We had a great turn-out for this event. This was our first gig that we required tickets for. That’s because the film cost us money to show so we needed to charge at least to break even. In order to do so I devised a plan to have vendor booths/sponsors for the event. At one time it appeared we would have 5 vendors but it eventually backed to 3 vendors. All were paying to be at the show and display their wares. As the crowd was mostly climbers, it was after all, a climbing film festival, they were drawn to the outdoor gear-store sponsor, and the wine vendor, the most. Our t-shirt vendor did ok but I think they wished that they would have sold more shirts.
In any case, the event went wonderfully – not a single technical issue. In fact, it was probably one of the smoothest running shows I’ve delivered.
As for the climbing films – all were absolutely amazing and with the feedback I got, everyone was really happy they attended. So maybe we’ll make it an annual event.
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On to seasonal things as a whole.
I am working on ways to make the Renegade Picture Show a more sustainable venture. Meaning less out-of-pocket $$$ for me, less copyright worries, and more focus on the overall artistic experience. The RPS is more than just watching movies on a wall – it’s a gathering, it’s a social art experiment.
Every show I do I put together a program that includes the pre-show music mix, a slideshow featuring movie stills, trivia and other stuff. Then I arrange various clips – sometimes things I have created myself and finally comes the feature presentation.
So this entire process is unique each and every time – and while I’ve gotten pretty good at delivering it and making it look seamless, there are still apprehensions each show about what people will think about the night’s show.
Now that I’ve convinced myself that this is “art,” I’m ready to begin looking for grants that will support the show. I have a couple of leads. Of course I have no clue if anyone sees as much value in this as I do – so I don’t know if anyone would give me money to continue and even grow the idea. But it’s worth a shot.
I’d like to start with about $1000 per season – that would allow me to do at least 5 shows next year. Maybe even invite some other filmmakers to show their film and talk about their work.
Any thoughts?
Our Super 8 film night last Saturday evening was great. We watched a total of 17 short films ranging in length from about 2 minutes to 20 minutes. The program was divided into two half with the first half consisting of a number of Super 8 films I’ve found online. After a brief intermission we screened the second half of the program which featured shorts from the 2010 Cambridge International Super 8 Film Festival. Overall the response was good and I think people really enjoyed most (if not all) of the films. 
