Wil Andruschak

CIFF executive director Jacqueline Dupuis says the festival may have to go to court to get its ticket money. ‘If we do nothing, we get nothing, as has been proven thus far.’

The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is facing a cash crunch on the eve of its 10th anniversary after a local ticketing company didn’t pay $120,000 it collected in ticket revenue from last September’s festival.

As well, a major sponsorship has fallen through, leaving the non-profit festival in financial distress at a time it was hoping to pay off old debt and break even. “It was a rough year,” says CIFF executive director Jacqueline Dupuis.

The co-founder of the Calgary-based company that handled CIFF’s ticketing last year says RepeatSeat Ltd. used most of CIFF’s ticket revenue to pay a subsidiary company’s debt. “[The lender was] making threats to basically put us out of business,” says RepeatSeat president Bob Christianson. “As a result of that, we used funds to keep ourselves alive in hope that all people would be kept alive.”

RepeatSeat’s other clients include Cineplex Entertainment, Sunshine Village Ski Resort and Canada Olympic Park. The international ticketing company boasted in a January news release that its 2008 movie ticket sales had increased by 223 per cent over the previous year, but by April, RepeatSeat’s recently acquired arcade subsidiary was up for receivership.

The company lost $9 million last year, inflating its accumulated deficit to more than $37 million by the end of 2008. “A lot of our revenue streams have come to a screeching halt because a lot of people aren’t spending their money on that entertainment dollar,” Christianson says.

The public company’s stock, traded on the TSX Venture Exchange, has a 52-week high of 20 cents. It’s now trading at one cent.

Christianson says he’s “extremely sorry” that RepeatSeat hasn’t repaid CIFF. He says the company plans to pay the festival back, but he doesn’t know when. “As with most things that are happening in today’s economic environment, things seem to take a lot longer than we hope they would.”

CIFF, however, has been promised payment before. “I have spoken with three of their directors and we’ve received assurances — and to date none of them have come to fruition,” says CIFF board president Domenic Venturo, adding that the situation is “unfortunate.” “We’re a not-for-profit and we derive a lot of our revenue from ticket sales.” The September 10-day festival features about 150 Canadian and international films.

The missing money is an enormous blow to an organization that’s striving to institutionalize itself in the city. “We’re a struggling, fledgling arts and cultural organization,” says Dupuis.

The festival is running out of options with RepeatSeat, she says, and is considering taking the company to court for the money. “If we do nothing, we get nothing, as has been proven thus far.”

CIFF also relies heavily on sponsorships, and a “delayed” sponsorship payment has added to the festival’s financial woes. Arcus Developments, builder of the stalled Astoria condo site downtown on 10th Ave. S.W., signed on as a “major sponsor” last year, but CIFF has yet to see the cash. “We’re still trying to collect it, but at some point our auditors will say that it’s gone too far too long and will force us to write it off as bad debt,” says Dupuis. (She wouldn’t disclose the dollar value of the sponsorship and phone calls to Astoria weren’t returned.)

While CIFF tries to recover its money, it’s also working to placate its creditors. Last month the festival sent a letter to creditors updating them on the “serious cash-flow issues” it is facing.

“Through 2007 and 2008, CIFF worked diligently to recover from debts incurred by previous festival management,” says the letter. “While we had made significant headway, progress has been further hindered by the current situation.” The letter asks creditors for patience.

The festival has chopped its debt by more than half, from $260,000 in 2006 to about $115,000. In light of that progress, Dupuis says the recent setbacks are disappointing. “This situation with RepeatSeat and Arcus shouldn’t have happened. We would have been on track to achieve our financial objectives. We’d be very close to being financially sustainable.”

The festival is working to ensure it avoids similar future setbacks. “It made it just that much more important to figure out, ‘Well, how do we protect ourselves from these situations?'” says Dupuis.

Despite the cash crunch, festival organizers are optimistic about CIFF’s future. The festival is launching a new membership program this year, as well as Mavericks, a new film competition for emerging filmmakers that Dupuis says will guide artistic direction and attract more support. “I really see that as the Holy Grail to ensure that the festival is on solid financial footing.”

Even though CIFF signed a five-year deal with RepeatSeat last year, it will handle its own ticketing this year using an internal system. The festival runs from September 25 to October 4.

“The future for the festival is very, very bright,” says Dupuis. “It’s just been a little clouded over these last six months.”