Also need to take into account that the salary I made also represented myself doing the fundraising, book keeping, publishing, public presentations, travel, advertising and such, eliminating the need for hiring people with these skills. In this day and age I guess u would hire a book keeper, grant writer and fundraiser, and such.
D On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 12:03 PM Cecilia Araneda <[email protected]> wrote: > > It’s good to know the baseline! Thank you for sharing. > > $61k in 2012 dollars translates to $86k in 2025 dollars. Which is around > $120k in > Canadian dollars. > > So I guess I should revise my baseline guess that a film festival ED > should likely paid $60k, and up it by quite a bit. > > Cecilia Araneda > [email protected] > > > On Aug 28, 2025, at 1:55 PM, Dominic Angerame <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Hi Cecilia, I realize that I am talking about pre historic times. When I > started working at Canyon 1980 salary was $3.65 per hour for 20 hours. In > the interim of course salaries increased. The most I made at Canyon was > $61,000 and that was in 2012 the year of my termination. My average salary > was about $45-50k. The one person staff, Linda Scobie, was paid $20-$25 per > hour plus benefits. I have written a book of my time and experiences at > Canyon from 1980-2012 and currently seeking a publisher. 85% of the income > at Canyon Cinema was earned income and not from grants or donations. All > those who worked at Canyon were committed to the "cause" and certainly not > the money. The believed, and still do, in the organization and the > filmmakers. > > Dominic > > On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 11:43 AM 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 >> > -- > 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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