The recession hits regional film fests

The average film festival can’t match the glitzy star power of Cannes along the French Riviera or offer up the annual crop of Oscar contenders like Sundance -- and that’s when the economy is good.

Regional film festivals that lack broad name recognition or established Hollywood ties are slogging through the global financial crisis, adapting as donations dwindle and corporate sponsorships dry up.

Some are shortening their events, planning screenings in libraries and community centers instead of renting out theaters and showing DVDs instead of film prints to save on shipping costs.

And some have not survived: The Jackson Hole Film Festival folded this fall after failing to raise enough money to continue operating.

“It’s literally like you’re driving a nice car and you run out of gas,” said Todd Rankin, managing director of the Wyoming festival. “If we just had some money to keep going, we would have been fine.”

At stake, supporters say, are festivals that give communities cultural flair, bring in tourist dollars and showcase low-budget independent films and shorts that may otherwise go unnoticed.

Film festivals get revenue from ticket sales as well as donations from individuals and corporate sponsors.

Festivals become vulnerable if donors have to choose between the arts and causes they deem more critical.

“It’s not like we’re a hospital trying to raise money,” Rankin said. “We’re a nice event, but it’s not a must-have event.”

The Newport International Film Festival in Rhode Island was in danger of closing after running up debt and struggling to kick-start fundraising. A foundation saved the festival with a last-minute $90,000 donation last month, but organizers eager to cut costs and stay out of financial trouble plan to shorten the June event.

Festivals are finding different ways to cut costs.

After enduring a $25,000 drop in sponsorship, the Port Townsend Film Festival in Washington state screened nearly all movies on DVDs and videotapes in September instead of film, which offers a more pristine picture but is also more expensive to ship because it comes in heavier packaging.

Michael Posner, director of the Delray Beach Film Festival in Florida, said he expects to screen more films inside the public library and local community center instead of the movie theaters he used to use.