LA Comic Con: CDPH Secretary Says Planning May Be 'Premature'

LOS ANGELES, CA — Tickets for the LA Comic Con went on sale today for a mid-December event that is likely to draw thousands inside the Los Angeles Convention Center. It will be the one of the largest planned in-person events the county has seen in since the pandemic hit the U.S. — if public health officials allow it to happen.

At an afternoon news conference, California Department of Public Health Secratary Dr. Mark Ghaly said to his knowledge, no one on his team was consulted on the matter.

But organizers said they are working with the Los Angeles Health Department and getting input from the Mayor's office.

"Dr. Ghaly is correct, We did not communicate with anyone on his staff in Sacramento. We have been working locally in LA..." said Chris DeMoulin, CEO of Comikaze Entertainment, L.A. Comic Con’s parent company, in an email in response to Ghaly's remarks.

Ghaly also remarked that it may be too optimistic to plan a large scale event for a month as soon as December without looking at the data first.

"It would be inconsistent and premature to look at a county like Los Angeles that remains in [the purple tier] to think that far out," Ghaly said.

Ghaly added that specific guidelines on convention centers had not been released yet.

"It seems that everyone – including Dr. Ghaly in this article – share the opinion that December is too far in the future to know exactly what will be happening. As he said – 'it’s too far out to think about it now,' DeMoulin continued. "As organizers, we need to plan in advance, in order to be prepared to hold an event, should there be new guidelines which would allow an event like this 2 ½ months from now."

DeMoulin added that his team has planned to operate the event at the lowest possible capacity — at 25 percent or below, he said.

"It’s just that, in over 1,000,000 SqFt, that low density capacity fits 10,000 people comfortably," DeMoulin said. "The plan for this event is to be a Hybrid Live/Virtual event – should it not be possible to do the Live component, we will likely reschedule any virtual event as well to different dates in 2021. "

Organizers said that only 4,500 tickets would be sold Tuesday for the event, which intends to sell at least 12,000 tickets for each individual session, a huge decrease from last year's event which drew around 42,000 people per session. There are six different sessions this year, running five hours each, twice per day.

"It is our hope that by providing CV-19 safe plan options for upcoming events at the LA Convention Center – in accord with all of their CV-19 safety efforts – that we could provide valuable input to that process," DeMoulin said. "And of course, if we don’t get approval, we won’t do the event. "

In a statement released Sunday, organizers said that if public health officials said that the show couldn't go on, all tickets bought would have a 100 percent rollover or refund guarantee.

Los Angeles County currently remains suspended in the worst and most widespread tier on the state's risk assessing COVID-19 blueprint, with 269,284 total cases and a 3 percent positivity rate over a week-long period.

"Certainly people have hope that transmission rates will come down low enough so activities could be permitted that aren't today," Ghaly said Tuesday. "But we have a lot of time and data yet to see before we can really say something like a large convention is going to be allowed at that time."

Organizers for the LA Comic Con have booked the entire 800,000 square foot Los Angeles Convention Center for the annual gathering of cosplay, comics, pop-culture and sci-fi.

The event, running Dec. 11 through Dec. 13, will look similar to past events; however, organizers have urged that they are making safety a priority by requiring masks, implementing one-way aisles, deeply sanitizing between sessions, reducing capacity and requiring space between attendees.

Those entering the convention will need to keep a minimum of 6-feet between guests at all times, organizers said.

Attendees will be able to roam the 800,000 square-foot convention center, with the main stage relocated to span across the entire West Hall A with over 145,000 square-feet for guests to spread out in.

The annual celebration, hosting a myriad of costumed comic lovers and pop culture panels, will also draw fewer celebrities this year, organizers said.

With fewer people allowed to cram into panel rooms and the main stage area, less people will be able to watch celebrities speak onstage in-person. But all stages will be broadcasted via livestream. Digital-only access passes will be sold to fans who cannot or choose not to attend a live show.

The lineup for the event is yet to be announced and three-session and VIP early bird passes will go on sale Tuesday on LA Comic Con's website.

San Diego's Comic-Con, the largest comic con in the state, held its event online this year, after cancelling the planned in-person celebration normally held at the San Diego Comic Convention for the first time in its 50-year history.

Even in years long before the COVID-19 pandemic, science fiction and comic conventions are notorious for spreading illness. Regular convention goers have even coined the term "Con Crud" to describe the flu, common cold or other respiratory illnesses often spread at the large events.