The COVID-19 pandemic blew up the way companies think about pop culture fan conventions.
What happens when the dust finally settles?
But COVID-19 nearly halved attendance.
The fan convention experience might have been forever changed by the pandemic. Those behind the scenes weigh in.Illustration by Kyle Hilton for EW
“We weren’t going to have every major film studio,” Lance Fensterman tells EW.
He’s the president of ReedPop, which throws this annual genre fest.
“We weren’t going to have every major video game publisher.
‘The Batman’ director Matt Reeves and stars Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz bring their film to DC FanDome.DC FanDome
Many of those organizations weren’t allowing their people to travel.”
Still, this slimmed-down con “felt very grassroots again.”
But was that pared-down experience a mere exception, or a sign of things to come?
Natalie Portman lifts Mjolnir in Marvel Studios' Hall H panel for ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ at San Diego Comic-Con.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
And is a fan gathering even a gathering if it takes place virtually?
It’s also forcing organizers to rewrite their playbooks on the fly.
“We just had to figure it out.”
Crowds gather at New York Comic-Con in 2019.Ben Gabbe/Getty Images
COVID ultimately derailed those plans.
We can have all of our fans come to us,'" the source says.
Wouldn’t it be great if we used this as a jumping-off point?"
Lifford wasn’t the only one thinking that way.
WitcherCon is now just one of Netflix’s virtual cons (others include TUDUM and Geeked Week).
SDCC spokesman David Glanzer doesn’t worry about studio competition diminishing the industry’s marquee event.
In 2020, NYCC canceled festivities altogether, and SDCC hosted panels on YouTube.
“We’re going!”
That said, he believes there will always be a virtual element to NYCC, pandemic or not.
In that sense, the hybrid approach is here to stay in some form.
