Behind the Scenes
The Reel Deal Behind the Scenes of the True/False Festival
Two plainly furnished offices above Teller’s restaurant on Broadway serve as a war room of sorts for True/False Film Festival organizers, a place where bullet points are sprayed over walls covered with whiteboards, easels and a multitude of multicolored sticky notes.
Co-directors David Wilson and Paul Sturtz are directing a tiny temporary staff and an army of volunteers, solving perplexing logistical problems and plotting the fifth-annual documentary film festival, an event that begins Feb. 28 and concludes March 2.
The festival, Wilson said, was an outgrowth of Ragtag Cinemacafé, which he and Sturtz co-founded, and was inspired by an opportunity to champion non-fiction filmmaking.
“I started making my own films and going to festivals to see what else was out there,” Wilson said. “A lot of the films were hit or miss, but for the most part the documentaries were very intriguing.
“Paul and I started True/False because we had this moment where Bowling for Columbine, Spellbound and all these other documentaries came out and actually started attracting lots of people to the theater. We thought, ‘Here is a creative moment when people are making funny, thrilling and interesting documentary films,’ and we wanted to be a part of it.”
Wilson and Sturtz ran the first two years of festival planning from their homes, where they communicated via phone and e-mail at all hours of the day. During the last two years they shared office space with Uprise Bakery, and then this year they rented office space above Tellers on Broadway, which they plan to occupy for years to come.
“At this point the planning process for the festival takes about nine dedicated months out of the year, with three months of minimal work,” said Wilson. “Paul and I are year-round co-directors and basically split a full-time position. We then hire people to fill the other positions for about three to six months.”
Wilson and Sturtz start the festival planning process by putting out an international call for submissions and looking at other festivals. This year they went to half a dozen festivals, during which they viewed about 200 films.
Between the festivals and submissions sent in by filmmakers from around the world, while planning the festival they view about 450 films, which they then narrow down to 35 features and 30 to 40 shorts. Most of the films come from Sundance, Toronto and other festivals, and others make their debut with T/F.
“The hardest part of putting the festival together is juggling all the various aspects,” Wilson said. “Such as today, I had conversations about running biodiesel busses, occupancy permits, premiere status… There’s a pretty broad range of topics we have to have knowledge of and involvement in.”
Altogether the True/False staff is more than 25 people strong, with job descriptions ranging from “Webmaster” to “Boozemaster.” This doesn’t include the 250-plus volunteers who put in an estimated 6,000 hours of time over the course of the year, with an additional 3,000 hours during the festival weekend.
True/False Development Director Paula Elias, owner of the marketing firm Axiom, said her agency’s primary job is obtaining sponsors to finance the festival. “Although our sponsors grow every year, David and Paul come up with more miraculous ideas to spend money on,” she said. “It’s a really ambitious project, and we’re doing it without massive financial backing. Even though we receive a lot of support, we don’t have a sugar daddy.”
Monetary support for the festival comes from a combination of corporate, government and educational sponsors as well as ticket sales. In 2004, the festival’s opening year, 4,400 tickets were sold. Last year the attendance boomed to 14,500.
The main venues for the festival are the Blue Note, the Forrest Theater at the Tiger Hotel Ballroom, and Ragtag Cinemacafé, which next month will move from 9th Street to the renovated former Coca-Cola building at 10 Hitt St. Because the Missouri Theatre is closed for renovations, Stephens College will host films this year at the Macklanburg Playhouse, Windsor Auditorium and Charters Auditorium.
The Cherry Street Artisan will serve as the festival box office and headquarters. Passes and tickets can be purchased there, starting Feb. 27, or online now at www.truefalse.org.
Twelve hours after online sales had opened up this year, 266 passes already had been sold.
In addition to films, the weekend includes parties, games, panels, workshops, and field trips. Two projects—the SWAMI program, which matches industry professionals with first-time directors who are then mentored, and The True Life Fund, a project that offers assistance to the real-life subjects of a new film—were launched during the 2007 festival, and will continue into this year.
“During this one weekend you get to hear stories that you never, ever would have heard without True/False,” said Elias. “Not only is it a heck-load of fun, I believe that it truly makes a difference in the world.”