Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSponsorship - Palm Springs International Film FestivalCITY OF PALM DESERT COMMUNITY SERVICES STAFF REPORT REQUEST: Consideration of a $50,000 request for sponsorship of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. DATE: June 23, 2005 CONTENT: April 2005 Marketing Minutes Recommendation: By Minute Motion, concur with the Marketing Committee's recommendation to deny the $50,000 sponsorship request from the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Executive Summary: The City of Palm Desert contributed $50,000 as a sponsor of the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival. The terms of the agreement were finally met in June, after much effort on the part of the City. Mr. Earl Greenburg and Ms. Lea Goodsell addressed the Marketing Committee in April, requesting a $50,000 sponsorship of the 2006 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Staffs recommendation included denying the request based on the following concerns: 1) After numerous requests over a several week period to the Palm Springs Film Festival, the City did not receive a formal, written proposal until after our deadline for agenda mailing had passed. 2) Last year's proposal outlined several benefits to the City for its sponsorship dollars, the most significant of which was the showing of two of the Festival's films immediately following the close of the Festival. Again, after numerous requests to the Film Festival, the showings were finally scheduled for May and June. The City of Indian Wells' contribution was identical to that of the City of Palm Desert, and its showings took place immediately following the Film Festival's closure. In short, Staff had concerns with the lack of follow-through on the part of the Film Festival and questioned the true value to the City of Palm Desert. During his presentation, Mr. Greenberg mentioned that 64 percent of the Film Festival attendees were from outside the Coachella Valley and spend an average of three to five nights. Ms. Emily Bird from the Desert Springs Marriott noted that the Marriott does not see any significant increase in revenue during the Film Festival, but can directly attribute a significant amount of room sales to other events such as the Pacific Life Open and Coachella Music Festival. None of the other members of the Committee, representing restaurants and retail, could attribute any increase in business to the Festival. Mr. Greenberg noted that people come to see the films and that in order to have a festival, the screenings must be kept within walking distance of each other. He said that festival goers watch several movies a day, sometimes even up to five films. From staffs prospective, this does not allow much time for visitors to eat and shop in Palm Desert. While the City's logo did appear on various advertisements and marketing materials, staff does not feel that there is any return on the investment, and Palm Desert already has a marketing presence in the Palm Springs area with bus shelters and airport pillars. After discussion, the Marketing Committee agreed that the City does not receive enough value to warrant a $50,000 sponsorship. Therefore, the Marketing Committee recommended that the request for sponsorship be denied. Submitted By: ( /N. Kristy Kneiding Marketing Manager Approval: -Z Carlos L. Ort City Manage Sheila R. Gilligari Assistant City Manager gz��� Paul Gibson Director of Finance PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE V. NEW BUSINESS MAY 17, 2005 A. PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP EARL GREENBURG, Chairman of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, addressed the Committee. He thanked the City of Palm Desert for its support of last year's Film Festival. He mentioned that 6 of the 36 Palm Springs International Film Festival Board members live or work in Palm Desert. He reported that the Film Festival measured over one billion electronic media impressions worldwide, which was an all-time record for any event in the Coachella Valley. He announced that Entertainment Tonight, CNN, and Extra were all on board for the 2006 Film Festival. The Committee viewed a 4-minute video on the Palm Springs International Film Festival, which Mr. Greenburg said would be shown all over the world. Mr. Greenburg believed that all of the obligations listed in last year's agreement had been fulfilled, except for the screenings. He apologized for any misunderstandings that may have occurred with regard to those screenings. He said that Mr. Ortega's office requested that the screenings be postponed to a later date, and if the City would prefer to have the screenings during the Film Festival, he could certainly make that arrangement. He added that the City of Palm Desert's logo was included on all marketing and advertising materials used by the Festival and said that they were looking for as many opportunities as possible to increase the City's involvement. He said he did not take Palm Desert's participation lightly, and he would answer questions and entertain any discussion that would help convince the City that supporting the Palm Springs International Film Festival was the right thing to do. Upon question by Ms. Bird, Mr. Greenburg responded that the Film Festival would consider hosting events at the Marriott, and he would be perfectly amenable to meeting with any hotel group to discuss package deals. Upon question by Councilmember Spiegel, Mr. Greenburg replied that for the first time in its history, the Film Festival was actually in the black. He said he had a five-year plan for the Film Festival, which included it becoming self-sufficient so he would not have to ask for financial assistance. Upon question by Mr. Shimer, Mr. Greenburg responded that 64% of the Film Festival attendees were from outside the Coachella Valley. He said those individuals stay an average of three to five nights. 2 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 17, 2005 Ms. Gomez noted that tickets for the first movie screening were gone in two days. She said the local screenings were very popular. Mr. Greenburg said he did not want that to become a negative situation, and he could arrange more screenings if necessary. Councilmember Spiegel said he had spoken with Ted Giatis from the McCallum Theatre, who indicated that he would have to rent equipment in order to show a film at the McCallum, which would be very costly. Mr. Greenburg said the educational programs would not include the screening of movies at the McCallum. The programs would bring in filmmakers to work with educators and young people. He said the youngest filmmaker last year was ten years old, and his film was in the Festival. He added the Film Festival board screened thousands of short films and showed hundreds. Upon further question by Councilmember Spiegel, Mr. Greenburg responded that he was interfacing with UCR all the time. He said he spoke at the school's dedication and would definitely involve them in some way. Ms. Bird said that the Marriott had not received a significant increase in revenue during the Film Festival, and considering the amount of contribution being requested, she believed it would be more prudent to look at events that would increase the volume of people visiting and staying in Palm Desert. She could not support sponsorship of the Palm Springs International Film Festival at this time. Ms. Bowen said it would be difficult to track whether the Film Festival made an impact on Westfield because it had always fared well in January. Mr. Shimer said there was not a significant financial increase at Tommy Bahama's during the Film Festival. Ms. Gilligan stated that the Film Festival had not been very cooperative with staff with regard to preparing its proposal. She said staff was concerned about whether the City's marketing funds of $50,000 were well spent. Ms. Kneiding clarified the City's postponement of the second screening. She did not believe that the City's logo on the Film Festival's marketing and advertising materials was instrumental in bringing visitors back to Palm Desert. She noted that the City was already well -represented in the Palm Springs area; i.e., bus shelters, Palm Springs Airport, etc. She added that from staffs point of view, $50,000 was a significant amount of money, and she was not convinced that the City would receive a significant return on its investment. 3 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 17, 2005 Mr. Shimer moved to, by Minute Motion, approve staffs recommendation to deny sponsorship of the Palm Springs Film Festival for FY 2005/06. Motion was seconded by Ms. Bird and carried unanimously. B. RECYCLE BINNEY Ms. Kneiding gave a brief presentation and distributed flyers about Recycle Binney. She said the Recycle Binney mascot would travel to Palm Desert schools to teach children about recycling. She added that the mascot was designed to be mature enough for the adults but fun for kids as well. The Marketing Committee viewed the 30 second animated television commercial and the Recycle Binney DVD video game. Ms. Gilligan explained that the State mandated that cities put $1 per ton of recycle materials into a fund that could only be used for recycling promotions, programs, and education. The City currently had about $5 million in that fund. She said Ms. Kneiding and Ms. Close had been working with Robert Kohn, Special Projects Manager, on the Recycle Binney promotion for the past several months. She added that the commercial would air on every television set in the Valley. No action taken. C. CONSIDERATION OF A COOPERATIVE MARKETING OPPORTUNITY WITH MARRIOTT DESERT SPRINGS RESORT (Added item by unanimous vote.) Ms. Gilligan reported that she and the City's Executive Management Team met with Doug Watson, General Manager of the Marriott Desert Springs Resort. She gave an overview of their discussion regarding Marriott's marketing plan and its importance to the City. She noted that the Marriott brought in the majority of the City's Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), which was an important factor in the City's decision to work with the Marriott on its marketing plan. Ms. Bird gave a presentation to the Committee regarding the Marriott's marketing campaign print ad. She said the summer months for the Marriott were always a challenge, and the desire to keep the momentum going was foremost in the mind of Mr. Watson. To that end, the Marriott made the decision to take its marketing campaign to another level. Ms. Bird distributed copies of the direct mailers and a mock up of the print ad that would be used in the media plan. She said the campaign would begin with 1/2-page ads in the Orange County Register and 2x7 print ads in the 4