As a self-professed “fanboy” and attendee of conventions both large and small for over 15 years, I was elated to learn that a documentary chronicling behind-the-scenes moments of a con had been released just last month. In “Surviving Supercon,” filmmaker Steven Shea follows convention organizers and married couple Mike Broder and Sandy Martin as they deal with the rigors of putting on one of the country’s largest conventions, Supercon, which is held annually in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
When I began attending conventions like New Jersey’s Chiller Theatre 15 years ago, they were much smaller in scale than they are today. Even convention giants like New York Comic Con (NYCC) still had very niche, smaller scale audiences until relatively recently. Now, conventions like NYCC and Supercon encompass so many areas of interest from comics to movies to anime to music; Audiences from all ends of the pop culture spectrum are finding themselves under the same roof. It is beautiful, but it is also very, very sweaty.
Throughout the film, it is clear that the individuals involved in the production of Supercon are dedicated fans of pop-culture. Broder, much like myself, clearly has an affinity for the Muppets – and a cameo from former Muppet performer Steve Whitmire is present in the film. This alone made the movie a worthwhile watch for me, perhaps helping to illustrate how intense fandom can be. Three seconds of a Muppet performer on screen is all it takes to reel me in. I imagine fans of other media would feel similarly. The convention staff is made up largely of volunteers who echo the sentiment that fans are passionate about their comics, movies and games.
The documentary highlights anything can go wrong at any time. Much of the film depicts Broder and Martin dealing with stressful situations like unprepared security personnel and guest cancellations. At certain moments I felt bad for the couple as they clearly care about the success of the event. Other times, I couldn’t help but wince at the way Broder talks to the staff during fits of rage, like when he curses at a parking attendant for not letting him through a passage. During one particularly hard to watch scene, Broder catches a convention volunteer scalping tickets outside. He strips the volunteer of his clothing, making him remove his shirt in public, and calls the police to have him arrested. “That kid got arrested and it fucks up his life,” Broder comments in the film, “but he committed a crime.” Clearly Broder knows the repercussions of calling the police on someone for stealing what amounts to probably under $200, but he shows no understanding or empathy to the young volunteer.
For fans of pop-culture and convention attendees, “Surviving Supercon” will be a worthwhile watch and provides what I imagine to be an accurate portrayal of all the problems a convention organizer could face on the job.
“Surviving Supercon” is available now for Streaming on Demand.
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