John Hopewell from Variety wrote the following title "San Sebastian faces budget crisis: Festival chief and staff threaten to resign"
Read the full article on Variety.com (you probably would have to pay to access the article)
"...The head of the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Spanish-speaking world’s biggest movie confab, is threatening to resign if his budget is slashed.
If festival director Mikel Olaciregui ankles, he’ll be followed out the door by his entire management team.
The threat, made via a letter on the festival website, reps an attempt by Olaciregui to dissuade four public-sector partners from removing coin..."
The festival's officials had a different story and made the following statement on their website.
"In view of the erroneous, inaccurate information printed and broadcast by certain media in recent days, the San Sebastian Festival Management Team wishes to make the following clarifications:
ONE – The economic results of the last two editions have experienced deficits of €511,878.31 in 2007 and €450,000 (provisional figure) in 2008. These results, which have coincided with two of the most highly valued editions of recent years by the media, public, sponsors and the Partner Institutions themselves, and which imply a deviation of less than 5% from the total budgets, have been offset against the Festival’s own voluntary reserves, with no modifications to its capital, no untoward financial situation in the Festival accounts, and without any additional or extraordinary amounts having to be paid out by the four Partner Institutions. While the Festival Management Team considers these deficits to be structural and caused by the growth in infrastructures experienced by the event in recent years, as it has informed the Partner Institutions, in view of these negative results, the Management Team as a whole has tendered its resignation to the Board of Directors, following which the Institutions sitting on the Board have decided that the Management Team shall remain in place.
TWO – The Festival has succeeded in self-financing 48% of its total budget and important, prestigious names (TVE, Schweppes-Spirit, L’Oreal Paris, Renault, Altadis Foundation, Kutxa, Loewe, Intel, Euskaltel, Cacique Rum, DHL, etc.) have used the Festival platform for their communication and marketing policies. Specifically, income from sponsorship rose by 23% at the last edition.
THREE – A study is being made of whether or not to adopt a series of measures aimed at adapting the Festival budget to the overall situation of crisis and to the budgetary differences of the last two editions. In coming weeks, the Partner Institutions will take a decision regarding their contribution to the Festival budgets, and the Festival Management Team has stipulated that it will remain in place provided that the resulting circumstances make it possible to hold a Festival in the conditions which, from a position of professional responsibility, it deems to be necessary."
The Festival Management Team
Mikel Olaciregui
José Ángel Herrero-Velarde
Ricardo Aldarondo
Vicente Mozo
José Luis Rebordinos
Ana Esperanza Redondo
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