaged in any number of the location shoots that add to the city's collective adrenaline.

For those needing still more more reasons, we have a big theme park (Paramount Canada's Wonderland), and a whole host of other family attractions (for example, Ontario Place built above the waters of our very own Great Lake and sporting a terrific childrens' waterpark, shops, restaurants, an indoor/outdoor concert venue AND the world's first IMAX facility). The CN Tower (world's tallest free-standing structure with two sky-high observation decks), the retractably-roofed SkyDome for Major League baseball fans, an innovative Symphony Hall, a theatre scene second only to New York, a world-class Shakespearean festival within easy distance (come indulge your inner classical Welles!), a still-futuristic City Hall, a downtown club scene that ROCKS, great eateries offering one of the widest selections of domestic and international cuisines you're likely to find ANYwhere, a wine region barely 45 minutes by car that just happens to have an internationally-acclaimed George Bernard Shaw theatre festival nestled like a jewel within the genuine Edwardian town (Niagara-on-the-Lake) at its centre. And yes, that also means Niagara Falls can be seen a scant 10 more minutes away.

Finally, factor in that prices here are generally the same as in the U.S. - except that, with our lower dollar, they actually translates into 40% LESS in American terms. (Okay, so we speak "Canadian" up here; but don't worry, we make it sound identical to English just to be polite.)

So, do I see any interested faces out there in the crowd...?

[R Kadin]

BTW, I was joking about the igloos.

[jaime marzol]

Convention tip #80- If you become frightened by Jaime Marzol while talking to him at the convention, fake a heart attack to end the tramatic experience.

this is funny. i seem to have picked up that reputation. i wonder how that happens.

a welles thing within a lets say, "film noir convention," would be excellent. however, first it involves attending other film conventions and getting business cards from those traveling vendors. or you purchase your own stuff to sell there, which is a better idea. you purchase a huge lot with prior arrangement with distrubutor to take back what you didn't sell.

have to arrange PAYCHECKS, trasportation, drugs and sex for honorary speakers so they will find the trip appealing.

you have to make arrangemet with hotel, pay for space upfront. the deal with hotels is: the first convention you pay for everything. if you pack the hotel your next convention is gratis. you pay them nothing, and they supply YOU with sex.

all in all to put together such a thing would take almost a year, and a kitty of about 20k to work from, but that 20k investment could return 80k the first time out. then you plan another convention using same tactics in another big town. 4 conventions a year in 4 big towns.

[jaime marzol]

SOME YEARS BACK I REMEMBER READING AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE GUY WHO DOES THE BEATLE CONVENTIONS. HE STARTED OUT WITH ONE CONVENTION A YEAR USING VENDORS.

sorry about caps

by the writing of the article he was up to 4 conventions ayear, not using vendors, selling his own stuff, bringing in $5,000,000 a year. not bad at all. and making it doing something he's passionate about.

[R Kadin]

I could see me springing for part of that (seriously, folks). Would even offer to take on the all-important task of quality control for the sex part (seriously, fol...okay, R Kadin make joke that time).

[jaime marzol]

the beatle convention guy did not make 5 mil from 4 conventions, i neglected to post that he branched out into mail order catalogs of rock $ roll memorabilia, which makes all the sense in the world. people who buy beatle memorabilia don't just buy it at conventions, they buy the stuff year round.

the 20k working capitol is just off the top of my head, but it's probably in the ballpark for a first convention (i keep forgetting, 20k isn't what it used to be).

a friend sent me tapes of the Midnight Marquee Film Convention, and eaither my friend happened to tape when there was no one there, or they bit it and lost a bundle. it seemed empty of buyers but highly populated with vendors. they had heavyweight speakers too; janet leigh, the actor who played the running mummy in the late 1950's mummy movie peter cushing was in, english actor, forgot his name. ray harryhousen was there, and a bunch of other lesser stars.

[R Kadin]

Not really a surprise, Steeler1. If it were that easy to make money on such things, we'd be chest-deep in them and rising.

For my part - and a reasonably modest sum - all I would want is not to lose even more than that; the experience itself would be my return on investment.

[Steeler1]

Fundraising would be the tough part!

Jaime, you mentioned that a hotel/convention center would expect payment the first time, but here in the Orlando area you might be able to find one that is desperate for some business.

The Florida Film Festival takes place in June. We might be able to work something out with the Enzian theater.

There are 3 film school with in 10 miles of each other: Full Sail, Valencia and University of Central Florida. Last month the Digital Media and Animations students at Full Sail were required to attend Megacon, a comic convention. Something might be able to worked out with the film programs, at least at Full Sail.

[jaime marzol]

Jeeeeeeeeezuz! i talk to steeler about doing a once a month welles screening, he gets the fever, and next thing you know he's got a convention going.

i'll put in some dough, but we gotta plan it better.

[jaime marzol]

this welles convention thing has been traveling back and forth through the canyons of my mind. echoing. waking up my neighbors, and pissing off my parrot.

i have about 28 thoughts in my head that i will sort out throughout the evening, and about 3AM, or 4AM, i will come back and spew them here.

[R Kadin]

hanks for the warning, Jaime. The rest of us will be sure to get out of your way. :p