Notes from the IFS desk, by Pablo Kjolseth (2004)

Adapting to the Current Times
The International Film Series is a beautiful and old ship, and one that is part of a vanishing breed. It is a non-profit, calendar film series that has been around for sixty-three years. It is programmed by one local person and staffed by a handful of students making minimum wage. It is coming up on eight years for me as the IFS programmer and director and, in that time, I've had rocks thrown through my window, I have received death-threats, and I have gotten into many unpleasant, face-to-face situations with angry mobs at full-up events where we've had to turn away hundreds of people. I've even seen a seasoned projectionist die in the booth. I could go on with stories of this ilk, but the punch line doesn't change: I love my job.

We average 35,000 customers a year, with just over half that number being students and the rest being general admission. Our yearly bills can be as high as $200,000. When you do the math at our past admission rate of $4 for general admission and $3 for students, those numbers don't quite work, especially given how most of our income, about 80%, comes directly from tickets sold. Thankfully, we are able to tap into nominal funds from the Performance Arts Fee and this helps us put on some free shows, patch up our debts, and it has allowed us to sail to the finish line at the end of the fiscal year with some money in the coffer to do it all over again. How close does it get? Several years ago we made it to the finish line with $17 dollars in the bank. That's how close it gets. Yes, we are non-profit, but if we lose too much money this boat will sink. If you are a student, and you are reading this, and you like what the IFS represents, please vote in favor of the Performance Arts Fee this Spring semester. It helps many worthwhile organizations, such as the IFS, make your world a more interesting place.

Another problem coming down the road has to do with the fact that programming the IFS is actually the smaller component of my real job assisting the C.U. Film Studies Program and its faculty with classroom film rentals and acquisitions. The IFS brings over a hundred films to campus a year. Within various production and critical thinking classes, the C.U. Film Studies Program programs shows well over a thousand films a year.
C.U.'s many economic woes are public knowledge, and looming budget cuts on campus may demand sacrifices brought about by T.A.B.O.R. In our small department, my position is closest to the plank. If you work for Campus Human Resources and are reading this, please don't mistake my past call and query for my unemployment options as a desire to leave my post - nothing could be further from the truth, but I still needed to see what my rent check options were.

The third looming change has to do with digital projection. Most theatrical juggernauts have deep corporate pockets that allow them to invest in all kinds of pricey gambits. Digital projection really wasn't of much interest to the IFS when it simply meant we couldn't show ATTACK OF THE CLONES using the latest technology. But on this last schedule there were five independently financed documentaries that would have been interesting additions to the program, and that we couldn't show because they were only available on a digital format. While the IFS will never be able to afford a high-end, state-of-the-art, projection system such as reside at the Lucas Ranch, digital projection technology is getting better and cheaper with each year. This makes a lower-end model that will do a decent job within the space requirements of Muenzinger a possibility - but one we're going to have to take the summer off to both save up the money for, and to do more research on insofar as what will work best for Muenzinger, and the IFS, within the limitations of our budget (if any).

The IFS has many challenges to meet. We hope the $1 increase to our admission helps us meet those challenges. Frequent punch-card patrons will be pleased to note that the punch-card rate will not be increased, so that our valued frequent customers may continue to see films at IFS for only $3, with a free validation sticker at the Euclid auto-park as an ongoing perk. However, punch card holders will want to note that we will not have a summer 2004 series and we cannot guarantee IFS solvency beyond the summer - so it'd be wise to use all your punches this Spring calendar, if you can.