Rossland Film Fest - Go Big or Stay Home?
By Andrew Zwicker
Several members (old and new) of the volunteer Rossland Film Fest board met last week at the library to begin discussions and planning for this year’s event. Among the questions discussed was around the future of the festival and where to host the gala Saturday night event. High on the list of events not to be missed in Rossland the film festival’s Saturday night event has long sold out the Miners’Hall downtown heritage venue. Few people would doubt the classic venue’s intimate confines are as much a part of the party as the partygoers themselves: with a limited capacity under 200 people the event regularly sells out and has to turn people away.
The film fest and the dedicated volunteers that make it happen see two potential routes to growing the festival. Option one would see moving the Saturday night event to a larger facility and keeping prices the same. More people and more tickets sold mean more revenue. More revenue means a better show, perhaps bigger name acts, more movies. Nobody knows for sure right now, but the Creativity On a Budget that is the volunteer movement in Rossland would surely find a way to make it work.
Option two would be to keep the event at the Miners’ Hall and raise prices. This would also lead to higher revenue, just with fewer people in a more intimate environment with lighter wallets.
Of course, there is also option three, which is as much an option as Y is a vowel: to leave it all be and continue to run things as they are.
This year is also the 10th anniversary of the little mountain film festival that could. How that plays into the discussion, you can judge. Maybe we run this year as always, call it ten years and start planning for big changes in decade number two? Or do we celebrate ten years of film fest-ery with a big blowout bash in a new larger venue?
In true for-the-people-by-the-people fashion, the board of directors wants to hear from Rosslanders on what they want out of the festival and any thoughts or suggestions to improve the event. This August 31st, at 7:30 PM in Booty’s Den at the Rock Cut Pub, the film fest will be holding its AGM and invites anyone with ideas or an interest in helping organize to put on the festival to come out and take part. Among other items to be decided on will be the big question, to go big? Or stay at home?
