I've been hearing from a number of people that Tower City's lots are, again, filled up and a lot of people are being redirected to offsite parking. So I thought I'd take another moment to talk about our parking situation and how to navigate it. During business hours, a lot of office workers not only working in Tower City but in the surrounding ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 29th, 2012 @ 1:15pmYou've probably seen a lot of evidence, this year, of the Film Festival's commitment to going Green. We've been cutting down on our paper usage (which is part of why the Daily has so much exclusively-online content now) and trying to either recycle or compost all of the waste generated in the Hospitality Suite. You'll see recycling contain... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 27th, 2012 @ 8:45pmIf you used to watch Yo! MTV Raps! back in the days when MTV still played music videos, and you're not going to be in a film tomorrow between 6:00 and 7:30 PM, you need to make sure you head over to the Tower City Grand Staircase, by the Fountain, for the Hip Hop DJ Showcase. In conjunction with the 8:10 pm showing of ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 27th, 2012 @ 3:30pmWell, not literally. But there is a Lake Erie Monsters game at the Q tonight, starting at 7:00 pm. So if you're coming down for an evening film, brace yourselves. While a lot of the office workers will have cleared out of Tower City around then, there will be a lot of film-goers and Monsters fans flooding into downtown and taking those pa... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 27th, 2012 @ 2:45pmWell, it is at the Festival! Squire Sanders has done something that few sponsors have ever done for the Festival -- they've sponsored a whole day! They're the first of three companies to do that this year, and that's just phenomenal. You'll be hearing their name and seeing signs related to them a... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 27th, 2012 @ 1:15pmWell, you just blew away all of our Monday records! I shouldn't be so surprised, but I'm always amazed by just how enthusiastic and generous all of you are. You keep exceeding everybody's expectations! First, there are just so many of you! Last year, our Monday set a new record with 4,393 attendees, but this year, you completely blew that ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 27th, 2012 @ 11:00amWell, the week has gotten off to a bit of a congested start! As many of you who were here yesterday already know, the parking lots fill up really quickly during the week, thanks to all of the office workers pouring into Tower City Center and the surrounding buildings to do boring things like accounting and all kinds of other esoteric... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 26th, 2012 @ 11:30amI think some of you must have been having religious experiences at the Festival yesterday, because you donated -- and bought -- so much that we're completely astounded! You donated $6,200 to the Challenge Match (helping us pass the 1/3 mark on the way to our goal!) and bought another $4,661 of our awesome merchandise! See how amazing all of you ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 25th, 2012 @ 12:45pmHere's a little heads-up for you, as you prepare to come downtown for the films today. The Cavs are playing the Phoenix Suns today in the Q. The game starts at 3:00, so a lot of sports fans will be coming downtown and searching for parking spaces. If you're coming down around the same time, make sure you leave early and give yourself extra time ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 24th, 2012 @ 10:55amHave I told you lately just how awesome you all are? If not, I'm telling you again. You made yesterday amazing! First, you rolled with our technical difficulties with such grace and style that I'm in complete awe. You're just the sweetest people ever, and I'm proud to be from the same hometown as so many of you! Cleveland audiences are the be... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 23rd, 2012 @ 8:30pmEvery year, we get reminded all over again of how tricky parking at Tower City can be. The bigger we get -- and we keep getting bigger every year -- the more parking spaces we need. While there are no actual traffic or parking problems to report at the moment -- no lots that we've normally counted on that have suddenly closed, no water main break... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 23rd, 2012 @ 4:15pmI just left Tower City for a little bit to drop off some vouchers to one of my professors. The class in question, "Gender Performance in Film," recently watched Paris Is Burning, and one of the films in this year's Festival, ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 23rd, 2012 @ 1:30pmIt's amazing to realize that, in the last 36 years, so many thousands of you have poured through our doors and filled our seats that we're now about to celebrate the arrival of our millionth attendee! This is quite a milestone for the Festival, and so we absolutely have to make the most of it. Sometime this afternoon or this evening, we wi... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
April 2nd, 2011 @ 12:05pmWell, yesterday was pretty spectacular, parking-wise, in spite of all of our nervousness. The amazing people at Tower City managed to find room for everybody who needed a parking space yesterday, and became the heroes of our story for the day! We think they're going to do the same phenomenal job today. The next Indians game is at 1:05 pm today... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 26th, 2011 @ 5:04pmWith so much going on in the Festival, it can get easy to forget something you meant to do until it's too late. So here are a few things you should definitely make time to do: Have you signed up for the bone marrow registry? If you've seen ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 26th, 2011 @ 3:15pmLike it or not, finding a parking space is becoming one of the major Film Festival rites of passage. If you're driving in, this can be a major issue. Tower City Center's parking garage is often full of professional commuters during the weekdays, and a variety of events in the evenings and on the weekend -- aside from the Festival itself -- have p... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 20th, 2011 @ 8:30pmIt’s hip to be Foursquare. Again this year, the Cleveland International Film Festival is using Foursquare to elect a mayor of this year’s festival. The mayor, who will be announced on the final day of the festival — Sunday, April 3 — will receive a special CIFF polo shirt. To get started, all you need is a Foursquare account (sign up at www.... more
Posted by CIFF
March 25th, 2010 @ 4:00pmThere's an amazing team that, when everything is going well, you probably don't even know is here: the guys in the booth. And when something isn't going well, they're the ones making the herculean efforts to get things working again as fast as possible. They deal with missing discs, damaged reels, films cells catching fire, and anything else that... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 21st, 2010 @ 9:32amWell, Bill is swamped at the moment, keeping seats open for as many people as possible in all of our films. But he still has buzz to share, and so our own Patrick Shepherd has stepped into the buzz seat for the moment to tell you all about it. We hope to have Bill back soon... once things calm down a little around here! ... more
Posted by Lara Klaber
March 20th, 2010 @ 9:12pmSince there are a few Stand-By related issues that have come up so far this weekend, I wanted to discuss a few of them here. We really want to make sure that the Festival is, and stays, as enjoyable for everyone as possible. First, we really are sorry that nobody in D... more
Posted by Lara Klaber