The biggest problem I had raising money was two-fold: first, nobody had heard of the lone Star Film Society, or second, they did know about them and held a negative impression of that organization.
Also– and this is part and parcel of Fort Worth being fairly virgin territory as far as the film industry– almost every single sponsor/contributor had to have the concept of a film festival explained to them. (on that note, so did the majority of the LSFS board of directors) At least this problem won’t be as prevalent in future efforts.

I don’t wish to comment on the coverage specifically (except to praise WAC for its abundance of attentive coverage — good job guys), but I can say that I was not allowed to approach FW Weekly until the last week of October (it was a wednesday, which meant that we had only one week of publicity available due to the print schedule). We couldn’t expect much from them that late in the game, but their last-minute sponsorship was a benefit to the festival as a whole, and I’m grateful to Michael Newquist for his goodwill and last-minute support. I only wish that the Weekly had attended more events and been able to allot more space for comprehensive coverage of them. We gave them precious little time to prepare, though.

For the record: I feel very positive about the ability for the Free State Arts Consortium to carry the momentum from ‘07 into a great film/music festival in ‘08. It is currently being discussed, and by march we’ll have an announcement as to our intentions.
thanks,
pete asplund

Alec, I loved working with you and the work you did with the festival but I can’t agree with you that the decision to fire Tom Huckabee was “made with the best interest of the Society and the festival in mind.” I think it was made in the interest of a few over bloated egos the got bruised. Tom did an excellent job and there is no logical reason for him being fired.

Also, I don’t think anyone is questioning whether there will physically be a festival this year. My concern is will it be a true cultural event in the interest of the city as a whole or just a glorified reason for a bunch or rich people to meet celebrities and look popular amongst their friends? In light of recent events I have serious doubts about the Society’s motives and almost no hope that they have the aptitude to represent the true artistic nature of film and it’s cultural imperative.

Anyway, you can read my thoughts on this whole subject at my blog here: http://bconfusion.blogspot.com/2008/01/lone-star-international-film-fest-and.html

So wait. Did local media intentionally ignore it, or was poor organization to blame on the part or the planners? Or are you trying to have it both ways?

I don’t know why people are complaining about the amount of coverage–the festival was covered in the Dallas Business Journal, the Fort Worth Business Press, the Star-T, Texas Monthly, FW Texas Magazine, the Dallas Observer, the FWWeekly, a couple of T.V. stations and a handful of other publications (not to mention the blogs). No media outlet can really be expected to do much more with the reputation on the film society. Also, the board was (or is?) batshit crazy, interns were harassed (just ask them if you don’t believe me), Bill Paxton wouldn’t do interviews and sponsors were insulted. I hope the society gets its act together and gets some board-training because for all those problems, the festival was still fun.

I think it did…one more thing I forgot to say in the first comment…does no one know that the real reason they fired Tom was that the festival went significantly over budget and a board member had to put it on a credit card? I thought it was common knowledge but haven’t seen it in any post coverage.

Why is it that so many of you spout off at the mouth without considering what is fact and what is not. Do you suppose that the board would just fire Tom without some reason or justification and so quickly after the close of the successful festival. Could it be that Tom was overbearing unqualified and self assuming to the point that he overspent $150,000 on useless items despite the board telling him not to do so. Could Tom have needed a hearing aid when told numerous times he was not the executive director and to cease attempting to emulate one. Has there ever been a time when blatent insorbordination and fiscal malfeasance has been just cause for termination.

As to his childhood buddy that was so desperately trying to get his a friend a job (any job) Paxton showed he has not progressed to far from his childhood with his temperamental hissy fit when he learned Tom got the boot. The board screwed up. They should have handled the situation with Paxton better, reminding him that this was a business decision that required a tough response Also they should have asked Paxton the hard questions. What did he really contribute in a tangible way to the festival. How many dollars did he contribute? How much money was he actually responsible for bringing to the festival. Look at the records. Absolutely Zilch.. Oh but his name association, folks; that and dollar will buy a cup of coffee some places. For comparison, look at Sundance and see how much of Redford own cash supports that festival and Bill Paxton is no Robert Redford.

So stop whining and start supporting your festival and look at all of the other Texans that the festival could showcase that are much more deserving than Paxton and team.

There is no such information on GuideStar, at least none that I can find with a basic search. And I wasn’t on the staff, but did have a role in the festival. I choose to remain anonymous simply because speaking out could compromise a professional position I am in at the moment. I just don’t think its fair that the board is being publicly pummelled for letting Tom go when all the facts aren’t out there. Granted, the board did a lot of things wrong, too, but they don’t deserve all the blame. They were routinely bullied by Tom and Bill Paxton and no one can blame them for not wanting to go through that for another year.

Pete I am the nice, quiet guy in the corner who sat next to you on several occasions. Every once in a great while my alter ego takes over from the nice quiet guy and screams at those who will not accept responsibility for their own short comings and then tries to point their failure at others usually their boss. Sound familiar??? My alter ego (Ben) takes skewering better than my normal self and allows me to be blunt and caustic on matters where I believe said action is necessary.

But lets deal in facts by asking you a question or two.

First do you think you did a good job working for the festival? We both know the real answer to that question. Do you think Tom did a good job? In some ways Tom did a good job but overall he was in over his head and obviously lacked the ability to listen, choosing to believe he was so self important that no one could possibly be as smart as he was. My professional training tells me that when one exhibits the overbearing nature Tom showed then blowing and going is his only coverup to his lack of ability. Paxton, he was a disappointment. First I thought he could deliver more than he did. You would have thought that at least he could have delivered more star power from the Texas delegation in Hollywood. Second, he brought no funding for the event. Finally lets talk about funding. Wasn’t that your primary task? How much did you raise? I won’t embarrass you by requiring an answer. But lets talk about Johnny Langdon, how did he do when it came to needed funding. When you didn’t do your job, Paxton did not do his job, and Tom was being a spendthrift who came forward, toed the line and personally allowed the festival to proceed using his personal credit card. Yep, according to you old mis-management himself Johnny Langdon saved the day. Thus in my humble opinion Mr. Langdon and the other board members you consider marginal did what any other good manager would do and that is step in and do whats necessary to insure success of the event and then get rid of those who did not do their job.

Pete, the only reason I have energized my alter-ego on this matter is to expose you, Tom, Paxton, and others who are trying to undercut the Lone Star Film Society, a 501-c entity, responsible for putting on the Lone Star Film Festival, Inc. by creating another festival to spite those that had the audacity to fire you and Tom and accept the resignation of Bill Paxton.

…….. Ben Broadhead

Bernie, which comment was so creepy? It took a few minutes for me to remember who you are, and then the “creepy” comment made sense. And yep, far be it from me to question your expertise when it comes to creepy. Are you the guy who pedal pushed his way into town less than ten years ago who was struck with a vision last year that it was time for him to take over our “cowtown” and bring some Houstonian sophistication to the city council. We Cowtown lifers cast a creepy eye at shortimers who stick their rearview mirrors (attached to their hat no less)into community bizness like the council and the film society. Attracting only little over 200 votes should have sent the message that you have a long way to go to win your spurs in Foat Wurth.

RE the last exchange between Bernie and Ben: It always comes down to that chip on the shoulder attitude. Fort Worth should just be Fort Worth, not the AntiDallas or the AntiHouston. Both Houston and Dallas are great cities in their own right and you never hear anything said against Fort Worth in those cities. Stick to extolling Fort Worth’s attributes in a positive way and get over the fist-shaking at the two Big Cities in the state. It’s not necessary and it’s small-minded and tacky.

OK Pete I have taken all of my meds and the guzzlers didn’t get after me too much, after they learned Bernie was pedal pusher and Kevin is likely as well.

To splain things to John Green it was in bad taste because of the sour grapes the gentlemen above poured on the management of the film society for doing their job. It seems to me that if a person spends mid-six figures of his own money to salvage a community project for we the public, is entitled to an acolade or two rather than be doused in sour grape juice poured by a guy or two that put the event in position to fail.

As intellectual as your blog is, I would think that you could easily see the threat and the posturing. Its the thing unfortunately that all of these organizations get rabid about…..MONEY. Both groups know that its going to cost a lot of money to put on another festival, and they are both looking at the same folks to deliver the cash. Its hard to compete with success and some believe that to do that they must attack what appears to be the weakest link. Management and money. In the case of the film society I think I would look beyond management and money for a weak link.

In Response To Brad [post dated Mar 21st 2008 2:31pm]

So you’re casting unsubstantiated claims, in a public forum regarding a clearly private\professional conversation, to what end? To lower public opinion of a separated employee to allow your organization to more easily compete for money?

Why would people have an apparently poor opinion of you and your organization, I wonder? The Star Telegram complained of infighting and other poor practices which apparently resulted in two aborted attempts to previously organize and run the Film Festival. I think those failures combined with continued internal struggles is what’s most damaging to your organization, not any potential competition.

Your unprofessional handling of this matter here just further solidifies the media reports instead of weakening them.

I don’t care that you have a beef with Mr. Huckabee, I don’t even care who’s fault it is, or even if there’s any fault at all. I’m actually trying to help you out here if you believe it.

You and the organization you’ve been representing here are suffering from a mixed image. Bickering on the internet is doing nothing to help that image out.

And yes, Redford does put a lot of money into his film festival, but your film festival belongs to the LSFS, not to Mr. Huckabee nor to Bill Paxton. If there’s money to be put in, I submit that it falls on the Society and not it’s employees nor it’s guests .. logically.

I’m not stirring the pot, I’m just trying to help you see that all that you’re doing here is hurting you more than helping you.

Take it for what it’s worth, this is just one man’s opinion.

Sincerely,
John Green – Fort Worth citizen and potential film festival attendee.

Quoted from Ben;

——————————————————————–
“Some other group might want a festival to support their organization, but the festival Tom, Paxton, Asplund and cronies are putting together is conceived in spite and anger from being disassociated with LSFS not by their own choice. They propose to destroy LSFS because tarnish was put on their halo’s and Lone Star not being able to hold a 2008 festival would subject the LSFS board to public ridicule and embarassment.”
——————————————————————–

Sir, I respectfully request that you prove that these are the motivations and intentions of those mentioned. Because, proof not withstanding, it remains unsubstantiated opinion at best, and at worst conjecture and gossip.

I think you’re seeing a conspiracy where there’s just a group of people moving on in life through something they enjoy. At least that’s the way it seems to me.

If you can submit proof that backs up any or all of your claims then any reasonable person will glady support you, myself included.

Already you seem factually wrong in that Bill Paxton was also “forced” out of the society. The Star Telegram clearly reported that he resigned of his own volition even though the LSFS seemed hopeful to retain him.

Though again, if you can supply some sort of evidence to back up your claims, I’ll side with you over the qualified journalists at the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

Thanks Tom, we don’t know Jane but the guzzlers and myself have an interest in your work and we will probably show up. You do good photo.

A quick word to Green. I don’t have a side just a front and back and I don’t have to prove anything, just read the original article above, is that a strong inference about a competing festival? If that not clear enough bounce around to two or three other posts and see what you find. And those that are moving on through life, why would they need to start another festival if it wasn’t to hit back at the successful one. I don’t need your support, thanks, I have already accomplished “our” goal, keeping the record straight.

Three real journalist friends of mine, Elston Brooks, George Dolan and Jack Gordon of the Fort Worth Press would have been at every event possible during the run of the festival if they had been around. They would have busted their butts to get as many story’s in the rag as possible. Had you been able to classify your “qualified journalist” in the same league as my three I might have given some credence to your evaluation of what is a “qualified journalist”. Question for you??? In early 2007 the Executive Director of the LSFS was fired from her job, Do you think that the fact that she was working at the Star Telegram when this happened could have influenced the Star Telegram’s coverage of the festival as well as the slant the articles have taken toward those folks responsible for her separation?

Evidently you did not read my very first post. I clearly indicated that Bill Paxton got mad and quit, he was not forced out and everyone would have liked for him stick around. I thought the board should have had their butts kicked for the way in which Paxton learned of of their action, however,, his actions have not been of the highest order, and it is a fact that he did not contribute more than his name to the festival. I believe something like “put your money where your mouth is,” would be expected from Paxton.

Mr Green, I am signing 30 to this (if you do not know what that means ask your telegram friends) and please do not antagonize my mouth again lest I be banished to the Paris Coffee Shop for my morning brew.

#30#

Response, Ben;

Asking you to support claims that refute two local media reports with proof is not antagonism, just due diligence.

You also claim a conspiracy, I’ve yet to see proof of one.

Hosting a tentative local film festival in their own right doesn’t equal vengeance, no more so than when DeLorean broke from GMC to begin his own automotive design and manufacture business.

On Bill Paxton;
You’ve made contradictary statements, I went with the latter in which you accused Mr. Asplund, Mr. Paxton, and Mr. Huckabee of being forced out and creating a rival festival with the intention of spoiling things for the LSFS.

As per request, I will no longer engage you in conversation.

Response, Jane;

Thanks for responding.

Early in this forum, long before it became a mud-slinging venue, I mentioned a group soon to form in Fort worth.
my aspiration to collect the great creative minds of Fort Worth into a consortium over the next couple of years (which I am tentatively calling Free State) is slowly moving forward, but will not take any great steps for about 6 months.
I think the process of creating cohesion between the many grassroots campaigns in our indie art scene and the fine arts cadre will take many years and many like-minded participants. There are several aspiring organizations right now that are finding their respective footing, and a consortium will take shape on its own with the proper care and maintenance.

Ben, as far as your desire for conflict: There have actually been no real talks between myself, Tom, Bill, or anyone else concerning a film festival in the next year or two, so the conspiracy theory you’ve extrapolated is a little beyond my own foresight.
But as the topic comes up often enough, I am always considering the future and I would love to work with Tom, Bill, James Johnston, Todd, and several others that were so instrumental in this past year’s success.
In the future, I would love to take part in developing a purposeful film/music/arts festival for Fort Worth, capitalizing on our success on the Friday and Saturday night concerts during the festival, which were my proudest moments.
I would look to great local talents like Lance Yocom at Spune Productions, who produces the Wall of Sound music festival, and Todd Camp at Q Cinema Film Festival (which has been running for 10 years). These folks know how to create a consistently great event.
(and by the way, I think that we raised quite a bit of money, thank you. feel free to compare what I steered into the bank to any other similar organization in Fort Worth during that timeframe. And, again, whenever LSFS chooses to report to the IRS, it will be available on guidestar)

My own opinion is that the LSFS will drift right back to what it has been for the past few years, with no clear vision, bogged down by personal agendas. But I hope I’m wrong.
And if the gap remains when this consortium has the right momentum, then there must be a plan to fill that void.
Since Fort Worth has proven itself hungry for a film festival like the one we put together last year, my current hope is that somebody will really make an effort in the next couple of years to give the city what it is asking for. (and if my advice is heeded, it will be stripped down quite a bit)

everyone makes mistakes, the first of which was to announce a film festival to be held in november when until April nobody had been hired to direct it…
The dates hadn’t even been finally decided until mid June, when I begged the executive committee to make a decision so we could start planning properly.
Try raising 300,000 in 5 months (from the date I got hired) representing an organization that nobody wants to donate to, with no marketing. Not to mention that at the time I was hired, we weren’t able to pay for the next month’s utility bills.
With help from several people, we did quite well in the development aspect.
(there are also errors on my part and those of every staff member, being first-timers like we were)
but in spite of any errors that our staff or board made in the hasty run-up to the festival, the event went quite well.
And whether you like it or not, Bill and Tom were the biggest reasons for the success.

And now that the festival is in the hands that you wanted it in Ben, use your energy to help them focus on the up-hill battle before them. let’s be done with this public (however anonymous) rant.

best of luck to you and to LSFS.

The biggest reason is that the Main Street Arts fest is in April which is way too close to SXSW and AFI Dallas. Being a fall festival helps LSIFF be a legitimate stop on the film circuit versus just picking up those big fests leftovers.

Actually, Lone Star Film Society does do a film fest during Main ST. (Fearless Film Festival)and it was pretty successful last year…but has lots of room to grow. As for Main St. limiting local talent…they actually don’t — the judging as to which 200 artists get to participate is blind. The only reason I know this is because I worked on the PR for them last year…I thought the same thing about local artists not being involved when I was a journalist a few years ago.

I hadn’t heard that, I guess I was wrong. Seems weird, but I do know that a lot of the publicity was based around how national it is…some of our efforts went into publicizing the out of town artists in their hometown newspapers.