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Topic: Blackpool Success
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Barry Attwood
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1411
From: Enfield, U.K.
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted November 21, 2006 02:10 AM
Yes I must concur, it was a nice weekend once again, and our table were the proud winners of the legendary Evening Meal quiz, and we all one a drink on Derann (now that was worth all the effort of getting to Blackpool). Mind you it must have been all the excitement of winning the quiz that made me passout (literally, ambulance, oxygen, the works) at the Odeon cinema on the Sunday evening, so I was a bit groggy travelling back yesterday, feeling a bit better today (it's amazing what a night in your own bed does!), but I suppose I'll have to see the quack sometime about it.
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Adrian Winchester
Film God
Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted November 21, 2006 10:34 AM
I must agree with all the positive remarks - a great relaxed, friendly weekend as always. The dinner provided a good 4 course meal for a very reasonable price and Ged Joned provided a challenging quiz consisting of quotes from films.
There was certainly no sense of film collecting being in decline. I know that the numbers increased significantly in 2005 and this year there was exactly the same number of bookings for the Saturday dinner. Anne Simmonds felt the Sunday convention number looked like being at least as many as last year and she told me that the dealers were pleased with the amount of business they were doing.
One of the news releases shown was Classic's new Nostalgia Reel featuring the 'Brides of Dracula' trailer. This appears to be a full 200' and includes a good range of ads. I had to order a copy because they sold out even before it was screened! I heard that a clip from the 'For Your Eyes Only' feature was also screened, although in German as Classic had not had time to record an English track. Other releases included some new trailers from Derann, although sadly no 'Wallace and Grommit' due to the negative damage that means that only 6 prints of 'A Grand Day Out' were made. (I'll say more about the Wallace and Grommit disaster elesewhere if no one else summarises it.)
Norman Wanstall was a great guest and his short talk before the auction was fascinating, so I hope Derann try to find more comparable people in future. He was very approachable and clearly enjoying himself, staying right until the end. He would have been equally popular as an after dinner speaker, as in some of the 1980s conventions, but I suppose more people got to hear him on the Sunday.
Derann were very generous in giving everyone on Sunday a free raffle ticket with a brand new Disney feature as the prize. If this is repeated, I'd suggest stating the prize on the publicity as I'd imagined it would be something far less valuable.
I found also some nice 16mm bargains, including what appears to be an interesting, as new, 1200 documentary for £5. And as the seller said, just the reel and can are worth more. On the Bring and Buy, I bought a set of 2 mint 16mm trailers; the 58' 'Dracula' (faded) and 'Meet me in St Louis' (perfect colour) for only £7.50.
It amazing what you can sometimes find at Blackpool. I've wanted some 16mm soundtrack blooping tape for some time and I bought 2 rolls for only 50p each. There was also a stall that had lots of those small battery-operated viewers that take a cartridge with a loop of super 8. They all came with a football clip from about 1989 and were £2 for new ones still in the packaging, or £1 for unwrapped ones.
It's a shame when such a fun-filled weekend is over but we have the dates for next year: 17/18 November. If you've never been, I beg you to plan the time off, start saving to make the journey or do whatever you need to do in order to be there next year. You'll be very glad you did.
Many thanks to all the Derann staff involved in making the 30th such a memorable event.
-------------------- Adrian Winchester
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