Axanar Fan Convention Expected to Lose Money

Ticket Price Slashed More Than 40% After Complaints, Sluggish Sales

With weeks still to go before Axacon, the long-awaited Atlanta convention for Axanar fans, OWC Studios head Alec Peters revealed the event is likely a big money-loser.

After many people told him the entry price was too high, Peters announced September 26, 2018, tickets were being slashed by 41 percent, hoping to counter sluggish sales.

Meanwhile, Axanar raced to pull together the event, pleading with fans to volunteer their time, and slashing ticket prices after initially charging what some believed was a high cost for attending the three-day event in Atlanta.

Alec Peters

In an interview posted September 24, 2018, on the Fan Film Factor blog, Peters admitted Axacon won’t come close to paying for itself:

Honestly, I expect to lose about $5,000 on Axacon. And that is okay. But I don’t think there is any way we make money.²⁾

See also: Axanar Piggybacks Convention atop SphinxCon

Peters did not explain to Fan Film Factor whether the expected loss was due to slow sales of tickets some had complained were exorbitantly priced, higher than expected expenses or some combination of both.

Axacon’s entry originally required attendees to pay to get into both SphinxCon and Axacon, a minimum $91 cost with ticket processing fees.

However, just days after AxaMonitor compared Axacon’s price with other conventions, Peters admitted:

Feedback was most Axanar fans didn’t want to go to SphinxCon, and while I’m a huge Honor Harrington fan [the book series honored by SphinxCon], we can’t expect everyone to be.³⁾

Tickets now range from $54-82 instead of $91-129, including ticket processing fees.

TREK GUESTS Star Trek actors J.G. Hertzler, Gary Graham, and writer David Gerrold, fill out Axacon’s celebrity roster. Image/Axanar Productions

AxaMonitor obtained an advance copy of the Axacon schedule. While not finalized, this schedule gives a glimpse of what organizers, led by OWC Studios head Alec Peters, generally hoped to offer attendees at the upcoming gathering.

SphinxCon Axacon was designed as a “con within a con,” hosted by SphinxCon; some Axacon events are open to SphinxCon attendees.

Location While Axacon is officially housed at SphinxCon’s convention hotel, the airport Crowne Plaza, some events (as noted below) are scheduled to be held more than 42 miles away at OWC Studios in Lawrenceville, Ga.

ELIGIBLE ATTENDEES Click each date below to view its scheduled events
All Axacon attendees • Special ticket required • Open to SphinxCon attendees • 💸Axanar donors only

Friday, November 2

Time	Event	Panelists/Hosts	Location
2 p.m.	Axanar set tour	Alec Peters	OWC Studios
4 p.m.	Axanar Live!	J.G. Hertzler, Gary Graham, Alec Peters, Steve Jepson Keith M. Sedor, Jonathan Lane	OWC Studios
5 p.m.	Reception at Alec Peters’ home	Alec Peters, Crysstal Hubbard	Peters’ home near OWC Studios
10 p.m.	Axanar hits the bar!	Fans mingle with con guests and Axanar team at the hotel	Crowne Plaza

Saturday, November 3

Time	Event	Panelists/Hosts	Location
9 a.m.	Fan Film Top 10	Alec Peters, John Adcox Keith Sedor, Jonathan Lane	Crowne Plaza
10 a.m.	Axanar update	Alec Peters, Paul Jenkins Mark Edward Lewis, Keith Sedor	Crowne Plaza
11 a.m.	Honor Harrington’s influence on Axanar	Alec Peters	Crowne Plaza
12 noon	Star Trek moments	Gary Graham, J.G. Hertzler, Keith Sedor	Crowne Plaza
1 p.m.	💸Axanar donor lunch	Alec Peters, Steve Jepson, Paul Jenkins	TBA
2 p.m.	Axanar fan fiction	Jonathan Lane, Mark Largent Mark Payton, Alec Peters	Crowne Plaza
3 p.m.	Scripting Axanar	David Gerrold, Paul Jenkins, Alec Peters, Jonathan Lane	Crowne Plaza
4 p.m.	The Axanar ships	Alec Peters, Keith Sedor	Crowne Plaza
5 p.m.	Star Trek fan film preview	Pacific 201, Romulan Wars, First Frontier, Jonathan Lane (host)	Crowne Plaza
6 p.m.	💸Axanar donor dinner	J.G. Hertzler, Gary Graham, Alec Peters Steve Jepson, Mark Edward Lewis, Jeff Barklage	TBA
7 p.m.	Klingon costuming: From screen to con	Don Gaffney	Crowne Plaza
8 p.m.	Axanar: The fans’ perspective	Reece Watkins, Lee Benjamin, Steve Dixon Lee Mavity, Keith Sedor	Crowne Plaza
10 p.m.	Axanar hits the bar!	Fans mingle with con guests and Axanar team at the hotel	Crowne Plaza

Sunday, November 4

Time	Event	Panelists/Hosts	Location
10 a.m.	Starship combat in Axaverse	Alec Peters	Crowne Plaza
11 a.m.	Actors on Axanar	J.G. Hertzler, Gary Graham, Alec Peters, Jonathan Lane	Crowne Plaza
12 noon	Garth of Izar: Kirk’s hero	Alec Peters	Crowne Plaza
1 p.m.	Axanar lunch	Alec Peters, Steve Jepson, Paul Jenkins	TBA
2 p.m.	Admiral Slater: Misunderstood	Steve Jepson, Alec Peters, Jonathan Lane	Crowne Plaza
3 p.m.	Fan filmmaking vs. fan-to-pro	David Gerrold, John Adcox, Matt Green Alec Peters	Crowne Plaza
4 p.m.	Axanar trivia	Alec Peters, Steve Jepson	Crowne Plaza

Full descriptions of all the panels offered at SphinxCon and Axacon are available at the SphinxCon website.

Axacon’s cost had been criticized by some Axanar supporters as high for such a small, three-day convention, ranging from $91 to $129; attendees were required to purchase admission to SphinxCon. They were also required to find their own transportation for the 80-mile roundtrip to OWC Studios outside Atlanta.

At the new discounted Axacon price, SphinxCon was to receive $25 from each Axanar entry — half its original take. Axacon attendees who want access to any SphinxCon sessions would now have to pay extra.

DragonCon $85-95
By comparison, Atlanta’s immense five-day Dragon*Con, featuring dozens of well-known guests from many genre films and TV — especially Star Trek — costs a minimum $85, if purchased a year in advance. Closer to the event, admission is $95.

Star Trek Las Vegas $173-$1000
The official Star Trek convention, a five-day star-studded annual event, costs a bare minimum $300 if tickets are purchased on a daily basis, though shortly before the con tickets can be discounted as low as $173 for five days’ admission; daily admission ranges from $50-75. Premium packages go for about $1,000.

BRIDGE PANELS Volunteers are working against a November 2 deadline to complete the Axanar bridge set, featuring artwork like this. Click to view full size.Images/Axanar Productions

Treklanta $45-60
This local Star Trek convention also in Atlanta, and like Axacon also three days, costs $45 in advance, $60 at the door. Attracting more than 300 attendees a year, it offers many more celebrity guests than Axacon for less than half the admission price.⁴⁾

AXANAR VOLUNTEER Dana Wagner works to complete the Ares bridge set in time for Axacon. Image/Fan Film Factor

Despite volunteers’ efforts to complete the U.S.S. Ares bridge set, Peters told Fan Film Factor it would not be finished in time, but it would be “close. Good enough for Axacon.”⁵⁾

Despite his locked script Peters told Fan Film Factor he has not yet determined if the set will even appear in the two Axanar short films he says is coming in 2019. He said completing the set has cost him personally several thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, Peters pleaded with supporters to help to pull off the convention, with no discount for volunteering:

“I need you sounding off if you will be attending Axacon. I will ask each of you to volunteer 2-3 hours a day. I can’t give away any free passes as SphinxCon is not giving me any, and I am putting in a ton of my own money to make this happen.”⁶⁾

SphinxCon chairman Dave Weiner explained no SphinxCon volunteers, including organizers, are getting free admission to their own convention.

Convention guests, such as actors J.G. Hertzler and Gary Graham, are paid to appear. Guests such as pro-Axanar fan film blogger Jonathan Lane and Axanar podcaster Keith Sedor do not have to pay to attend.

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