The 2020 Comic Con Circuit Is Closed...Try Again Next Year.

Photo by Judeus Samson on Unsplash

COVID-19 took over our personal lives and businesses of business owners in a way that no one could have ever imaged. Everything from solo-preneurs, small businesses and even larger companies in numerous industries have been hit. Other businesses have had to cut back on employees or have laid them off all together. 

It's not something most people expected, to wake up one day to have their lives turned around and the sad truth is it's happening to more and more people everyday. 

We here at MDMC Entertainment have been helping clients formulate their statements and streamline their systems to integrate to the current times so they continue to serve clients. 

As we continue to observe the business side of things, the entertainment side has completely halted. As we had several shows lined up most of those are now postponed or canceled. When things turn upside down we like to see how others respond to crisis because there is something to learn how people and organizations deal with specific crisis's. 

The Comic Con world has been scrambling as the March and April comic cons canceled or postponed I see promoters acting desperate to make sure their show goes on. There is nothing wrong with it these people are entrepreneurs making sure they don't lose money and are securing the livelihood of those surrounding them. 

We are currently in the most uncertain times because we don't really know what's going to happen a month from now much less 6 months from now. 

The problem promoters aren’t seeing is that even though they get their show rescheduled like the March and April shows are being moved to June or August. Let's line up the issues here:

1. Even if the show gets rescheduled, who is going to be able to afford to go to a show? A lot of people are going through hardships, even with a stimulus check coming through via the government, most people are catching up on bills and getting their lives back to normal. A con is the last thing they are thinking about. 

2. Scheduling to June is probably too soon considering we are all playing this out week by week. It's ambitious but at the same time people will be rebuilding their lives first before they show up at a show. 

3. Moving to August sounds ideal however there are several problems with this solution. As COVID-19 hit every industry even Hollywood filming on all shows and movies have been halted. A lot of comic cons that have high tier talent will risk the possibility of having those people cancel. If the talent is currently filming the filming contract will always over power a comic con contract. Since the filming of shows stopped in March, a lot of season finales hadn't finished filming. The second a studio can jump back into film they are going to do it. August is the prime time for any all filming so your guest list at your show could be sparse depending on the type of show. 

Some shows have flat out canceled with no sign of a future date. Other shows have poorly managed refunds. While some promoters are eager to make it right some have dropped the ball. 

Another factor to consider is that a lot of these comic cons are held in convention centers. AS of right now convention centers across the country have been converted to makes-shift hospitals. At the moment the San Diego Convention Center is housing the homeless population and the Javits center is now a hospital. Now you have to keep in mind the cleaning process of these places and how would we know it's COVID free? 

Medical experts are already predicting the second wave of this virus that will hit in the August/Fall time frame. It's not certain but it's possible. Again we're in uncertain times. 

We are dealing with with too many unknown variables. As much as I respect the promoters trying to get their shows back up and running but the problem is that these tactics aren’t being thought out all the way and it can eventually cost more and profit loss can be higher than usual. 

As sad as it is, the safest bet to make is that all shows return to 2021. Not just for the safety of the people but the protection of a promoters wallet.