EASTERN TOWNSHIPS FILM FESTIVAL  

 

August 16th to 19th, 2012

SPONSORSHIP INFORMATION

 

Contact:

Suzanne Déry Head of Sponsorship

P.O. Box 3674 Lac-Brome, Québec

J0E 1V0

(450) 242-5816 easterntownshipsfilmfestival@gmail.com

FESTIVAL DU FILM DES CANTONS-DE-L’EST

EASTERN TOWNSHIPS FILM FESTIVAL

Dear Potential Sponsor, It’s with great pleasure we announce the Second Edition of the Eastern Townships Film Festival will be held from August 16th to 19th, 2012. Our goal remains the same: to provide a bilingual, unique and memorable cinematic experience for our audiences inspired by and celebrating the conviviality and natural beauty of the Townships. We are proud of having earned a solid reputation as a well-run, deficit free event in our first year of operation. All of this would not have been possible without the good will and generosity of our sponsors. The first edition of the Eastern Townships Film Festival, held this past year in the Town of Brome Lake, screened 34 films of all genres over its scheduled three-day run. The municipality and local private enterprises joined forces with our amazing core of volunteers to assist us in making the event the resounding success that it was. All our efforts ensured a wide coverage in the local and Montreal media, both anglophone and francophone. As Barbara Shrier, producer of the closing film, The Year Dolly Parton was My Mom enthused, «I’ve been to a lot of festivals all over the world and I’ve never seen one of this caliber organized in less than three months.» We recently received big votes of confidence in this next edition of the festival through first time support from Pacte Rural as well as an additional grant from the CLD Brome-Missisquoi. Our hope is that with your additional help we will make the 2012 Eastern Townships Film Festival an even better event and one that will build towards a long and valued legacy for our area. This information package was conceived to tell you what your sponsorship would mean to the Festival as well as the different levels of sponsorship available. Please consider how you might partner with us in this signature Townships event. If there are any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. Sincerely, Suzanne Déry Head of Sponsorship

PROJECT OVERVIEW The Eastern Townships Film Festival is a fitting homage to the magnificence of its natural setting which has lured and inspired so many artists and filmmakers over the years. By creating a unique and original cinematic event, the goal of the festival team is to showcase the area’s cultural potential and make it an annual destination of choice for film lovers. The dates planned for this second edition of the festival are from August 16th to 19th. Following an opening screening on the night of August 16th a program of afternoon and evening projections will be held over the course of the next three days. The main location for the event will be the Town of Brome Lake. In its inaugural year the Festival was an outstanding and much talked-about success – a very encouraging and motivating factor to offer once again an original and carefully planned program of screenings and events. New features will be added with the goal of increasing visitors to our area as well as the creation of a special prize for local film artists and producers, master classes for aspiring filmmakers and a special events day for children and adolescents.

SPONSORSHIP LEVELS

Friends - unlimited places available - $250 and over

personal mention or company logo in shared section of "Friends of the Festival" on all festival programs and websites;

a complimentary free pass to all screenings.

Bronze Sponsor - unlimited places available - $500 and over name and/or company logo in shared section of "Bronze Sponsors" on all festival

publicity, programs, websites and media;

2 VIP invitations to all festival events including the opening and closing ceremonies

Silver Sponsor - maximum six places available - $1,000 and over name and/or company logo in shared section of "Silver Sponsors" on all festival publicity,

programs, websites and media;

if available, shared projection of company logo with other "Silver Sponsors;"

4 VIP invitations to all events including the opening and closing ceremonies

Gold Sponsor - limited to four places maximum - $5,000 and over premium brand placement on all festival publicity, programs, websites and media; possibility of offering your company’s promotional items and publicity at all screening

venues; if available, dedicated solo projection of company logo and/or promotional short before all

screenings;

6 VIP invitations to all festival events including the opening and closing ceremony.  Platinum Sponsor – limited to one place - $10,000 and over

Special presentation ceremony of your donation cheque at our annual fundraising event; Sponsorship and presentation at the closing ceremony of the first Eastern Townships

Film Festival People’s Choice Award;

Separate premium brand placement on all festival publicity, programs, websites and media;

possibility of offering your company’s promotional items and publicity at all screening

venues; if available, dedicated solo projection of company logo and/or promotional short before all

screenings;

8 VIP invitations to all festival events including the opening and closing ceremony. Please note that as a Platinum, Gold or Silver sponsor you will receive a personal communiqué from us revealing our full program of approximately 34 films that will be announced no later than mid-July.

YOUR MUCH APPRECIATED SPONSORSHIP WILL BE USED TO…

Produce and display promotional banners in the village and the Festival’s office

window; Defray costs for bringing invited filmmakers & special guests; Assist in paying for the rental of quality projection equipment; Hire experienced technicians for the projections; Print and distribute festival posters; Print and distribute festival programs; Purchase publicity in local & Montreal print media; Pay for rentals such as vehicles and other site amenities.

     

OUR VISION AND MISSION The Eastern Townships Film Festival is dedicated to providing a bilingual, unique and memorable cinematic experience for its audiences inspired by and celebrating the conviviality and natural beauty of the Townships. Through innovative events featuring intimate and unusual screening venues and special guest participation, the festival offers its attendees an immersive experience in all genres of film and video. The objective is to enrich not only the attendees of the festival but also the Eastern Townships community by creating a significant addition to the cultural fabric of the area. The festival’s central goal is to strengthen and promote the existing close ties the area has with the film industry both as a popular filming location and as home to many of the film industry’s artists and technicians. Drawing upon the unique qualities of the region’s culture, history and location the Festival aims to create a lasting bond between the place, the audience and a celebration of the cinematic arts.

OUR OBJECTIVES

to offer a multi-generational and bilingual entertainment event that is not available anywhere else in our area;

to create a film festival that is prestigious both to the professional milieu as well

as to the general public;

to create an annual high profile event that is both accessible to a wide public and affordable to attend;

to create a unique and innovative film viewing experience;

to showcase works made by local talent in the film industry and celebrate their

successes and accomplishments;

to enrich and strengthen the local filmmaking milieu by offering master classes and an annual networking opportunity;

to hold at least one free outdoor projection;

to reach a public that is both regional and from the greater Montreal area;

to offer the local community the opportunity to participate in the event by

volunteering or participating in the young filmmakers’ competition.

IT’S A RELATIONSHIP We are hoping that you will join us in our long-term journey towards building this unique and exciting annual film and media event here in the Eastern Townships so that in years from now we will be standing together congratulating ourselves and the community on a wonderful collective achievement. What will the Eastern Townships Film Festival look like by then, you might ask? For the answer to that question we suggest taking a look at three other festivals that we use as our inspiration:

• Branchage Festival – now in its fourth year and held on the small Jersey Island off the coast of France, which features site-specific projections and events that offer the audience an unexpected and original viewing experience. http://www.branchagefestival.com/general-information/about/

• Telluride Film Festival – a small prestigious festival now in its 38th year held in the small town of Telluride, Colorado, population 8,000 which is known for bringing the best of rural life together with the big names from the film world who appear there regularly just because they love the experience. http://www.telluridefilmfestival.org/

• International Film Festival Rotterdam – now in its 41st year this festival in the Netherlands has a well established reputation for its focus on innovative filmmaking from newcomers and established auteurs and cutting edge media arts. http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/

In other words, the Eastern Townships Film Festival is the marriage between two worlds, bringing together the wonderful attributes of our special rural setting and lifestyle with the best of big city cinematic experiences. Through the Festival we are also building a relationship between the past, the present and the future. With our carefully curated programming we want to bring back precious rarely seen films of the past – for example last year we screened The Railrodder, directed by local resident Gerald Potterton which he shot in 1967 with Buster Keaton. We will also incorporate a select few of the current outstanding feature films and documentaries in our programming as well as introduce our audiences to their first taste of new experimental media projects. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the Eastern Townships Film Festival is about building a relationship between the Festival and sponsors like you. With your assistance we can build this celebration of the visual medium into a world-class event. In return we give you our commitment to being fiscally responsible and pragmatic in our approach to the Festival’s growth while always strengthening our ties to the Townships community and to film lovers everywhere.  

KEY TEAM MEMBERS PEPITA FERRARI General Director This is Pepita’s second year working with the Eastern Townships Film Festival. As assistant to the Executive Director in the festival’s inaugural year, Pepita was involved in every aspect of the preparations and running of the event in addition to being in charge of programming and scheduling. With a multi-award winning career of thirty years as a director and producer to her credit, Pepita comes to the Festival with a vast knowledge and understanding of the film industry. A much valued consultant for emerging filmmakers, she has given workshops and master classes on documentary in Canada, the US and South Africa. In addition she has contributed her services as a jurist and programmer to various festivals over the past eleven years. She is presently a member and vice-chair of the Board of Directors at the national level of the Documentary Organization of Canada as well as on the Board of the Cinema Politica Network. She is also a past member of the Board of Directors of Women in Film, Television and Multimedia (Quebec). Pepita has been a full time resident of the Fulford area in the Eastern Townships for the past fifteen years. SUZANNE DÉRY Head of Sponsorship Last year Suzanne took on the challenge of jumping on board with the Eastern Townships Film Festival, reconnecting with a world where she once worked in film production. Suzanne quickly adapted her job description, responsibilities and creativity as needed in the fast paced movement of creating the first edition of the Festival within an extremely short period of time. Developing sponsorship soon became her “baby”; having lived and worked in the area for many years Suzanne knows the families and businesses in the community. Recently retired from the Eastern Townships School Board where she worked counselling Massey-Vanier High School students, Suzanne spent the last part of her career as a Pedagogical Consultant responsible for implementing new Ministry directives, and organizing and running the Quebec Entrepreneurship Contest within all of the 30+ Schools in the ETSB. She has been a student at Bishops University, taking classes as time and life allow, hoping to complete a Bachelor in Fine Arts in the next year or two. Her engagement in various local activities allows her to keep a pulse on the community. A member of the Yamaska Valley Optimists Club for 3+yrs, she also recently joined the organizing committee of Groupe Vitalité, a newly formed community group to benefit local families in need. CLAUDE CHAMBERLAN Film Programming Consultant In 1967 Claude Chamberlan co-founded with Dimitri Eipides Cinéma Parallèle, still the longest running theatre devoted to the works of independent filmmakers. Together they went on to establish the renowned Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) in 1971, which

just received the Grand Prix from the Conseil des Arts de Montréal for its remarkable contribution to the evolution of the cinematic arts. First as the executive director and then as programming director, his dedication has been instrumental in establishing the FNC as a world-class festival offering cutting edge programming and events to its audiences. Amongst his many innovative programming feats are his win of the Guiness Book of World Records for the longest movie screening of all time and being the first to offer an audience outdoor screenings. Chamberlan’s many years of experience as well as his love for independent, personal filmmaking makes him a most valued advisor to the Festival’s creative team. A proud resident of Fisher’s Point on Brome Lake for the past few years, Chamberlan has taken a great personal interest in ensuring that the Eastern Townships Film Festival becomes a prestigious annual event.

OTHER KEY TEAM MEMBERS

RICHARD LECLERC – Organizer, shortandsweETFF (short film competition for students) ALBERT NERENBERG – Special Projects COLETTE FERLAND – Volunteer coordination BOHDANA ZWONOK – Consultant and past Executive Director

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lorraine Richard – President and producer, Cité Amérique Barbara Shrier – President and producer, Palomar Films Pierre LaFrenière – Human Resources, Services Québec Susan Burkman – Burkman Capital Owen Falquero – Lawyer, Merchant Law Group Josette Gauthier – indepdenent producer Pepita Ferrari – Artistic Director, Eastern Townships Film Festival