37th cleveland international film festival :: April 3 - april 14, 2013
Film Festival Blog
March 26th, 2011 @ 12:20pm

In case you got worried...

Last night, at least one of our regular patrons stopped by the Merchandising counter and asked our staff: "What's wrong with the Festival? Where is everybody?" It was hard for them to believe that we were doing so well when the walkway and the lobby was so quiet and orderly! So, just in case you were worried, I thought I'd set your mind at rest. Yesterday, according to Bill Guentzler, was our biggest First Friday in history, topping even last year's amazing numbers! More than six thousand of you poured into our theaters! The reason it looked so quiet and orderly was simply that we switched away from film rounds to a staggered schedule.

And you were so generous! Jen, from the Challenge Match, says that you donated more than $4,000 yesterday, and Patti from our Merchandising counter says you bought almost $4,000 in CIFF merchandise! (I had to stop by there, myself, yesterday. Those water bottles are so cool!) So we're off to a spectacular start, and there's nothing to fear. All of that extra space in the lobby just means you can move around more easily and more safely, and actually get to those tables yourself!

We're going to give the new staggering system the "acid test" tonight, because several of the films going off during the dinner hour are on Stand-By. When I last checked in, five of the films were already on the Stand-By list and three more are expected to go on it later today. That will give us a chance to really test out this new system! Those of you who are familiar with our Stand-By lines will hopefully see a big difference.

By the way, for those of you who were looking for the recycling bins, we're actually making use of the recycling station out in the food court at this point, to free up space in the lobby. We do also recycle in the Hospitality Suite -- our wonderful Robert Stockham keeps us in the green at all times!

Posted by Lara Klaber

« previous entry   |   next entry »