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Current Talk '24 I / Re: Dark Shadows Begins Screening Online; New Documentary on its Way
« on: January 06, 2018, 09:29:02 PM »
While KLS was able to shame Pierson into continuing the festivals at the so called final festival some years ago, maybe she no longer has that kind of leverage. While the fanbase is undeniably loyal, it is also scattered and unfocused.
No matter how one feels about the Depp movie, it did not bring new blood into the fandom. Quite the opposite, it alienated a lot of the fanbase.
The fandom is simultaneously aging and dwindling. There really have not been any attempt to broaden the audience. It's been a long time since there has been any sort of advertising done in the general media. Newbies stumble onto to it quite by accident, if they find it at all. Articles about festival activities have gotten some press but those always seem to be after the fact.
The last gasp seems to have been the cruises, which were beyond the budget and availability of the majority of fans. Very few photos have surfaced of the last one, so maybe that's the end of those.
People are full of all sorts of ideas about having festivals in different cities, which is not necessarily realistic. Any time the festivals deviated from the NY/CA areas, the numbers weren't there. Nor do the fans seem that eager to support anything that doesn't have the festival brand attached to it, as the Friends of the 1991 DS events demonstrated.
No matter how one feels about the Depp movie, it did not bring new blood into the fandom. Quite the opposite, it alienated a lot of the fanbase.
The fandom is simultaneously aging and dwindling. There really have not been any attempt to broaden the audience. It's been a long time since there has been any sort of advertising done in the general media. Newbies stumble onto to it quite by accident, if they find it at all. Articles about festival activities have gotten some press but those always seem to be after the fact.
The last gasp seems to have been the cruises, which were beyond the budget and availability of the majority of fans. Very few photos have surfaced of the last one, so maybe that's the end of those.
People are full of all sorts of ideas about having festivals in different cities, which is not necessarily realistic. Any time the festivals deviated from the NY/CA areas, the numbers weren't there. Nor do the fans seem that eager to support anything that doesn't have the festival brand attached to it, as the Friends of the 1991 DS events demonstrated.