I think a lot of people don't go because there are (usually) no recognizable names, either of filmmakers or actors.  If they could even get a handful of films with names people recognized, they might be more inclined to check it out and then stay to see some other things.  It's heavily marketed where I work, for example, but almost nobody goes. But they are all regular movie-goers to the "normal" cineplex so it's not like they don't go see movies.

 

This is not meant to be mean, nor directed at you RNR  :wink:  But, that answer is crap!  That is exact what the marketing and sales folks are suppose to do - present a case on multiple platforms that get you into the event(s)

 

There are so manyTV, Radio, The Cavs, TowerCity, Gund, Restaurants, RTA, Cabs, The (GAWD Awful) PD, Industry outlets and trade consortiums, etc., local celebrity and persona's that could work this.  Hell IMG is right in downtown Cleveland!  Where are tie's with Auto Rentals, Airlines, current movie houses, local coffee shops, the arts district and the new "design district" the state film commission, other executive directors at similar film festivals, local advertorials on TMC or TCM, car dealerships, the different CDB in downtown proper???  Hell just hang a banner on TowerCity.  That symbol alone would be worth millions in advertising.  Heck the Museums could even hold special exhibits on classic movies.  The RNRHOF could have a special exhibit on film in the movies.  Why am I doing someone elses job?!

 

ugh....I'm in a really pissy mood today!  I'm having a no caffeine in my system for 48s moment...sorry.

Are we talking about the same film festival in Cleveland that has sold out the past two years?

Are we talking about the same film festival in Cleveland that has sold out the past two years?

 

YES.

 

Sold out does not equal, profit or expanding the brand or further strengthing name recognition or star power.

Doh!  MTS's edit preempted me.  I dunno, I'd think that selling out is a pretty good sign that something is going right.  I guess it depends on the ambition of the organizers.

Sold out does not equal, profit or expanding the brand or further strengthing name recognition or star power.

 

Write a letter. :roll:

 

Read a history of the festival's growth: http://www.clevelandfilm.org/ciff_about_history.php

 

Read about some statistics: http://www.clevelandfilm.org/ciff_about_statistics.php

 

And for being so irate, how many films have you seen at the festival?

 

I think a lot of people don't go because there are (usually) no recognizable names, either of filmmakers or actors.  If they could even get a handful of films with names people recognized, they might be more inclined to check it out and then stay to see some other things.  It's heavily marketed where I work, for example, but almost nobody goes. But they are all regular movie-goers to the "normal" cineplex so it's not like they don't go see movies.

 

This is not meant to be mean, nor directed at you RNR  :wink:  But, that answer is crap!  That is exact what the marketing and sales folks are suppose to do.

 

Educate you and sway you "in to" the venue.

 

There are so many TV, Radio, The Cavs, TowerCity, Gund, Restaurants, RTA, Cabs, The (GAWD Awful) PD, Industry outlets and trade consortiums, etc., local celebrity and persona's that could work this.  Hell IMG is right in downtown Cleveland!  Where are tie's with Auto Rentals, Airlines, current movie houses, local coffee shops, the arts district and the new "design district" the state film commission, other executive directors at similar film festivals, local advertorials on TMC or TCM, car dealerships, the different CDB in downtown proper???  Hell just hang a banner on TowerCity.  That symbol alone would be worth millions in advertising.

 

ugh....I'm in a really pissy mood today!  I'm having a no caffeine in my system for 48s moment...sorry.

 

I hear you, but I'm just the messenger.  I'm sorry but I have had a LOT of detailed conversations with my colleagues in the arts about this festival and most of THEM don't even go to it.  Why?  Basically from a cursory glance 90% of the films are foreign, and foreign films just aren't a big draw for people here.  I mean, the lineup reads like the annual cinemateque schedule, and IMO it's just not what the people who live here will come out in droves to see.  Remember this is the kind of area where Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney immediately sell out.  Watching icicles drip off a building in a black and white movie from Norway just isn't most Clevelander's type of thing.  I'm stereotyping, yes, but this is based on a LOT of conversation about this festival over the years.

 

Also, many people here have an expectation that there should be a LOT more local representation in this festival.  The biggest lines I've ever seen were those to get into Nightowls of Coventry (which I had a tiny part in, thank you).  And of course American Splendor's Cleveland connection.  People want to support local filmmakers or at least films that are about Cleveland or filmed in Cleveland.  How many people here do you think went to see Spidey 3 or "the O in Ohio" or whatever solely because even part of the film was shot here?

 

I know the purpose of the festival isn't to give locals more exposure, nor is it to put out blockbusters, but if you look at other large, successful festivals there are usually at least a couple of names people in the general public will recognize that can act as a draw to get them in to see other stuff.  Look at sxsw.  Jeffrey Tambor acting workshop.  A film with Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne.  A film with Mischa Barton and Bruce Willis.  Another with Ray Liotta, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron.  What do we have that is a draw for the general movie-going public?  People who "normally" go to the cinemark or regal but might be tempted to come to CIFF?  Ok we have a John Sayles film, but how many average Clevelanders know who he is off the top of their heads?

I don't know squat about advertising, nor do I claim to.  But I know that if you live in Cleveland and don't know about the film festival, you either hate film, live under a rock, or are illiterate.  The film festival is in it's 32nd year, generally regarded as one of the larger and better ones in the country.  In the past 3 weeks, I can hardly turn around without a film festival booklet staring me in the face.  I have received 2 in the mail, they are placed at every imaginable place one could pick up any sort of news publication.  Sorry, but if you live here and don't know there is a film festival you are not the type of person who is going to go to it. And if you know about it and need a star name (even though you always find some mainstream actors involved) to get you to go... you are not the type of person who is going to go to it.  I'd love to see them make more of a spectacle of it, but i don't think there's a problem reaching the local market.  And I don't know how you advertise more to the out of town regional cities more than the type of thing I mentioned in the Pittsburgh papers (note the section on the film fest stood out in that paper, it was impossible not to notice).

And for being so irate, how many films have you seen at the festival?

 

 

Queit a few dearie.

^Queit? Too many to use spellcheck? :laugh:

 

"Watching icicles drip off a building in a black and white movie from Norway just isn't most Clevelander's type of thing."

 

Hey now - a few of those there's a reason no one heard of them obscure trustfunded dipsh!ts fresh out of film school directors often put out freakshow trainwrecks films that make me want those three painfully dull hours of my life back inspire us to take up speedballing and meth expand our horizons and tell that friend of a friend who insisted this was "brilliant" to shove it up their @ss change our perspective on the world. ;-)

 

Seriously though, I can appreciate a good "art film" just as much as a blockbuster at the cineplex (well, the artsy flicks need to be in moderation) but they seem to be doing well with their artsy-leaning lineup. Now if they wanted to *really* expand the festival - they'd probably do better with a few more mainstream flicks/directors, etc.

^Queit? Too many to use spellcheck? :laugh:

 

HUSH!

they seem to be doing well with their artsy-leaning lineup. Now if they wanted to *really* expand the festival - they'd probably do better with a few more mainstream flicks/directors, etc.

 

I think this sums it up perfectly.  In its current form, there's no room for Rockandroller's friends, so their fear of subtitles isn't exactly holding the festival back.  Stereotypes aside, clearly there are enough serious cinephiles to fill all the seats.  Showing more "main stream" stuff sort of guts the purpose of the film festival IMHO...you can just drive to Valley View or walk into Tower City for that.

they seem to be doing well with their artsy-leaning lineup. Now if they wanted to *really* expand the festival - they'd probably do better with a few more mainstream flicks/directors, etc.

 

I think this sums it up perfectly.  In its current form, there's no room for Rockandroller's friends, so their fear of subtitles isn't exactly holding the festival back.  Stereotypes aside, clearly there are enough serious cinephiles to fill all the seats.  Showing more "main stream" stuff sort of guts the purpose of the film festival IMHO...you can just drive to Valley View or walk into Tower City for that.

 

I agree. I understand it would bump the commercial viability of the festival, but the point of an international film festival is to expose the public to films that you can't normally see. I wouldn't have a problem with maybe 1 or 2 mainstream films premiering at the festival or something, but personally, I don't think the festival should water things down just to appeal to average Joes.

the way to do that is to partner with the schools such as the school of the arts or any school of visual arts and do a tie in so that the younger segment of the city has a local vested interest.

 

OK...I'm done.  Sorry all my issues today are making me hypersensitive to all the wonderful possibilities we have in Cleveland and I'm pissed that when I have to get involved with projects here people throw themselves hand over foot to be involved.

 

lastly, seriously, they could have a co branded credit card and "exclusive" card privileges....ugh...I could go on.  MayDay...hush!  :wink:

What do you mean when you say "mainstream"?  I dont think they should add movies that I could normally see at Cinemark, but last year, I was really excited to see David Wain's The 10.  I think those types of movies...not mainstream, but with recognizable actors/directors...would still fit the festival's purpose, but could grow the size of the festival.  Movies that might normally play at Cedar Lee instead of Cinemark.

Just to weigh in on the critique, we're talking about an organization with a $1.5 million annual budget and four full-time, year-round staff members. That small staff is able to screen hundreds and hundreds of films, coordinate 120 films for viewing in Cleveland, manage a small army of volunteers and consultants, oversee educational programming for several thousand Cleveland students, manage transportation and accommodation for a couple dozen filmmakers, put together a range of panels and workshops about the shown films, market the event extensively locally and heavily in targeted markets like Pittsburgh and Columbus (resulting in annual attendance of more than 50,000 people) and coordinate a range of fundraisers, sponsorships and fundraising to pay for all of this.

 

So while I understand the desire to play armchair quarterback, we should also give the group its props for building one of the largest film festivals in the country, getting national media coverage through Time Magazine, etc.

 

As for the fare, there is a lot of foreign film, but they're not all of the "black and white icicle" variety ... some are quite accessible. They also have a lot of stuff that's in arguably more accessible genres. This year, there are 19 flicks in the American Independents category, 15 in Documentaries, 10 in Oh Canada and 24 in the Standing Up series (films about changing the world through grassroots action). They also do have some local representation ... six films in their Local Heroes series.

 

And for those of you who are in need of Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson and Ray Liotta at this year's film festival, check out Battle in Seattle.  :-)

I've got a new list Cleveland can be on:

 

"Cleveland voted number 1 city in the world for having the most culture when most of it's population seems to hate culture."

 

I mean seriously, more main stream films... at a film festival?  Why is it everyone in this town b*tches about not having things to do, or cool enough things, and everyhting else... and then when they've got something as fantastic as this event they come up with reasons to complain about it.

^^Thanks for the description of the operation and the festival, but surely you know that facts have no place in these types of discussions. ;)

 

Seriously though, even though I've never actually been to the festival, I am really impressed with its organization and attendance every year, so no complaints from me.

argest film festivals in the country, getting national media coverage through Time Magazine, etc.

 

thank you for claryfing, and that is outstanding for four people, with such a small budget for such a large annual event.  

 

But to be honest , 8SG, they could have had more than that!   :wink:

And for the record, Clevelanders are much more culturally attuned than we give them credit for. According to our research, the average Northeast Ohioan attends approximately 2 sporting events each year ... and 7 arts and culture events. Far from simply being two-dimensional hot dog eaters in orange and brown, Clevelanders actually are getting out to theatre, museums, galleries, recitals, performances and, yes, our film festival.

That seems to be pretty clear from the festival's attendance numbers, which is very encouraging.

And for the record, Clevelanders are much more culturally attuned than we give them credit for. According to our research, the average Northeast Ohioan attends approximately 2 sporting events each year ... and 7 arts and culture events. Far from simply being two-dimensional hot dog eaters in orange and brown, Clevelanders actually are getting out to theatre, museums, galleries, recitals, performances and, yes, our film festival.

 

That I can believe and have seen information.  So many people here (in NE Ohio) are stuck in us being a "blue collar" town with a "blue collar" mentallity.

I should clarify - when I said "if they wanted to *really* expand" - I was referring to getting larger crowds to attend (aka their only goal was to get more people in); in no way was I suggesting they don't want to grow the festival.

 

MorningTheft basically said it - if they want bigger attendance, a few more recognizable names could be featured, but given how well they're doing already (and the risk of watering down their product just to fill more seats), I don't think it's necessary. And yes, I will see quite a few films - and hopefully the only icicles involved will be outside on the buildings! For the record, there's only been one film at the festival that was snooze-inducing (it was really an atrocious self-indulgent POS)  in all the years I've attended - and that's a better track record than the cineplex stuff I've seen :-)

I was just repeating what I've heard from people when I ask them why they don't go.  It's not my opinion of the festival.

^I hear ya.  But next time you hear people complain about the film festival offerings, you can just politely tell them that there weren't seats left for them anyway.

You won't believe what happened today.  I was on a conf. call with a girl from our Cols. office and apparently some people who are marketing the festival are in town trying to get people to come up and attend.  She entered some kind of drawing for director's passes and won!  She is coming up here with her son for the weekend, they're going to stay at the Ritz and go to a bunch of movies and spend a bunch of money here.  What a great idea.  And she has been talking about it all day to whomever would listen in her office.  Free PR!

Are we talking about the same film festival in Cleveland that has sold out the past two years?

 

And it's also the one that out drew every other city's festival in it's population category by more than 10,000 people from what I remember from the PD.  I agree with McCleveland, if you don't know about it by now, you're a jackass or you aren't into independant films.  That simlpe.

Sounds like some people need to write letters if they aren't happy with soldout shows and 57,000 attendies...

The festival is doing very well on it's own.  That said, I'd hate to see someone who has ideas, energy, and key skills be dissuaded from actively participating in making it even better.

I think it does very well as far as selling out and being packed, I wonder if it stays in the black? I hope so! Anybody seen any standouts yet? Looking forward to anything?

 

with 4 movies this week, it will be 4 more than I will see in a mainstream theater this year (or last). Over the years, I think we have only seen one movie in the fest that was not that great. Ironically it was the one with the most star power (ie Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey type people) Boring!

 

So which one of you downtowners is going to host a pre movie UO cocktail party??

Took the bus down to see an evening flick last night.  It wasn't as jammed as I've experienced in the past, but considering that much of the audience was probably still buried in their neck of the woods, I was impressed with how many people were there!  I saw a 6:45 showing of Jellyfish and I'd have to say that the theater was about 3/4 full, which is great.  I overheard several conversations while in line from people who took the train down since their cars were buried or from people who had come in on Saturday and just stayed in a hotel instead of trying to get back out. How fun is that to be stranded downtown during the Film Festival!

 

One thing I love about the festival is overhearing these conversations from locals and from tourists.  In most cases, it's from people who know how great Cleveland is and know that CIFF is one of the top events of the year.  In some, though, there's the sense that Cleveland's cultural delights are just beginning to dawn on them.  CIFF's slogan this year is "How will it change you?" and I think they're right on the money...

 

By the way, who loves that video with the Twilight tune and the guy walking through Public Square???  I do!

 

Finally, in response to the comment from 8Shades about culture vs. sports, I've a BIG sports dork, but I also love the cultural offerings in Cleveland.  On average, I'd say I spend much more time watching sports.  But when it comes time to actually plop down some cash to see a show, I'd opt for the arts 10 times before going to an athletic event.  Part of this is because I can always watch the sports on TV, but part is because I know that my $ means a lot more at a play with 50 people in the audience than it does in an arena where the "actors" are getting paid $12 million a year.

On Sunday, we were at any earlier show (which sadly had tech difficulties and everyone got a voucher for another movie) and the theater was pretty much full. Not bad at all given the conditions around town. We are seeing a filmed in Cleveland movie later this week-One Bad Cat. Anyone know anything about it? I pretty much consider this week like a vacation in my own town.

I've been volunteering all week at the fest. There have been great crowds. Although they will not break last years record breaking attendance figures this year, it has done very well. Last year was above average temps and this year... well, lets not talk about last weekend.

 

One of my favs was Ben X, and the shorts have been stupendous.

^ we were told in our little pre film announcement tonight every day since Monday  was a record breaker for that particular day....maybe they just say that to get people excited. Either way crowds have seemed really large. We just saw  Ben X -it's incredibly well done -talk about emotionally draining! Glad to hear the shorts are great. We are seeing compilation of the best shorts tomorrow. I feel very fortunate we have this great festival.

^You are correct. Lat time I take the word of another volunteer.

 

The Plain Dealer page B1: Storm aside, film festival is a big hit; Cleveland story is audience pick

 

Storm aside, film festival is a big hit; Cleveland story is audience pick

 

Despite a busted water main on opening day and a blizzard-blown opening weekend, the 32nd Cleveland International Film Festival was a smash. The 11-day festival wrapped Sunday night at Tower City Cinemas after screening more than 130 films and 160 shorts from 59 countries. But it was a Cleveland story that was No. 1 with audiences.

 

"One Bad Cat," about the late Cleveland artist the Rev. Albert Wagner, won the Cleveland Magazine Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award for Best Film. The documentary was shot in Cleveland by director Thomas G. Miller.

 

...

 

More at:

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2008/03/cleveland_film_festival_a_big.html

----------------

 

 

I also saw The Substitute - very nice.

I also saw Ben X Sunday... unbelievable film.  Emotionally draining is probably the perfect way to describe it.  So many parts I didn't think I could continue to watch... and if it would have ended any other way I'm not sure I would have made it.

 

I also saw the substitute, and In search of a Midnight Kiss... both of which I loved (and slightly more light hearted than Ben X).  I tried to get in to Unspeakable Saturday but the stand by line was a mile line so I wimped out.  I think next year is the year I actually stop talking about it and actually take the entire week off, by a pass, and see as many films as humanly possible.

i just read how lots of people in the arts world are moving to buenos aires. the 'arts leading redevelopment force' is happening there in the palermo neighborhood and others. check it out in this interesting ny times travel article. maybe there is some inspiration to be pulled from it?:

 

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/travel/16buenos.html

 

quote: "it's like prague in the 90's"

 

Some out of state love:

 

http://www.indiewire.com/ots/2008/03/festivals_easte.html

 

FESTIVALS | Eastern European Flare Sets Cleveland Fest Apart

By Howard Feinstein (March 18, 2008)

 

As goes Ohio, so goes the nation. If the saying holds water regarding the upcoming presidential election, then so goes the nation--into a ditch, to paraphrase Senator Barack Obama. If only the expression were applicable to our cloned film festivals. Here's one that veers off in a different direction. The 32nd Cleveland International Film Festival, Ohio's biggest movie event, had two provocative strands that set it apart. (Nearly 300 films unspooled March 6-16 at a multiplex inside the city's restored 1929 train station, a fabulous structure that is more a naturally lit galleria than claustrophobic mall.) What other U.S. fest has been prescient enough to mount a retrospective of the work of fearless Filipino director Brillante Mendoza? His low-budget films, which fuse documentary and melodrama in a daring way, move you as they move: Motion and emotion co-exist, tugging at your viscera and heart in equal measure.

 

And what other American festival has a competition of films from Central and Eastern Europe? Eastern European cinema is "hot" these days (Romania's "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" for example), but Cleveland has been screening these movies since the '80s. (Of course, the demographic of the city is heavily Eastern European.)

 

Another reason to be enamored: In a viper's nest of fests where longing to be first overrides serving the locals, Cleveland offers a whiff of purity. "We care about what our audience wants," says artistic director Bill Guentzler. "That a film has played every other festival in the U.S. indicates that it's probably worth showing. We don't care about premiere status."

 

...

 

More at:

http://www.indiewire.com/ots/2008/03/festivals_easte.html

 

For those of you who missed the film festival this year, this was the opening video for all the movies.  Pretty cool.  Watch in "high quality" mode:

 

That was cute!  Murray Hill is that you?

 

I loved the people who turn around on Public Square!  lol

ha! not quite...kinda close though.

"close" only counts in horse shoes! 

 

I was under the impression it was a project you worked on.  Non the less, excellent!

"close" only counts in horse shoes!

 

..and hand grenades.

"close" only counts in horse shoes!

 

..and hand grenades.

 

LMAO!!!!

The main dude is an actor at the Liminus theater in Tremont.

Event preview on Around Noon.

 

http://www.wcpn.org/index.php/WCPN/an/11895/

 

Response to the program has been great. To date, we have 122 participants from 37 cities in 10 states, and still climbing. In Ohio, we have representation from Cleveland and several suburbs, as well as Akron, Cincy, Dayton, Elyria, Kent, Mansfield, Toledo and Warren.

Unnatural Resources

CPAC Examines The Art Of Filling Empty Buildings

By Michael Gill

 

Billy Delfs came back to Cleveland so he could afford to be a photographer. He graduated from the International Center for Photography in New York three years ago and wanted to make a living by taking pictures, not to support his artistic habit with a day job. And he has succeeded. His freelance work has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Cleveland, Audubon, Redbook and more than a dozen other magazines. But even with that level of success, it's hard to afford the freelance life. "I wanted to work in photography," he says, "and Cleveland's good for that because it's so inexpensive." ...

 

The Community Partnership for Arts and Culture is hoping that a better understanding of that dynamic - combined with the availability of unique spaces like vacant churches and factories, as well as dignified old houses - can help retain artists and attract more to the region ...

 

... For more information, please visit http://www.freetimes.com/stories/15/53/unnatural-resources

"close" only counts in horse shoes!

 

..and hand grenades.

 

LMAO!!!!

 

You can't tell me that's the first time you've ever heard of the horseshoes and hand grenades cliche?!?!

You can't tell me that's the first time you've ever heard of the horseshoes and hand grenades cliche?!?!

Yes :oops:

You can't tell me that's the first time you've ever heard of the horseshoes and hand grenades cliche?!?!

Yes :oops:

 

Don't feel to bad MTS, my fiance grew up thinking play it by ear... was play it by year.  And might as well was... mines swell.  yup, you read those right.

What? MTS never watched "Mean" Gene Okerlund on WWF? :laugh:

I loathe WWF