Parting Words - April 2008 Forward Thinking Follow up

(More blog entries from kellykelly)

This is what I know for sure - no matter what happens: 2008 is going to be a great year.

So... Let's get honest and real.  2007 was incredible - but making Crown Point Festival was not easy. Call it a labor of love, call it risky.  I call it a dream that would not leave me alone for 4 years so I put pretty much everything in my life on hold to make it happen.  As one of the Board members said to me over lunch this past February, there really isn't anyone or any institution in this city doing what we do: predominantly featuring emerging artists and creating a multi-media event on this scale.

There were things that went very well like the crew, talent, ad campaign, press coverage, and corporate support.  There were things that were off the mark: while our venue was beautiful it was out of the way and its structure prevented you all from dancing with the bands.  (Yes, that's important - I'll get into that in a second.)  The final area that I have to be frank about is resources and the reality is that the simple answer is we need more.  If Tribeca Film Festival struggles with cash flow and funneling in funding from sources such as goverment and foundations, its not unusual that a small growing organization like ours does too. 

Here's the big picture: Crown Point is needed and there is defintely a place for it which is why we are working to make it happen again. The day-to-day of that translates into a different type of process than last year.  This year the Board is committing to scaling back BUT with an emphasis on 100% fulfillment.  There's no way that can be bad.  The staff is committed to improving the overall moment to moment experience for everyone as they attend.  I like to think of this two tiered approach from the financial and creative as a way to concentrate Crown Point to its heart. 

Some ways this translates:

• We're going back to only short form programming. Only short films under 30 minutes and one act plays under 45 minutes. 
• Play film play film music - those in 2004 know it, you heard it, it was like a weird poem - but that formula, we learned this year, is genius. 
• Venue: we're looking at 2 locations that are really easy to get to but also have this inviting appeal to draw the audience in and party on stage.  We loved all of the parties on stage but now we want to blur the lines between audience and talent/show and party.  We want to rock this year's event so much that we have to kick you out of the theater.

For 2008 we have a major advantage: year 1 is done and done well. So now, as we say hello to our toddler years were I can see how much a lot of us have grown up its time to propel that momentum into something else other than just effort.  Can an event like Crown Point bring about joy? Which is why its important to make you all dance when you hear a great band.

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