Most fans who have gone to a comic con and thought, “if I was in charge, I woyld make things better for the fans”. Well, what if a fan , who had the right amounts of con experience, business acumen, and was a fan himself put on a show? Well, that’s exactly what has happened, John Macaluso, former CEO of Wizard World, has a new show coming to Houston , TX, and it looks to be a good one. I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Macaluso, and got to get hos perspective on cons, cost to fans, and what makes for a good show.
What makes Fandemic a good fit for Houston, TX?
Competition is good, and we’re not pushing out the other show here, but, there is no other show that will have the celebrity lineup, the artists lineup, and the vendor lineup that we have here. So I wish the other show in town all the success and luck in the world. Hopefully , it’s going to be very exciting for the fans like I always have your buddy you know our mantra is take care of the fans take care of the fans and take care of the fans and that’s what we want to get to the fans here in Houston. Logistically a very sound running show where we have staff that’s educated and knows what they’re doing, we want to give you great talent in terms of artists and celebrities ,give you educational programming fun programming, so that’s what I think that they’re that we’re gonna have a fun time here in Houston.
What are some of your experiences as a fan that has shaped your outlook towards cons?
So what it did is that gave me, it’s giving me an understanding of the industry and getting to actually meet some of the creators. And meeting Stan Lee and you know flying in a jet ,with Stan Lee and having Chris Hemsworth and Stan Lee on both sides of me taking pictures. It’s given me, besides the fact that I’m actually there with Thor and I’m there with the creator of Thor and little old John Macaluso is standing between them, so it’s given me fun, but yet to meet the actual creators and then to meet the celebrities and stars that play them has really been overwhelmingly enjoyable.
Do you think that the business side of comic cons has had a disconnect from the fans that visit them?
Absolutely. The problem in the industry is that seven years ago when I first started, there was probably 60 or 70 Comic Cons around the country today there’s over 700. So what happens is that you have people who are really not educated in running shows, and it gives the industry a bad light. Because they don’t have a show without the artist’s lineup, without the celebrities, without the vendors, that logistically don’t know how to do line control, don’t know how to do registration, don’t know how to do proper programming. And if it’s your first time going to a comic-con, and you go into one of these bad experiences you’re saying I’m not going back to another comic con. So, what I think will happen in the industry is that the people that really don’t know how to run shows will get weeded out the people that logistically know how to put on a good show their shows will get bigger. But, the biggest change in the industry that I have seen over the last seven years is the cost of celebrity talent. Because all of a sudden, you know they used to say the only people that used to go to Comic Cons, the celebrities are washed-up actors, well that’s not the way it is anymore. Today you’re getting A-list stars coming to shows around the country, but A-list stars are not cheap, and you know unfortunately everyone is not out there doing it for free. and you know it’s their time it’s you know they put a value on their time. And I don’t haven’t hold any animosity towards anybody, but it has become more expensive for the fans in terms of admission, in terms of autographs, in terms of photographs, so I see a big change there as well.
Was it hard kind of fun to narrow down the fandoms to include in your tour? For example, you have the Walking Dead group, how did that have the Guardians group that process go?
You know, I’ve been very fortunate in my convention career I have made a lot of friends beautiful acquaintances, and they will tell you the people that you see coming to this show 95% of them are my friends, personal friends. At this point and they found out that I was doing the show and called me to say we are so glad that you are getting back into the industry, just put me in. I get “I’m in” from Norman and Jeff and Stephen and Dean and Sean and Jason and Bruce to Michael they’re thrilled that I’m coming back in the industry because they know you know first of all I’m a reputable guy. I’m a stand-up guy and do any of those deals on a handshake and people trust me I’ve been in business for years, oh, 40 years I just made myself old. But these are these are great guys, fans love them they put on a great show for the attendees. So you know next year will be a different talent list but this year these are the celebrities the fans want at their city.
What character, actors, or franchise turned you into such a big fan?
The biggest thrill I really ever had was meeting Chris Hemsworth, I thought meeting Chris Hemsworth and then to find that with it just a beautiful guy he is, I mean here’s the world’s nicest guy you could you could ever meet. But you know I’ve got a bunch of fan favorite photos, but one that always sticks out in my mind is the one I took with Burt Reynolds. I got to meet Burt Reynolds, to talk with Burt Reynolds, sit with Burt Reynolds take a picture with Burt Reynolds, and you know growing up he was he was you know one of my heroes. I love to see you know we haven’t talked yet, but we got a guy like Milo coming to the show. I call him a kid, Milo (Ventimiglia), he’s just you know he’s another one of those you don’t get any better than Milo. To watch his success, see it with your own eyes that you know he’s just blowing up he’s the type of guy that should blow up. Or you what you see it with Norman Reedus. I mean when Norman first started coming to my shows, you know eight years ago, you know there was a few people online now there are thousands of people that want to either take photos with Norman, meet Norman so it’s really very exciting to see. I wish everyone well I don’t wish them ill. I’m not a jealous type of guy I’m happy if people do good watch to these other guys succeed and Bruce gets a new show on TV, and Michael is now you know you know I never realized ,it but he was Rowdy Gaines, you know and now it sees in all these movies and when you meet Michael (Rosenbaum) yeah he’s a regular guy so it’s, it’s really very exciting.
When will The Fandemic tour be coming to Houston?
That is a great question, that is fantastic ! Everybody go to, www.fandemictour.com, that’s the website you’ll see all the celebrities who are going to be there. The show is September 14,15th and 16th. God willing, hurricanes staying out of the Greater Houston area. We will be there with bells on and we will welcome you with open arms. We will see you at the NRG Center in Houston , TX.
