2009 Tickets and Badges

2010 FANTASTIC FEST BADGES:
Regular and VIP Fantastic Fest badges will go on sale at 10AM CST Monday, September 28. VIP Badges are $285 and guarantee you admission to any show at Fantastic Fest.  Film badges are $170 and guarantee you admission to a show at every timeslot, but does not guarantee your first choice. .   Click here to purchase a 2010 VIP badge.  Click here to purchase a 2010 Film Badge.

2009 V.I.P. BADGES:
V.I.P. Badges are available for $270 and include an exclusive limited-edition t-shirt and poster, plus a souvenir Fantastic Fest shoulder bag filled with seriously fun schwag. The main benefit of the V.I.P. badge, however, is guaranteed admission to the movie of your choice at any given showtime. VIP Badgeholders must arrive 20 minutes before showtime or else your seats may be given up. V.I.P. badge holders will also receive guaranteed admission to all panels and parties. VIP Badges are currently sold out, additional badges may become available but will first be offered as an upgrade for 2009 Film Badge holders.   Any announcements about 2009 VIP badge availability will be announced via the Fantastic Fest blog and twitter feeds. 

2009 FILM BADGES:
Film Badges are available for $150 and guarantee you a seat at all time slots during Fantastic Fest (just not necessarily your first choice film in each time slot. Most films screen more than once, so you should be able to see everything you want, with the exception of the high profile opening and closing films. We are attempting in 2009, however, to open up the high profile films to more timeslots/screens so that more regular badge holders will be able to attend. The Film Badges also includes access to all of the Fantastic Fest parties, including the opening and closing night parties.  Film Badges are sold out.

2009 2ND-HALF FESTIVAL BADGES:
The busiest time of the festival is always the first half. The majority of the industry folks, distributors and buyers are in town for opening weekend and then leave on Monday morning or Sunday night. The way the festival is programmed, we try to play almost all of the films in the first 4 days and then again in the second 4 days, so if you purchase a 2nd-half festival badge, you will still get the chance to see just about everything from the festival line-up. If you purchase the 2nd-half badge, you can check out the BSide Community pages to see which movies are getting the biggest buzz. Also, with fewer folks in attendance, the lines will not be nearly as bad. 2nd-half festival badges are good for any screening Monday-Thursday, September 28-October 1. 2nd-half festival badge-holders will be seated at the same time as the regular badge holders for the second half of the fest. The 2nd-half festival badge also includes access to all of the Fantastic Fest parties in the 2nd-half of the fest, including the closing night party.  2nd Half Badges are sold out.

2009 DAYTIME-ONLY BADGE:
The cheapest badge option is the "daytime-only" badge. This badge allows you access to any screening starting before 6:00 PM, any day of the festival. This is the perfect badge option if you have limited funds, but want to sample and get a taste of some of the movies of the festival. We will be offering approximagely 50 screenings at these early timeslots, and each and every film in the 2009 line-up will be something special. This badge does not include access to the evening parties.  Daytime Badges are sold out.

2009 INDIVIDUAL SHOW TICKETS:
Due to increased sales of festival badges, individual show tickets will mainly be available day of show in person at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. It is unlikely that individual show tickets will be available for high profile screenings such as our opening and closing night films and secret screenings. These shows will likely be limited to badge holders only. Closer to the festival, a limited number of individual tickets to select shows may become available online, particularly for daytime screenings and screenings in the second half of the festival. Each day of the festival will feature a blog entry on the  Fantastic Fest homepage to let you know what individual tickets are currently on sale.

Important Information About Badges, Tickets And Lines

Please read all of the following information very carefully, as there are some new procedural changes in effect for the first time at Fantastic Fest 2009. 

BADGE PICKUP

Hours of Operation

 

·        Wednesday, September 23rd                5:00 PM – 10:00 PM

·        Thursday, September 24th                      1:00 PM - midnight

·        Fri., September 25th – Wed., September 30th      2 hours before first screening of the day – midnight

*All badge pickups are at Alamo South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar Blvd.)*

 

All badge holders may pick up their badges at any of the times listed above.  You may only pick up your own badge!  No exceptions!  Please bring a valid picture ID when picking up your badge.

 

Out of town guests, if we are picking you up at the airport and you filled out your information in advance, we will have your badges ready for you on the shuttle bus. Please note: If your first show is at the Paramount, you must first swing by South Lamar to pick up your tickets and badge in advance.  You will not be admitted to the Paramount without both!

BOX OFFICE

Hours of Operation 

• Wednesday, September 23    5:00 PM – 10:00 PM (VIP Badges Only)
• Thurs., September 24 – Thurs., October 1  2 hours before first screening of the day – midnight

*All ticket pickups are at Alamo South Lamar (1120 S. Lamar Blvd.)* 

THE RULES

VIP badge holders are still guaranteed to get into any show they desire, but we are asking that they commit to their schedule no later than 2 hours before the first show of the day. At that time, tickets are made available to other badge holders. A point of clarification, VIP badge holders do not have to arrive at the theater each day 2 hours before the first show of the day. VIP badge holders, and VIP badge holders alone, can pick up tickets for the following day's screenings throughout the festival. 

This system still offers VIP Badge holders their guaranteed admission, but eliminates the problem of other badge holders waiting all day and missing potential screenings so they can be first in line for the big movies that they may or may not be able to attend. 

Press Badges may pick up tickets starting 2 hours before the first show of the day for that day’s shows only. 

Regular, Daytime and Second-Half badge holders may pick up tickets starting 90 minutes before the first show of the day for that day’s shows only. 

All badge holders can only pick up one ticket for each time slot during the festival. You can't pick up tickets for multiple movies at the same timeslot and decide later.  The only exception to this rule is if you receive a standby ticket. We will be printing a small number of standby tickets for each screening as there are always going to be people who pick up tickets and then don't show. If you receive a standby ticket for any screening, you will also be able to choose a ticket for another film in that same timeslot in case you do not get seated on standby. 

All badge holders are allowed to pick up a maximum of two sets of tickets – your own and one other guest, provided you bring both badges with you to the box office.  Both badges will be scanned at the box office.  If you decide to have a buddy pick up your tickets for you, please remember that it is your choice and your responsibility to get your badge and your tickets from them before you will be allowed into the theater.  Any badges reported lost or stolen will have the barcode deactivated immediately and a new badge will be issued one time only with a valid ID.  If anyone is caught trying to pick-up tickets with a badge that was reported lost or stolen, their badge will be revoked without refund. One strike and you are out, so don't do it. Your barcoded badge will be scanned each time you pick up tickets to assure you aren't breaking the rules. 
 
Everyone needs a ticket and a badge for each screening. Tickets are non-transferable. When you pick up tickets, they will be barcoded as well and you must show both the ticket and your badge for admission. No ticket, no badge, no admission. 
 
BOARDING BY GROUP AT THE ALAMO 
The tickets for each show are numbered and we will be entering the theater by group number, like on Southwest Airlines. The benefit to this is that hopefully we will greatly reduce waiting in line at the festival. Once you pick up your tickets, you know you have a seat and you know approximately when you will enter the theater relative to the rest of the audience.  We try to begin “boarding” each theater at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. 
 
We have a patio area outside of the lobby and we encourage people to sit outside while waiting for movies. Food and Beverage service will be available on the patio from the bar located in the lobby throughout most of the festival and we will announce "boarding" for all groups in the lobby and on the patio. 
 
We will have a small standby line for busy shows, as there are always going to be people who pick up tickets and don't show up. Standby tickets will also be numbered so as to avoid waiting in line.  Fifteen (15) minutes before showtime, we will count the seats and begin letting in first standby ticket holders and then individual ticket holders. 

PARAMOUNT SEATING

Seating for all festival screenings at the Paramount is reserved, so VIP badge holders will have first shot at the best seats available.

PARAMOUNT SEATING

For the FUTURE OF 3D panel (Sun Sept 27 at 9 AM), VIP and Regular badgeholders can pick up their tickets the night before at South Lamar.

FAQ 
Are we able to get tickets for two movies whose times slightly overlap, say one movie ending at 10pm and the next one we want to see starting at 9:45pm? 
We've tried to avoid this in the scheduling so this doesn't happen, but yes, you can book one ticket per timeslot, which in the evening are around 6:30-7:30, the next at 9:30-10:15 and the next around midnight.  
 
Can we walk out of a screening we don't like and still get into another screening in the same timeslot? If I start watching a movie at 6pm and after 20 minutes I am no longer interested, can I leave and get into a screening that starts at 6:30pm? 
Yes, you can, subject to availability. You just can't pre-reserve for more than one movie at a given timeslot. 
 
What if you want to change screenings after you have gotten a ticket? 
You can go back to the box office and exchange your ticket at any time before the show. 

When regular film badge holders request their tickets, will non-badge holders also be allowed to purchase tickets then? 
Non-badge holders can only get tickets 15 minutes before showtime, space permitting.  

How soon will I be able to go and sit down in the theater before the film starts?

We strive to begin “boarding” each theater about 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.  That being said, this is a festival.  Q&A’s are going to run long sometimes.  Special guests may decide to show up totally unannounced (even to the festival staff).  Tim League is going to accidentally book himself to be in two places at once (and even he’s not that good).  Please bear with us and keep your ears open. We will do our best to use the P.A. system to keep everyone informed. 
 
My next screening is in the same theater I am sitting in now.  Can I just stay here and wait or do I have to go back to the lobby again? 
In the first couple of years of Fantastic Fest, we allowed VIP badge holders who were staying in a theater to watch the next film to keep their seat. That posed some problems in getting the theaters cleaned in a timely manner, so now we ask that everyone exit the theater in between shows so we can effectively clean. However, since most folks will already have their ticket to the next show, you'll be able to reenter the theater in the order of your ticket number. If you have low-number tickets to back to back shows (and most VIP badge holders will), you'll be entering the theater in the first group and will get your choice of seat. 

My next screening is in the same theater I am sitting in now.  Can I “reserve” my seat so that when I re-enter the theater with my next boarding group I am guaranteed to sit in the exact same seat again? 
No.  You already have a ticket.  You will get in.  Don’t sweat the small stuff. 

So, who are the Reserved seats for anyway? 
Sometimes you will notice Reserved signs on the seats in the theaters.  Those seats are reserved at the request of the filmmakers, production company and/or distributors of that particular film (come on, it is their film after all).  We try to communicate with these Very Important Visitors (VIVs) to our festival to get the count right so as not to take up seats unnecessarily.  Thank you in advance for your understanding.