Yeah it was, the scareactors this year were really good. I was skeptical about this year since it was in house but I was glad I went because it was amazing. Good job guys.
Frank Da Tank wrote:Im starting to think JPM was the reason why fright fest wasnt up to par in years past.
I can only agree with you because of financial reason.. Jpm put on a hell of a show, but wit SF going in house, they don't have to pay anything on top of salaries and wardrobes for the actors... That premium cost became equity for them to use in other areas
There seem to be two major extremes to this argument and to be honest, like most things in life, I believe the truth of it lies somewhere in the middle.
As to the two previous posts, it wasn't that JPM was incapable of doing it (spreading out their characters and featuring more scare zones as there were this year), it was merely budgetary. With the added personel that became unnnecessary with an in-house production, it merely limited their ability to do so. JPM had their own security, technicians, etc, and all of that money was able to be reallocated into more characters, as well of course as new costumes and make-up. It also helped that the SAW house was actually entirely done by an outside company so that was a little pressure off the in-house entertainment to provide more characters, as well as the fact that the budget, plain and simple must have been larger considering the added entertainment (Trolley show for example, although that may have simply been reallocated from the Freak show money as that did not return).
It wasn't JPMs fault that the event had become stale, and I don't think anyone (except the extremely pigheaded) is denying that it was. It is always a delicate situation when one company and another work together, and creatively at this point it simply makes more sense to do it in-house, as it doesn't have to be the perfect marriage, they can try and fail on their own without worrying about sullying the good name of two companies. And it also limits the amount of chefs in the kitchen, I would have to imagine that the people who created the event this year worked very well together as they probably work together most of the year, whereas with JPM it is an entirely separete group of people who come in just for the event and therefore compromises ensue.
I will never say that JPM did a bad job with the event, I truly believe that thier make-up especially is the best in the business, and for many of the more unique aspects that they brought, they will be missed in the future. That being said it seems to me to make sense both from a budgetary and a creative stand point that the right decision was made to move in-house. And quite frankly I don't think that we will see the full effect until next year. Considering that this was the first year they had done it all on their own, though I'm sure they picked up many things from JPM and oversaw the event so it's not like they were amatuers, I believe they did as great job, and if you don't believe that then just go with "As best as can be expected" and I suspect that things will only get better as they continue down this road.
I realize this is a longer post then usual for these forums, but I hope it's read and it's message is understood. Happy Haunting.
The Chef made the best post on the boards in a long time. Some people here need a reality check, JPM was not hired to run Fright Fest, they were hired to do the characters and houses within the parks budgetary and other requirements. Not having to pay another company to come in and do that means they probably had less costs going to something guests would never notice and they could put more into the event within their budgetary requirements.