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08/07/2007
Input, suggestions are soughtTRAVERSE CITY — To be continued ... The third Traverse City Film Festival ended Sunday and the marquee on the State Theatre on Monday morning read "Thank You!” Now, organizers are looking ahead to consider what they might do to make the sequel even better and are seeking input from moviegoers, volunteers and the community at large. "The biggest complaint we've had is films starting later than they're supposed to,” event manager Deb Lake said. "That's not unusual for festivals, but it's something we want to work on and minimize as much as we can.” Organizers and fans alike say the 2007 edition was a success. Audiences snapped up about 80 percent of available tickets and shelled out $450,000 for admissions and souvenirs, festival officials said. Friends of the Film Festival, people who purchased memberships and have the first crack at tickets, spent $165,000 on them the first day they went on sale. That's more than the $150,000 in tickets for the entire festival in its first year, said Bryn Lynch, box office manager. Organizers estimate more than 70,000 admissions, including free outdoor movies at the Open Space. That's on par with last year, when the festival ran one day longer and had one fewer venues. Still, managers and fans have suggestions for improvements. "I don't know why they don't have movies in Milliken Auditorium,” said Marc Bertrand of Traverse City. Shelly Edge, an employee of Golden Shoes on Front Street, would like to see the festival distribute its schedules to businesses, adding that the National Cherry Festival does so and it helps. "People ask us what's going on,” Edge said. "That's a good idea,” Lake said. "If businesses are asking for them, that's something we could look into.” Milliken Auditorium, part of Northwestern Michigan College's Dennos Museum Center, also has been considered as a screen location, though Lake doesn't know if it will be added anytime soon. "The board is reluctant to add a venue that's not walkable (in or near downtown),” she said. Organizers also are looking at discontinuing 10 a.m. showings. They're not as popular as later times with audiences and it's hard for Bay Area Transportation Authority to offer shuttles at those hours, Lake said. Jodi Maas, manager of the Open Space outdoor movie venue, said the organization will look at relocating the screen and speakers next year because of sound issues. The festival received some complaints from residents about noise. "We want to be considerate, but also give the audience a good movie-going experience,” she said. Another consideration is making tickets available earlier next year because people have said they'd like more time to decide what to see. This year, they went on sale to Friends on July 13 and to the general public on July 20. The festival started on July 31. "People seemed to feel the crunch,” Lynch said. Improvements made since last year worked out well, she added. Among those was increasing the number of computer terminals for ticket sales and having a temporary store space on Front Street for ticket and merchandise sales, rather than just having temporary merchandise stands near the movie sites. "Just having the walk-up storefront made a huge difference,” she said. "It made it easier for people to browse.”
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