Tom Hall from the Sarasota Film Festival, responding on Indiewire to a recent article by Sean Farnel which promoted the idea that festivals should share ticketing revenue with filmmakers:
...a reality check seems in order; in almost all cases, there is no profit to share and the loss of revenue from ticketing would create another economic disadvantage in an already difficult environment. That said, festivals must work with filmmakers to help create real value for their films, value that capitalizes on the rapidly changing marketplace without repeating the failed models of the past.
I didn't link to Farnel's original piece because, frankly, it is an argument which surfaces all the time. "Festivals spend all that money on plane tickets and parties," goes the thinking, "so why can't they kick some of that ticketing revenue back to the filmmakers?" I've written rebuttals before (here's one from 2008), but the bottom line is, as Hall points out, that there is very little revenue to share. (Never mind that the accounting would be nightmarish.)
I like Hall's attempt to shift the focus from potential monetary compensation to the value that festivals should bring to filmmakers and their films in other ways. Hopefully we can put this idea to rest for another few months.
