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HomeMy WebLinkAbout21 - Request for Assistance from NB Film Festivalraw °Da CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Hearing Date: March 14, 2000 o °m COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC Agenda Item �= DEVELOPMENT No.: 21 }^ ^" PLANNING DEPARTMENT Staff Person: Sharon Z. Wood 3300 NEWPORT BOULEVARD (949) 644 -3222 NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658 (714) 644 -3200; FAX (714) 644 -3250 REPORT TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT: Request for Assistance from Newport Beach Film Festival SUGGESTED ACTION: Allocate $30,000 from Economic Development capital account to assist with costs of all Newport Beach theaters. The City Council allocated $7,000 to the Newport Beach Film Festival in December 1999, to assist with start-up costs. The Council also agreed to consider assisting the Festival with theater costs after seeing the assistance provided from other sources and whether all screenings will take place in Newport Beach. The Festival has attracted over $540,000 in sponsorships. Only $56,000 of the sponsorship contributions is in cash, however, with the most significant sponsor contributions being in -kind. While in -kind contributions are valuable to the Festival, they do present a cash flow problem. In addition, sponsors request consideration such as advertisements, tickets and mailings, which increase other costs of the Festival that had not been anticipated. The latest budget from the Festival shows expenses exceeding income by $58,000. The current request from the Film Festival is $30,000 for theater costs, described in the attached letter from the Executive Director. This is a reduction from their original request of $40,000 for this purpose, which reflects the success the organization has had in negotiating with theater owners and in attracting support from other sources. The theater costs are now expected to be $35,000, and all screenings are planned to be in Newport Beach. This is a goal the previous organization never was able to achieve, and one that staff thinks is critical to the Film Festival providing significant benefit to the City. As noted in the December report to the City Council, staff of the City and the Conference and Visitors Bureau believe that the Film Festival is an event that can benefit Newport Beach, both culturally and economically. The Economic Development Committee discussed the Festival at their meeting of October 27, 1999, and voted to support it because of its economic benefits to the City. The previous festival attracted 15,000 to 25,000 patrons for the four years of its operation. With improved organization and all the screenings in Newport Beach, the potential for hotel stays and restaurant patronage will increase, providing more revenue to the City at a time of year that is off season for these businesses. It is not unusual for cities to support this type of cultural event because of the attendant benefits to the city. For example, the Cities of Palm Springs, Santa Barbara and San Francisco assist film festivals with amounts ranging from $30,000 to $150,000 annually. The Economic Development capital budget account has $40,000 remaining, and staff recommends that the City Council allocate $30,000 for Film Festival theater costs from this account. Staff makes this recommendation to help the new organization get established and begin its operation in the best way possible. We do not assume that this level of assistance will be needed or appropriate in future years. SHARON Z. WOOD Assistant ity Manager t �J� Page 2 4540 Campus Drive Suite 100 Newport Beach California 92660 March, 3rd 2000 Dear Mr. Mayor and Members of the City Council, phone 949.253.2880 fax 949.253.2881 www newportbeachfilmfest.com The purpose of this letter is to update you on the progress of the Newport Beach Film Festival and to request your continued support of our project. This year's festival is shaping up to be a strong, vibrant and highly entertaining event. The new Board of Directors and festival staff have made great strides to unite the necessary business constituents and the community as a whole. However, this being the first year of the new festival it has been a challenge to produce the entire event in Newport Beach. Several of our sponsors have expressed a "wait and see" attitude or expressed interest in supporting activities outside the city. Further, our cost per sponsor has been increasing due to higher a proportion of in -kind vs. cash donation. This type of response has been a challenge, but not one that is insurmountable. Due to first year costs and location expenses we are requesting the City's support for the venue costs in Newport Beach. This is one of the single largest expenses of the festival and was one of the issues discussed in my previous letter to the City. Our original requested amount was no more than $40,000 for venue costs. We have lowered our request to no more than $30,000. We are hopeful that the council will support us in this critical start-up year. We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership. I have included a few articles detailing the evolution and importance of the Newport Beach Film Festival. If I can be of any further assistance, please let me know. Sincerely, Gregg M. Schwenk Executive Director Daily Pilot Saturday, March 4, 2000 A cinematic comeback ■ The revived Newport Beach Film Festival will feature world - premiere international films, local works and a trio of tributes. By ALEX COOLMAN It's back. Like a sequel whose characters seem smarter, tougher and better looking than they were the first time around, the Newport Beach Film Festival is shining its way back into theaters. The eight -day event, which kicks off with a gala reception March 30, will feature full - length, short and animated films from around the world, a variety of seminars and a trio of heavy - hitting film tributes. Some of the new films scheduled for screening were plucked from the top ranks of recent festivals at Palm Springs, Amsterdam, the Sundance festival in Utah, and elsewhere. Others, such as a trio of Chinese films, are world or U.S. premieres. Still others are works by local filmmakers or films that capture a slice of Southern California life. "We really tried to program to reflect the diversity of Orange County," said Gregg Schwenk, the event's executive director. "We had people out at the Toronto Film Festival, at Sundance, at Savannah, at Berlin. We're really trying to bring in the best." Last fall, the festival looked like it might not make it to the screen. Founder Jeffrey S. Conner, who kept the enterprise afloat for four years, declared bankruptcy in September, leaving fans and auteurs alike wondering if the pieces of what was then a sprawling, two -week affair could possibly be reassembled. The program for the revamped fest -- shorter, but dense with high - quality films -- emphatically answers that question. "Any past apprehension about Newport Beach as a festival will be washed away after this year," Schwenk said. Screenings for the fest are, with one exception, confined to two theaters: the Edwards Island Cinemas and the Orange County Museum of Art. Broadly speaking, the division corresponds to a split between full - length works, which will be shown at Edwards, Page 1 of 3 http: / /www.dailypilot.com/tcn/ pilot /ent/20000304 /tdp0006126.html 3/6/00 Daily Pilot and shorter films, some of which are a little more challenging in terms of their content. But there will be some exciting prospects in both theaters. Some of the highest - profile events are likely to be tributes, three of which are slated for the first few days of the fest. Opening night features a 50th- anniversary screening of a remastered print of "Sunset Boulevard," the 1950 Billy Wilder film that is synonymous with fihn noir. Other classics include a showing of David Lean's 1946 film "Great Expectations," and a screening of the 1957 movie "Sweet Smell of Success," which co -star Tony Curtis is expected to attend. "Any film festival would love to have even one of our tributes, where we have three of them, and they're all very strong," Schwenk said. A strong lineup of intemational films deserves attention as well. In addition to showcasing works from Mexico, Vietnam, Brazil and the Philippines, the festival is hosting the world premiere of the Chinese films "Ice on Fire," "Tutor (Fly high with you)" and "Once Upon a Time in Shanghai." The debut of these films will be accompanied by a party held by the Chinese Consul General on April 4. And in local- interest work, the festival has several offerings. "Long Night's Journey Into Day," the documentary that just won the Grand Prize Jury Award at Sundance, looks interesting. The film, a portrait of race relations in South Africa, deals with the case of Amy Biehl, the young Newport Beach woman who traveled to South Africa to help with voter registration and was killed by mob violence in 1994. David Sperling's "Drunk in Public, N.B." a movie that detailed Newport Beach resident Mark David Allan's numerous run -ins with the law due to public intoxication, had its original debut in the 1998 festival. An updated version of the film, capturing still more of the man's curious saga, screens at the Orange County Museum of Art on April 3. Scott Forrest, who has programmed many of the short films that will be showing at the museum, said he is pleased with how the schedule of events has shaped up. "It's going to be a roller coaster of rocking emotion," Forrest said. "You're going to be exhausted afterward. It's phenomenal programming. This is the way I've always wanted to see it happen." The lineup of shorts includes some blocks of thematically linked works, including "Women in Film," a program that celebrates women filmmakers, "Super, Super 8," which focuses on the Super 8 film, and the "Dances With Films Festival," works from a series of young and unknown directors. The offerings are more impressive than those at many festivals, Forrest said, because he and his fellow programmers have been quite aggressive in tracking down interesting work from distant sources. "Most film festivals, they just accept what comes in, and they go through that," Forrest said. "We're going through all festivals. I don't know of any other festivals that do that." Page 2 of 3 http: / /www.dailypilot.com/tcn/ pilot /ent/20000304 /tdp0006126.html 3/6/00 Daily Pilot When attendees have taken in all the visual stimulation they can handle, the series of seminars and lectures at the Newport Beach Public Library should offer some engrossing alternatives. Talks on the art of filmmaking will feature appearances by industry professionals. Seminars on directing, cinematography and special effects will dissect the complex elements that go into a single frame of a Hollywood picture. Other talks will look at the future of the motion picture and the changes that Internet technology means for the movies. If all the options seem a bit overwhelming for the potential viewer, they seemed no less so to the people who were putting the whole production together. Schwenk calls coordinating the complex elements of the festival "the single most difficult project I've worked on in my entire life." But it's a project that looks to be counting down to a strong opening. "This has been a challenge," Schwenk said. "But what's wonderful about it is that so many facets of the community have come together to make one of the best festivals I've ever seen." * * * * * * * ** *box: Local Films * WHAT: "Long Night's Journey Into Day," a documentary that discusses the story of Amy Biehl, by Frances Reid and Deborah Hoffmann WHERE: Edwards Island Cinema, 999 Newport Center Drive WHEN: 8 p.m., April 5 * WHAT: "Drunk in Public," a documentary by David Sperling about Mark David Allan WHERE: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach WHEN: 1 p.m., April 3 (screening time may change) box: FYI WHAT: The Newport Beach Film Festival WHERE: Feature films at Edwards Island Cinema, 999 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. Shorts at Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport Beach. Opening -night screening is at the Big Edwards, 300 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. Seminars will be held at the Newport Beach Public Library, 1000 Avocado Ave., Newport Beach FESTIVAL START: "Sunset Boulevard" tribute, 7:30 p.m. March 30 FESTIVAL FINISH: Awards, 10 p.m. April 6 TELEPHONE: (949) 253 -2880 Feedback to dailypilot a,latimes.com Page 3 of 3 http: / /www. dailypilot. com /tcn/ pilot /ent/20000304 /tdp0006126.htm1 3/6/00