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Interview with Gareb Shamus of Wizard Entertainment

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By Dork Shelf
January 18, 2010

Wizard World Toronto

Local convention fans have been abuzz since it was announced that Wizard Entertainment had purchased the long running Paradise Toronto Comic Con. Wizard Entertainment is a well known quantity amongst dorks, not only for putting on some of North America’s largest comic conventions, but also publishing the popular Wizard and Toyfare magazines. Originally started in 2003 by Paradise Comics proprieter Pete Dixon, the newly minted Wizard World Toronto Comic Con will be Wizard’s first show outside of the United States. Where the original Paradise show was a comic book focused event, the new Toronto Comic Con will be multi-genre event similar to Wizard’s other conventions.

So what can fans expect from the upcoming Wizard World Toronto Comic Con? Jeff recently had a chance to find out in a conversation he had with Wizard Entertainment CEO Gareb Shamus. The two discussed the upcoming Toronto Comic Con, the Wizard World brand and how Wizard is adapting to the changing magazine marketplace.

Listen:  
Download: Dork Shelf Interview: Gareb Shamus (18 MB, MP3, 25:50)

Wizard World Toronto Comic Con runs March 26, 27 and 28th 2010 at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place in Toronto. Featured guests include Dollhouse‘s Eliza Dushku, Battlestar Galactica‘s Kandyse Maclure, Iron-Man artist Adi Granov and Wonder Woman writer Gail Simone. Be sure to check out the official Wizard World Toronto Comic Con site for more details and to see the constantly growing line-up of guests.

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  • http://Website I. Alexander

    Disappointed in this interview for not covering some topics.

    1. Why were the dates for the Toronto Comic Convention selected as the same dates as the Penny Arcade Expo(PAX) East? Won’t that hurt obtaining exhibitors to the show? What’s the possible lost attendance from this event from attendees that will chose to go to PAX instead of Toronto Comic Con?

    2. No mention of hearing words from Shamus directly why he chose to move Wizard World Chicago dates to not go up against Star Wars Celebration 5. I’m not counting the press release sent out about the change.

    3. Why does Gareb chose to schedule at least three of his events on the same weekend as other conventions being held in North America? His Anaheim, Toronto, and New York shows are schedule with other large events those weekends. Does that help the industry or even his own business having them scheduled at the same time?

    4. What’s his longterm goal with events? How many events does he wish to produce? One a month? Currently there’s 8 planned for 2010.

    5. What types of entertainment programming does he see for the future of events? Animation, Anime, Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Tech, etc…? Will Wizard keep the same structural format of their events or will it change? What has changed since it purchased the Chicago Comic Con in the 1990′s?