Cecilia, I think that's a very fair analysis of what we're doing in Knoxville. The Public Cinema won't exist if Paul and I decide to shutter it, which has always been part of our business plan (for lack of a better word). We didn't want a lease or overheard or other admin costs *because* we wanted to be able to walk away at any time. But our ambition was, from the beginning, to move toward finding a sustainable partnership, which we've now done. You're absolutely right that our admin costs are folded into the year-round work of our producing partners. Those folks put on events that are 100 times larger than our little festival, and they're really good at it. If I decide to step aside, the producers will find a new artistic director -- either another "volunteer" like me (I don't want to talk numbers, but I *am* compensated) or they'll invest their resources differently than they do now.
Darren Hughes On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 2:43 PM Cecilia Araneda <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Dominic, > > Out of curiosity, how much were you paid during your tenure as ED of > Canyon Cinema? I’m always interested in comparing wages in the past vs. > current wages. > > For better or worse, a film festival is not the same as a year-round org. > It might theoretically be easier to run a film festival if it is already > part of a year-round org that can cover off many of the admin expenses. But > the problem is that year-round orgs and festivals function in such > fundamentally different ways, that I cannot imagine that a festival run by > a year-round org is just a festival in name, and not in functionality. > > As well, Dominic, the reality is the sector cannot bank on there being a > bunch of arts admin starts like you. It can only be sustainable if it > structures its systems for average folks. My baseline is: if the context is > not feasible for a single mother, then it is being subsidized by some kind > of privilege that is not accessible to all. > > And I guess my question to Paul is: what happens to The Public Cinema when > you are not able to take on the bulk of the labour as a volunteer? I > imagine it shuts down, no? > > More generally, a lot of the small to mid-sized festivals are being > carried by individuals or very small groups of individuals who have been > looking after them for many years. But when these people have to move on or > are no longer able to carry the festivals on, I imagine they will shut > down. I know several festivals that are, yes, handled by a group of > volunteers or paid staffers, but where one or two people are so > fundamentally central to their administrative existence, that if those key > folks leave, the festivals are certain to shut down - if not immediately, > then within 2-3 years. > > That’s more the true reality of the sector. > > Cecilia Araneda > >> ceciliaaraneda.ca > > > > > On Aug 28, 2025, at 1:00 PM, Dominic Angerame <[email protected]> > wrote: > > It is easy to look up tax returns of any non profit Film Festival by just > googling it. I will not name any festivals here for fear of being hanged. I > notice that some have very high wages for the top administrative jobs. When > I ran Canyon Cinema not only was I the Executive Director, but also the > grant writer, the book keeper, advertising, publisher of catalogs and > supplements, dealing with filmmakers and renters and public presentations > just to name some. In many non profits these positions are filled with > extra employees, one for the bookkeeping, one for advertising, one for > fundraising. It was a necessity at Canyon Cinema because we just could not > afford to hire extra staff to do such duties. I doubt many non profits > operate this way, and the staff at Canyon was paid decently with benefits > and Canyon almost always made a profit. Go figure. > > D > > On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 10:45 AM Darren Hughes <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> From the perspective of someone who recently co-founded and now art >> directs a relatively small fest (4 days, 2 screens) that has been fairly >> well received ... >> >> Ten years ago, Paul Harrill and I bought a projector, reached out to some >> local event spaces, and launched The Public Cinema. We both considered it >> then, and still do today, a kind of volunteer service to our arts >> community. We'd raise just enough money to cover screening fees and then >> show two or three free movies per month. Our guiding programming principle >> was "the best cinema that wouldn't screen in Knoxville otherwise." >> >> We called it The Public Cinema because we wanted to start a conversation >> here about film exhibition drifting toward a new phase that would require >> public and private support. Our talking point is: "We have a great museum >> with free admission. We have a symphony orchestra and two opera companies >> and public sculptures. We have dance companies and theaters. And none of >> that would exist without philanthropy and budget lines at the local and >> state level. What would it look like if we approached film from the same >> perspective?" >> >> A decade later, our festival is being supported by Visit Knoxville, >> which, among other things, has allowed us to avoid submission fees. Our top >> priority, with both The Public Cinema and Film Fest Knox, has always been >> paying the artists, either directly or via their distributors. Years ago, >> when we came up $100 short for a screening, I wrote a check. We offer good >> prizes in our competitions and a generous travel package. I'm really proud >> of what we're building here, *but it took eight years*. I sometimes >> daydream about starting a non-profit that would subsidize start-up costs >> and provide guidance to others who want to build something similar in other >> American cities. >> >> If you haven't already guessed, the problematic part of our model is that >> I'm essentially volunteering my expertise and labor, which I'm happy to do >> because it's great fun and an important service to our community and to >> cinema. I'm also able to volunteer because I have a career that is totally >> unrelated to film. (I spend many lunch hours and most evenings working on >> the fest, especially right now, in the final weeks of programming.) >> >> All of which is to say ... I can't imagine a world where ad and ticket >> revenues will ever cover the costs of putting on a festival. I've spent a >> lot of time digging through 990 tax forms of long-standing non-profit film >> organizations in America, and their income generally breaks down evenly >> into three sources: revenue, philanthropy/memberships/endowment earnings, >> and state support/grants. I think every fest should aspire to that model. >> If you're charging filmmakers to *not* screen their work, and *not* >> paying artists *to* screen their work, then maybe you take some time off >> and rethink your approach? >> >> Gotta get back to my day job, >> Darren >> >> On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 12:59 PM Fred Camper <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Film festivals often do seem like a scam to me, as they did a long ago >>> too. >>> >>> I was once offered a co-judgeship, with no pay, in something called the >>> Onion City Film Festival, in Chicago. This was in 1987, give or take a year >>> or two. I declined. I stated to them my two objection to film festivals: >>> (1) The entry fees and (2) that the judges had to agree among themselves >>> about prizes, thereby producing all kinds of compromises. In this festival, >>> there was to be one other judge, and they had $2,000 in prize money. I >>> suggested that each judge should be able to allocate $1,000 to entries in >>> whatever manner they saw fit. >>> >>> To my shock, I got called back a week later, agreeing to the plan for >>> prize money and stating that they had reduced the entry fee to return >>> postage. I was charmed, and felt I could not refuse. Even better, my >>> co-judge turned out to be Gunvor Nelson. >>> >>> Weirdly, there were two entries to this festival that should not have >>> happened. One was a film by Sharon Couzin, who actually ran the >>> organization putting on the film festival. Even more weirdly, she was away >>> when I was offered a judgeship, and when she returned she was angry to hear >>> it, saying that I would figure out how to give all the money to one of my >>> own films — yet she herself had entered, and I certainly had not. She >>> apparently didn't realize that we could have created maximum trouble for >>> her by awarding her all the prize money, and jokingly proposed that to >>> Gunvor, but of course we didn't. The other problematic entry was a film by >>> Gunner's daughter Oona. We wrote a letter to the organization suggesting >>> that people who worked on the organization and their close relatives, and >>> also the close relatives of judges, should not be permitted to enter. >>> >>> Since I lately have been making films again myself, I looked into >>> festivals via "Film Freeway." I'm not sure I would recommend this site, but >>> have used it to enter a few. I certainly know all the stories — the judges >>> look at only the first three minutes to see if their attention is caught; >>> there is a pre-selection committee of teenagers. I wonder if some AI engine >>> will be "trained" to judge films? I would feed the engine Brakhage's >>> *Arabics >>> *, Kenji Mizoguchi's *Genroku Chushingura*, and Samuel Fuller's *Shock >>> Corridor* as its training in recognizing advanced cinema art. Anyway, I >>> did enter some, to the tune of a few hundred dollars, but entered expecting >>> nothing. I was surprised to see that hardly any give financial prizes. I >>> guess they think that being shown in their super-fabulous festival is prize >>> enough. >>> >>> Fred Camper >>> Chicago >>> >>> -- >>> Frameworks mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> >>> https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >>> >> -- >> Frameworks mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >> > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org > > > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >
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