Ari Lehman, who made horror history by playing Jason Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th, would rather just give out freebies.
His name was Jason! But if you want him to scribble that on your Friday the 13th box set, you better be ready to fork over some of that hard-earned dough you earned over the summer. Ari Lehman – who played Jason Voorhees in the original Friday the 13th – is actively against charging fans for autographs or photo ops, although the shift in the industry has forced him into complying.
Speaking with iHorror, Ari Lehman said that the overall cost of getting to and attending a con is steep enough; add to that several hundred dollars from collecting autographs and such and you’re talking about one pricey weekend. “If someone pays to get there, you’re paying for gas, you’re paying to park, paying to get in, and now you walk up to the first table and somebody is asking for, I don’t know, maybe $50.00 for an autograph and a selfie. Then you get to the next table, and it’s the same thing. I often wondered, especially for a family that walks in there with a bunch of kids, how can that be fun? It’s got to be fun for everyone.” Lehman added that if you stop by his booth you might get something special – at no cost! “If someone comes up to my table in that situation, I’ll be giving out lots of freebies. That’s just who I am.”
Ari Lehman also gave a bit of background as to how this all came to be, adding, “Initially, a lot of the conventions way back were truly fan-supported entities. Then what ended up happening, in certain cases, is you have vendors who came in and were doing backroom deals with celebs. So, what ends up happening is, they say look, you pay these people’s guarantees, we’ll come in and do autograph work with them, and cover their guarantees. I’m giving you guys the inside scoop here. That’s all wonderful, except what it does is it changes the scope of how the event is drawing. In other words, they don’t need to create an entertainment-based event, and it becomes more of a sales-based event.”
That’s all pretty unfortunate for fans. Then again, you can’t just expect a celebrity – no matter the caliber – to hand out freebies at such an event. After all, they are spending their entire day – and often weekend – on the convention floor. Still, it’s refreshing to hear someone who frequently attends cons to speak out on the issue, as it’s something that so many fans can see as a burden, potentially keeping them away from attending at all.
Ari Lehman is next appearing at Silver Scream Con in Worcester, Massachusetts later this month. After that, he is scheduled for ScareFest 16 in Lexington, Kentucky in October.
What do you think of Ari Lehman’s comments on convention prices? Do you think they have gotten too high over the years or is it just too standard to worry about?