From: Donald Harrison (email suppressed)
Date: Wed Aug 20 2008 - 00:17:00 PDT
From my perspective, having worked there '02 - '06, it's actually
much more complex than that.
There were good arts administrators and fundraisers at FAF within the
last 5 years. If there hadn't
been it would've closed years earlier. AIVF and similar organizations
have shut their doors recently
(including the Detroit Film Center last month) as they didn't figure
out their new model quickly enough
with the shift in digital filmmaking and probably couldn't weather
funding cuts such as Regina pointed out. Of
course in FAF's case, moving into an expensive new building and
prolonged leadership transitions certainly didn't
help either.
It's definitely a loss for the heart of the Bay Area film community,
but I know that SFFS has brought on some good people
and am curious to see where they take it.
Respectfully,
-Donald
_______________
Donald Harrison
Executive Director
Ann Arbor Film Festival
office: 734.995.5356
www.aafilmfest.org
On Aug 20, 2008, at 2:16 AM, Adam Hyman wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> Jeez, I didn’t actually mean that the problem was that artists
> might have
> taken over, or that any were actually incompetent.
>
> My point was that in order for an organization like that to stay
> afloat, it
> actually needs good business people & grant writers.
>
> Jim, I am utterly stumped by your blame of “archivists, the scholar
> squirrels, and the business types” - if anything, it was probably a
> lack of
> them in proportion to the number of people wanting to make use of the
> resources. One needs staff to run a place like that, so that
> artists can
> spend their time creating. I really have no idea where your
> bringing up
> archivists and scholars comes from at all.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Adam
>
>
> On 8/19/08 4:21 PM, "Jim Carlile" <email suppressed> wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 8/19/2008 3:41:53 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
>> email suppressed writes:
>>> I can't explain it (because I don't know) but it is incorrect to
>>> assume (in
>>> this case) that incompetent artists sank FAF. Indeed it was
>>> founded by
>>> artists in the mid-70s but it has long been under the leadership
>>> of people
>>> of solidly administrative minds (staff and board); no way did
>>> artists "take
>>> it over."
>>>
>>
>>
>> I agree- I certainly don't blame the artists or craftsman, who
>> were the sole
>> reason why FAF was started in the first place. I think it's
>> cynical for anyone
>> to blame the "artists" for being inept. That's always the pretext
>> for a
>> takeover.
>>
>> No, this is the kind of thing that happens nowadays. It's a
>> racket. The
>> culture vulture mediocrities always end up taking over and ruining
>> things--
>> you see this all the time with college radio stations-- the
>> bureaucrat-money
>> minded run in to 'save' a cool thing, and end up dismantling it
>> somehow,
>> usually piously.
>>
>> Some of them get "fees" for this destruction, too. And it makes
>> them feel
>> cool, -- just like the "artists." They're arty, too.
>>
>> FAF was neat because it was artist-craftsman oriented. But
>> clearly, the
>> archivists, the scholar squirrels, and the business types glommed
>> onto it for
>> their own purposes, and eliminated its raison d'etre. Sad sad sad.
>>
>> But hey, that FAF archive that's been built up over the many
>> years-- maybe
>> they can market it!... to save it! Plainly, that's what this is
>> all-- and
>> always is-- about.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel
>> deal here
>> <http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047> .
>> __________________________________________________________________
>> For info on
>> FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>>
>>
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.