Mark Schwahn loves his "OTH" fans. CW PHOTO
This week, the ever-fan-friendly folks behind the locally filmed drama series “One Tree Hill” launched an online contest for fans to win a chance to visit the set this spring. Details of the visit dates are vague, but in his intro video, series creator Mark Schwahn says the fans will get to go behind the scenes of the season finale. (That tells me it’s probably in April or late March at the earliest.)
“One Tree Hill” loves this kind of fan interaction, and it’s purposefully been connecting with its fans since the very beginning. In season two, the show spun off its own music tour. In 2007, a contest moved production to Honey Grove, Texas, after fans there won a contest to have the show shoot in their hometown. The show then partnered with Macy’s, bringing fans to town just in time for James Lafferty’s final charity basketball tournament.
Now, the show is giving more fans a chance to come to town.
When I talked to Schwahn at the start of this season, he talked about how cultivating that relationship with fans early on was a key part of his show’s success.
“We were fairly active in terms of catering to the fans and realizing that the internet had changed,” he said. ”It was important to let the fans participate in the show. Whether it was the lives of the actors behind the scenes or doing Q&A’s and talking story, I just felt like it was kind of arrogant to just sit up on our mountain and not sort of give back to the people who keep our show in the air.”
The fans have certainly responded. Now some plan their own mini-conventions even without the show’s support.
Schwahn conceded that the showrunners have lessened their interaction with fans in recent years, which I think is likely because of the vitriolic or overly obsessive nature of some online fans.
Still, Schwahn knows the show’s fans stick up for him even if he can’t. “The ones that love the show will defend the show,” he said.
And Schwahn never takes his fans for granted. “The fact there are people online having any sort of dialogue about something I sat down in my bedroom and wrote down is pretty wonderful.”
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