By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, February 26, 2015
The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” was one of the first TV shows to shoot in metro Atlanta in 2009 after the state sweetened the tax credits for production companies. It quickly became the CW's most popular show and is now in its sixth season with a guaranteed seventh on its way in 2015-16.
The fantasy drama continues to be a major hit for the network six years later and is big enough to support its very own convention March 6 to 8 at the Westin Peachtree downtown.
Two of the show's biggest stars Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley will make appearances, along with much of the supporting cast. There will be trivia and costume contests, a karaoke night and auctions of collectibles. Chase Coleman from spinoff show "The Originals" (also shot in metro Atlanta) will lead the house band.
For an additional charge, there will be all-day location tours as well with the show's location manager Andrea (Andi) Behring. (For years, a separate tour company has run "The Mystic Falls Tours" highlighting sites from the show.)
The convention has actually gone to different cities in recent years. This just happens to be the first time they've done it in Atlanta.
Creation Entertainment co-founder Gary Berman has been doing conventions of this sort for three decades going back to "Star Trek." (And he said the late Leonard Nimoy was a joy to work with.) He said in an interview Friday that a rival group had been doing conventions in Atlanta so he steered clear until now.
He said his conventions are different from others in that he ensures even general admission people are guaranteed to get a seat to see the big stars of a particular show, with an emcee and a house band. And he has the cooperation of Warner Brothers, which creates "The Vampire Diaries," so he can use the show's name in his advertising and marketing.
Over the past three or four years, he has organized about 20 different "Vampire Diaries" conventions nationwide with cooperation from Somerhalder and Wesley. The audiences are largely female: 90 percent he said. So the fact co-star Nina Dobrev chooses not to be there doesn't matter much.
More details at www.TheVampire DiariesConvention.com.
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