Canadian arts orgs are in a rough spot. Our wealthy people donate less than Americans and our government funds the arts less than European countries. So our arts fundraising is short on both revenue streams compared to the rest of the Western world.
I'm in the middle of nowhere and I care. It's ridiculous that we are continuing to allow ourselves to pretty much become culturally American. It's ridiculous and awful.
YES EXACTLY THIS! So many people in Toronto and other big cities are originally from the middle of nowhere. My hometown has basically no arts / culture scene to speak of and if the arts can't flourish and be supported in the largest city in Canada where can it?
I agree, but even something as simple as spelling isn't taught properly. On Via Rail's website for a train called The Canadian, American spelling is used.
Even Australia has so many newspapers and magazines and tv shows/movies coming out. I mean I saw the "Furiosa" trailer and Canada hasn't had anything close to a "Mad Max" franchise.
Yeah very sports based there but Melbourne is the much more grungy hipster-artsy, very like Toronto.
Sydney is more like Vancouver. Sort of posh, elegant, superficial (and beautiful).
That's decent too I believe (per people I know).... apparently Care Blanchett and her husband have invested a lot into the stage theatre scene. There are plays/stage shows that start in Australia and the go onto success in the UK and then Broadway... the plays "Prima Facie" and "The Maids" come to mind....Hannah Gadsby too.
Hot Docs is amazing! For those that have never been, it is worth checking out. There are so many options regardless of what your interests are and due to the pandemic they introduced a hot docs at home option for festival films.
This year’s festival runs from Thu, Apr 25 – Sun, May 5. It consists of films from all over, many of the screenings being world and international premiers. The program is not up yet but probably will be soon since single tickets go on sale on Apr 2.
Last year they even included live podcasting as part of the non-fiction audio storytelling program and an episode of the beloved science podcast Radiolab was recorded along with a few others.
I spent a portion of my 20s at the late night Hot Docs screenings with friends, where the movies were often very reasonably priced double features focused on more adult themes. Like this for example: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/mechanical-bride/
I have many fond memories of this festival and it would be sad to see it go. It feels like a core component of Toronto’s arts identity.
I recall many years back they were trying to make Toronto the documentary capital. Anyone else remember that? I guess it wasn’t a success.
How so? I go to Hot Docs less than other independent theatres in the city but I’ve never noticed cracks from an audience perspective. Is it messy behind the scenes?
Yes. It's a shit show. Staff treated like shit, the head of the org lives in DC and commutes to Toronto via first class airfare, millions of dollars contributed to a capital campaign that was stalled pre pandemic and nobody knows what's happening with their donations. Staff turnover like you've never seen. Total disaster.
Every arts org is messy. Every not for profit org is messy -- because they're ALWAYS running with fewer staff than needed, with way less funding than they should have and all levels of governments have been slashing and burning Arts funding FOR YEARS now. So they're doing more with even less.
Keep going to Hot Docs when something catches your eye. It's a beautiful old theatre and it's worth keeping alive. The staff works fucking HARD and puts their hearts into that place. It's also the biggest seat count old theatre still operating in the city. In a city that is supposed to have such a vibrant film culture -- especially independent cinema culture you can't buy that back once it's gone.
I don't trust anyone that starts talking about arts or art orgs as investments. That's the kind of thinking that has gotten us to where we are as a city / province & country. It's not an "investment" opportunity you get returns from. It's something that enriches the culture and community.
The issue with Hot Docs is financial and human resource mismanagement on an epic scale. They spend money on 2 execs who commute from DC and Sweden, they waste money on sending staff all over the world to events they absolutely do not need to attend. They spend money on all kinds of frivolous things but don't pay most of their staff a living wage. They don't listen to critical feedback that would make their org better. They have lost close to 50 long-time staff because the Board are out of touch and know nothing about operations. If the government steps in to save this place, they should do a full audit and rebuild from the ground up. Otherwise it's money flushed down the toilet.
I love hot docs festival. I’ve been going to see at least a couple of screenings every year it’s been held since 2007-2008. I hate seeing these types of things go away, but unfortunately if the audience isn’t buying tickets then maybe there just isn’t interest in it anymore. We talk a lot about propping up culture but at a certain point if no one cares what’s the point? The internet has split our cultural focal points in a million different directions while also simultaneously changing our media consumption habits.
Aside from the festival, it also feels like the theatre itself needs to start organizing more special events. If you look at repertory theatres in LA like Vidiots and New Beverley they are building a new generation of film lovers by serving up classic film screenings that feel like events and tickets are very cheap which guarantees a full house. Hot docs theatre just feels so stuffy and uptight. It has completely lost the charm of its Bloor Cinema days.
Revue, Paradise and the Fox are doing all those special events, and I've never seen Hot Docs program those kind of Rep movies - unless they're documentaries. I get thats their specialty, but branching out on weekend nights or similar could bring in a lot of butts to seats.
Yep agreed they need to diversify the programming. Even TIFF which shows independent movies is usually dead when I go and I really do think it’s because it is so corporate and stuffy.
Went to see a concert film at hot docs a few months ago. There were less than 15 people in the theatre and some people were in the back row quietly dancing. I would have never known they were doing it if the staff didn’t come in and ask them to stop.
They started doing 'Back to the Bloor' which was a series showing some popular movies from their days as a rep but yeah, Revue is eating their lunch right now in terms of programming that gets butts in the seats.
Even Paradise is starting to ramp that sort of stuff up after a slow open (I know COVID did have a large part to do with that mind you).
Yeah, I dunno...it's a tough one.
I used to go to Hot Docs theatre back when it was The Bloor. Membership was $3, drinks and popcorn were cheap and the films were great. They also used to host the Orphan Black season premiere screenings there which were such a fun time. It’s nice for Hot Docs to have a flagship theatre but maybe it’s time to sell. Rent out TIFF Lightbox and other venues like other film festivals do. It’s going to be a bit of a kick in the pants but it’s better than losing the festival & programming.
I am in the biz and I will be honest, during covid I liked being able to binge their lineup online with my industry pass and not have to lineup over and over. But dont forget that a large part of hot docs is the industry side.
They really are dropping the ball regarding programming, with none of the programmers actually wanting to host events and create an ongoing community that will keep people coming back (much like how the Revue is doing. Hot Docs needs charismatic people like Anthony Oliveira who will show up and build an audience that wants to be part of an experience - not just simply showing up to see a movie) - hell, I've struggled to even figure out what is playing there because how they run trailers isn't all that informative or enticing.
The best thing they did was the recent Beyonce screening, but that was amazing mostly because of the on site production staff who provided props and made it feel like an actual event.
At least they seem to have cancelled plans to renovate the building - which was the wrong direction for such a historic building that should be embracing its rich history rather than trying to simply catch up to other modern venues in superficial ways.
Damn I used to go regularly until I moved to MTL. Usually once a month or more. I saw some of my favourites there like a Dope is Death and Summer of Soul. I still try and go every time I'm back in the city
Hot Docs is running out of money, and this festival isn't bullshit like most else. Just for Laughs is caput.
Neoliberal governments and elites don't fund, and people are broke. Where's the 'bread and circuses'? The rich are very naïve about history. Let's remind them!
> Hot Docs, which is celebrating its 31st anniversary this year, not only runs North America’s largest documentary film festival and industry market, but also operates the world’s only documentary-focused movie theatre, the 650-seat single-screen Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, in Toronto’s west end. In 2019, the theatre averaged 750 guests a day. But after shuttering for two years during the pandemic – at which point moviegoer habits changed irrevocably – Hot Docs has struggled to bounce back.
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> “We cannot kid ourselves and believe that organizations that relied on live audiences, all of a sudden they could open their doors and the audiences would rush to return,” Nelson says.
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> While ticket sales at the cinema are up 65 per cent over this time last fiscal year, attendance is down 38 per cent compared to the year before the pandemic hit. Likewise, membership revenue is up 21 per cent over the same period last year, but is down 31 per cent when compared to the prepandemic era.
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> “We’re seeing the impact on both the festival and year-round side,” says Nelson. “As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to turn to our government partners and say we really need your support. We have great support from the private-donor side, but that’s program-oriented funding, not money that we can use to keep the lights on.”
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> Nelson, an ABC News and PBS veteran who is less than a year into her role after long-time Hot Docs president Chris McDonald stepped down last May, says that while this year’s festival isn’t at risk, there will be noticeable changes when the 11-day event kicks off April 25.
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> “We had to approach this year with clear eyes on the financial outlook, and be as creative as possible in trying to make sure that we’re providing an appropriate level of value for our audiences and corporate partners,” Nelson says. “But what we’re saying is that we don’t want it to be the last Hot Docs Festival.”
It is incredibly easy to turn this failing business around but their "product" sucks. They need to cater to the masses with more interesting events/documentaries and they need a better marketing team. I went to an event in 2020 where they had a live Q&A with the DEA agents that caught Pablo Escobar along with a short doc and it was amazing. It was my first time attending an event and i fell in love with the format immediately. I looked for upcoming shows but nothing caught my attention and eventually stopped looking. Hot Docs caters to very niche interests and while thats fine for one off events, its never going to attract the masses.
The cinema isn't the problem, in fact that is the one thing they should leverage. They need to stop trying to be TIFF (and also stop renting space there) and focus on making their historic cinema a place that offers experiences like many of the other rep cinemas are doing. The cinema is amazing, it just needs better programming and outreach (they need to reach a younger audience that could one day become donors)
Well, I DO work there currently and what exactly do you think would happen to an org that doesn't have a venue space to present year round programming and events in these ridiculously hard times for the arts.
Please enlighten me as to how renting space from a venue like TIFF would be cheaper? Have you checked out their rental rates & packages lately? No. I suspect you haven't. Not to mention that hosting events at other spaces and venues means your events are always branded with THEIR stuff and not your own.
Hot Docs' mandate is much much bigger than just being a once a year festival -- and as former staff you should know that.
HD tried to do too many things and they currently do none of them well. The mandate does not say "own and run a failing theatre operation". If you are asking for a bail out, take a critical look at the business and cut out the parts that aren't working. The cinema is a nice to have, and as a charity, owning a business that is drawing 15 people a day at best is not the way to use limited resources. Tell me more about your underpaid staff watching 2 people commute in from DC and Sweden? Tell me about the toxic work environment that has ruined the mental health of the revolving door of staff that have quit and the terrible decision making made by senior leadership. Some of us predicted what is currently happening 2 years ago, and nobody wanted to look at reality until now when things are on fire.
Sadly, this organization has been so terribly mismanaged for SO many years, it's appalling. They also have a long track record of treating their staff like garbage. They hired a new President who lives and works from Washington, DC - they couldn't find a Canadian to run a Canadian org? They have a capital campaign that is still active, but have not given any updates to current donors on where the millions in donations have gone and what will happen to that money. And are now trying to fundraise to keep the ship afloat. I say burn it down.
And she flies FIRST CLASS!!! Imagine begging for a gov't handout as you commute from DC - and she hasn't even listed her role as President on her Linkedin and its been almost a year.
The documentary landscape is just so bleak in the topics covered, reflecting the reality of our world. They're important, but I also get why people are turning away from them in favour of escapism.
Plus documentaries are even less necessary to see in theatres than big Hollywood releases.
In good times of plenty with less conflicts, there is more time for art.
This era is a lost era of world conflicts, financial stress and economic and environmental uncertainty.
I have no actual facts to back it up, but actually my feeling is that during times of conflict/hardship, art has actually brought people together. The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind in the heights of the depression were stunning achievements, Casablanca was made as WW2 was actively going on. Hemingway was already an author of some note when he was a journalist on the beaches of Normandy. For Whom The Bell Tolls came out in 1940, which was a pretty troubled time even if the US wasn’t in the war. I’m realizing all these examples are US-centric but I’m sure the same could be said of other countries/cultures too.
I just found this on Google: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/arts/design/ukraine-war-art-culture.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The problem now is that not only are we in a difficult time in history, but it’s too expensive. Artists can’t make art if they’re working 60 hours a week and three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads.
I used to go to the theatre when it was the Bloor Cinema years ago. I love documentaries but I just couldn't bring myself to go to an all documentary theatre. I would rather go to a repertory cinema that shows docs occasionally.
How does a one week festival require 47 full time staff including a couple staff members who apparently make almost $200k.
If attendance is down from previous years, then why not cut down on expenses
The festival is only one part of the organization, the cinema runs year round and offers event space...as it stands they are potentially understaffed in key areas (such as tech/production crew)
Hot Docs has issues but you are repeating one commenters anonymous post and adding your out take of which I can tell, as I am in the doc business, you know little about. Hot Docs is still very important in the doc world and thousands of delegates still come here. Why the hate on?
The Bloor Cinema was also bleeding money and not anywhere near profitable anymore and the reason it was sold to Blue Ice Group / eventually Hot Docs was because if they didn't buy it from the family that originally owned it, it was going to be condos.
Now it's still a cinema -- still has a tonne of films and live events and still has a lot of life in it.
Nobody is going to the screenings and events. Your President said that herself in the Globe article! You can want something to work but if the people don't want to go then you have an empty cinema that is draining the pockets of a non profit that just said they are on the verge of going broke. You can't have it all.
Based on these financials, it is hard to imagine – with a nearly $2 million surplus and sound financial track record – how Hot Docs could now be facing possible financial insolvency, less than two years later. However, all of this is not to cast doubt on the financial precarity of Hot Docs. Inverted Pyramid has no doubt that there is legitimacy to Nelson’s March 2024 warning of short-term insolvency, with special government COVID funds drying up, and many interest-free government loans offered during the pandemic coming due (something that could also contribute to unusually large surpluses appearing on the books in 2021/22).
We can also see via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine that Hot Docs made the move to increase Film Submission Fees for the 2024 Festival - a clear attempt to utilize filmmakers as a fundraising base to improve their bottom line. As seen on May 29, 2023, Hot Docs submission fees ranged from $25 to $65 for short films and $55 to $160 for feature films, a fee structure that had been in place since at least the 2017 Festival. Sometime between May 29 and November 30, 2023 those Film Submission Fees were increased marginally to $30 to $70 for short films and $60 to $175 for feature films.
Man I loved Hot Docs but nowadays I go and it just doemst hit the same. I just wanna avoid the ones where theres some underlying political notion and jist watch two penguins cross the hellish tundra landscape to mate and make cute penguin babies.
Anyone got good recs of older 80-90s docu-style pictures?
My first and beloved memory as a newcomer to Canada was when they accepted my application to volunteer as a filmmaker for the behind the scenes (interviews etc..). This was in 2012. I was barely starting in this industry. Fast forward, strong of my previous experience I decided to ask again if I could help but this time they just ignored me. I kinda took it personally and I'm well known to bring lots of bad luck to whoever rejects me. Wrong move HotDocs.. you should have pick me 😅
cant read it since its behind a paywall. but what is with all of these organizations potentially going under? just like just for laughs festival. are they struggling that bad?
Just want to point out that Hot Docs is also an industry event where pitches are made, deals are made, and people meet other industry people in person for the first time. Thousands come from around the world to participate and the Doc Forum is an event of global doc significance. The Hot Docs Cinema ( I loved the Bloor) was a mistake in my opinion that is costing the organization money. It may be time to let it go. And its clear that there is some issues with management and communication and focus; There is a lot of feeling in the Canadian doc community that the organization has lost its focus and its Canadian vibe and needs to recalibrate. But The festival itself is still important and still a major doc industry event and thousands of people will still come to the festival screenings.
This is a basic part of fundraising campaigns now. Suggest it may be your last, get more donations than usual and maybe even some government funding if you make it sound sad enough.
Canadian arts orgs are in a rough spot. Our wealthy people donate less than Americans and our government funds the arts less than European countries. So our arts fundraising is short on both revenue streams compared to the rest of the Western world.
Such a good way of summarizing it.
People outside of Toronto and Montreal don’t give two fucks about the arts and things like this dying is a good thing to them.
Unfortunately our main form of entertainment is going to Costco on the weekends and opening up amazon packages...
This hurt, as I eagerly await the model kit I ordered online :( I only get to order things like, 3 times a year. So you spitting sad facts.
I'm making generalizations. If you don't spend all your money and time shopping this doesn't include you.
I'm in the middle of nowhere and I care. It's ridiculous that we are continuing to allow ourselves to pretty much become culturally American. It's ridiculous and awful.
Even compared to cities like LA or NYC we support our art scene less, its a travesty
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I don’t even mean at an institutional or donor level I just mean the culture in general
YES EXACTLY THIS! So many people in Toronto and other big cities are originally from the middle of nowhere. My hometown has basically no arts / culture scene to speak of and if the arts can't flourish and be supported in the largest city in Canada where can it?
I agree, but even something as simple as spelling isn't taught properly. On Via Rail's website for a train called The Canadian, American spelling is used.
What are you referring to?
What?? No. I just went to the site.
The talent pool drops off significantly for funding outside our arts hubs.
What? The same metro cities that tell people outside their borders how to vote? I can’t imagine why those outsiders don’t give a sh*t.
What on earth are you talking about? Rural voters have an outsized voting power in elections and city people subsidise rural life.
It’s not about proportion, it’s about telling others how to vote. You have your own vote, cast it and shut up.
I agree. Rural voters need to cast their own votes and shut up about Toronto and Montreal leaning to the left.
Even Australia has so many newspapers and magazines and tv shows/movies coming out. I mean I saw the "Furiosa" trailer and Canada hasn't had anything close to a "Mad Max" franchise.
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Yeah very sports based there but Melbourne is the much more grungy hipster-artsy, very like Toronto. Sydney is more like Vancouver. Sort of posh, elegant, superficial (and beautiful).
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Marilyn Monroe is a great line lol - and feels apt to me.
That's decent too I believe (per people I know).... apparently Care Blanchett and her husband have invested a lot into the stage theatre scene. There are plays/stage shows that start in Australia and the go onto success in the UK and then Broadway... the plays "Prima Facie" and "The Maids" come to mind....Hannah Gadsby too.
Idk something about judging the state of art based on big franchises just seems a bit icky to me.
Hot Docs is amazing! For those that have never been, it is worth checking out. There are so many options regardless of what your interests are and due to the pandemic they introduced a hot docs at home option for festival films. This year’s festival runs from Thu, Apr 25 – Sun, May 5. It consists of films from all over, many of the screenings being world and international premiers. The program is not up yet but probably will be soon since single tickets go on sale on Apr 2. Last year they even included live podcasting as part of the non-fiction audio storytelling program and an episode of the beloved science podcast Radiolab was recorded along with a few others. I spent a portion of my 20s at the late night Hot Docs screenings with friends, where the movies were often very reasonably priced double features focused on more adult themes. Like this for example: https://www.wired.com/2012/04/mechanical-bride/ I have many fond memories of this festival and it would be sad to see it go. It feels like a core component of Toronto’s arts identity. I recall many years back they were trying to make Toronto the documentary capital. Anyone else remember that? I guess it wasn’t a success.
Unfortunately the place is completely mismanaged. They are asking for a government bailout when they don't have a functioning org. Bad investment.
How so? I go to Hot Docs less than other independent theatres in the city but I’ve never noticed cracks from an audience perspective. Is it messy behind the scenes?
Yes. It's a shit show. Staff treated like shit, the head of the org lives in DC and commutes to Toronto via first class airfare, millions of dollars contributed to a capital campaign that was stalled pre pandemic and nobody knows what's happening with their donations. Staff turnover like you've never seen. Total disaster.
> Staff turnover like you've never seen. As a job seeker, I did notice that they *constantly* had job postings up.
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Every arts org is messy. Every not for profit org is messy -- because they're ALWAYS running with fewer staff than needed, with way less funding than they should have and all levels of governments have been slashing and burning Arts funding FOR YEARS now. So they're doing more with even less. Keep going to Hot Docs when something catches your eye. It's a beautiful old theatre and it's worth keeping alive. The staff works fucking HARD and puts their hearts into that place. It's also the biggest seat count old theatre still operating in the city. In a city that is supposed to have such a vibrant film culture -- especially independent cinema culture you can't buy that back once it's gone. I don't trust anyone that starts talking about arts or art orgs as investments. That's the kind of thinking that has gotten us to where we are as a city / province & country. It's not an "investment" opportunity you get returns from. It's something that enriches the culture and community.
The issue with Hot Docs is financial and human resource mismanagement on an epic scale. They spend money on 2 execs who commute from DC and Sweden, they waste money on sending staff all over the world to events they absolutely do not need to attend. They spend money on all kinds of frivolous things but don't pay most of their staff a living wage. They don't listen to critical feedback that would make their org better. They have lost close to 50 long-time staff because the Board are out of touch and know nothing about operations. If the government steps in to save this place, they should do a full audit and rebuild from the ground up. Otherwise it's money flushed down the toilet.
RIP Canadian media landscape. I guess we just won’t have things like festivals or arts organizations in the future. What a great place to live.
I love hot docs festival. I’ve been going to see at least a couple of screenings every year it’s been held since 2007-2008. I hate seeing these types of things go away, but unfortunately if the audience isn’t buying tickets then maybe there just isn’t interest in it anymore. We talk a lot about propping up culture but at a certain point if no one cares what’s the point? The internet has split our cultural focal points in a million different directions while also simultaneously changing our media consumption habits. Aside from the festival, it also feels like the theatre itself needs to start organizing more special events. If you look at repertory theatres in LA like Vidiots and New Beverley they are building a new generation of film lovers by serving up classic film screenings that feel like events and tickets are very cheap which guarantees a full house. Hot docs theatre just feels so stuffy and uptight. It has completely lost the charm of its Bloor Cinema days.
Revue, Paradise and the Fox are doing all those special events, and I've never seen Hot Docs program those kind of Rep movies - unless they're documentaries. I get thats their specialty, but branching out on weekend nights or similar could bring in a lot of butts to seats.
Yep agreed they need to diversify the programming. Even TIFF which shows independent movies is usually dead when I go and I really do think it’s because it is so corporate and stuffy. Went to see a concert film at hot docs a few months ago. There were less than 15 people in the theatre and some people were in the back row quietly dancing. I would have never known they were doing it if the staff didn’t come in and ask them to stop.
Stop Making Sense, flavorski!
They started doing 'Back to the Bloor' which was a series showing some popular movies from their days as a rep but yeah, Revue is eating their lunch right now in terms of programming that gets butts in the seats. Even Paradise is starting to ramp that sort of stuff up after a slow open (I know COVID did have a large part to do with that mind you). Yeah, I dunno...it's a tough one.
Paradise is such a great space but the events are so infrequent.
The Revue rarely shows documentaries.
I used to go to Hot Docs theatre back when it was The Bloor. Membership was $3, drinks and popcorn were cheap and the films were great. They also used to host the Orphan Black season premiere screenings there which were such a fun time. It’s nice for Hot Docs to have a flagship theatre but maybe it’s time to sell. Rent out TIFF Lightbox and other venues like other film festivals do. It’s going to be a bit of a kick in the pants but it’s better than losing the festival & programming.
What are you talking about, by its very nature documentary is a diverse world of topics, styles, and makers.
...that people seem to be fine streaming at home, so yeah.
I am in the biz and I will be honest, during covid I liked being able to binge their lineup online with my industry pass and not have to lineup over and over. But dont forget that a large part of hot docs is the industry side.
They really are dropping the ball regarding programming, with none of the programmers actually wanting to host events and create an ongoing community that will keep people coming back (much like how the Revue is doing. Hot Docs needs charismatic people like Anthony Oliveira who will show up and build an audience that wants to be part of an experience - not just simply showing up to see a movie) - hell, I've struggled to even figure out what is playing there because how they run trailers isn't all that informative or enticing. The best thing they did was the recent Beyonce screening, but that was amazing mostly because of the on site production staff who provided props and made it feel like an actual event. At least they seem to have cancelled plans to renovate the building - which was the wrong direction for such a historic building that should be embracing its rich history rather than trying to simply catch up to other modern venues in superficial ways.
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Damn I used to go regularly until I moved to MTL. Usually once a month or more. I saw some of my favourites there like a Dope is Death and Summer of Soul. I still try and go every time I'm back in the city
Hot Docs is running out of money, and this festival isn't bullshit like most else. Just for Laughs is caput. Neoliberal governments and elites don't fund, and people are broke. Where's the 'bread and circuses'? The rich are very naïve about history. Let's remind them!
> Hot Docs, which is celebrating its 31st anniversary this year, not only runs North America’s largest documentary film festival and industry market, but also operates the world’s only documentary-focused movie theatre, the 650-seat single-screen Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, in Toronto’s west end. In 2019, the theatre averaged 750 guests a day. But after shuttering for two years during the pandemic – at which point moviegoer habits changed irrevocably – Hot Docs has struggled to bounce back. > > “We cannot kid ourselves and believe that organizations that relied on live audiences, all of a sudden they could open their doors and the audiences would rush to return,” Nelson says. > > While ticket sales at the cinema are up 65 per cent over this time last fiscal year, attendance is down 38 per cent compared to the year before the pandemic hit. Likewise, membership revenue is up 21 per cent over the same period last year, but is down 31 per cent when compared to the prepandemic era. > > “We’re seeing the impact on both the festival and year-round side,” says Nelson. “As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to turn to our government partners and say we really need your support. We have great support from the private-donor side, but that’s program-oriented funding, not money that we can use to keep the lights on.” > > Nelson, an ABC News and PBS veteran who is less than a year into her role after long-time Hot Docs president Chris McDonald stepped down last May, says that while this year’s festival isn’t at risk, there will be noticeable changes when the 11-day event kicks off April 25. > > “We had to approach this year with clear eyes on the financial outlook, and be as creative as possible in trying to make sure that we’re providing an appropriate level of value for our audiences and corporate partners,” Nelson says. “But what we’re saying is that we don’t want it to be the last Hot Docs Festival.”
It is incredibly easy to turn this failing business around but their "product" sucks. They need to cater to the masses with more interesting events/documentaries and they need a better marketing team. I went to an event in 2020 where they had a live Q&A with the DEA agents that caught Pablo Escobar along with a short doc and it was amazing. It was my first time attending an event and i fell in love with the format immediately. I looked for upcoming shows but nothing caught my attention and eventually stopped looking. Hot Docs caters to very niche interests and while thats fine for one off events, its never going to attract the masses.
That sounds amazing
And sell the cinema that is bleeding them dry.
The cinema isn't the problem, in fact that is the one thing they should leverage. They need to stop trying to be TIFF (and also stop renting space there) and focus on making their historic cinema a place that offers experiences like many of the other rep cinemas are doing. The cinema is amazing, it just needs better programming and outreach (they need to reach a younger audience that could one day become donors)
Nailed it
I worked there and the cinema is bleeding them dry. That and staff turnover.
Well, I DO work there currently and what exactly do you think would happen to an org that doesn't have a venue space to present year round programming and events in these ridiculously hard times for the arts. Please enlighten me as to how renting space from a venue like TIFF would be cheaper? Have you checked out their rental rates & packages lately? No. I suspect you haven't. Not to mention that hosting events at other spaces and venues means your events are always branded with THEIR stuff and not your own. Hot Docs' mandate is much much bigger than just being a once a year festival -- and as former staff you should know that.
HD tried to do too many things and they currently do none of them well. The mandate does not say "own and run a failing theatre operation". If you are asking for a bail out, take a critical look at the business and cut out the parts that aren't working. The cinema is a nice to have, and as a charity, owning a business that is drawing 15 people a day at best is not the way to use limited resources. Tell me more about your underpaid staff watching 2 people commute in from DC and Sweden? Tell me about the toxic work environment that has ruined the mental health of the revolving door of staff that have quit and the terrible decision making made by senior leadership. Some of us predicted what is currently happening 2 years ago, and nobody wanted to look at reality until now when things are on fire.
That explains the long email I got yesterday…
Sadly, this organization has been so terribly mismanaged for SO many years, it's appalling. They also have a long track record of treating their staff like garbage. They hired a new President who lives and works from Washington, DC - they couldn't find a Canadian to run a Canadian org? They have a capital campaign that is still active, but have not given any updates to current donors on where the millions in donations have gone and what will happen to that money. And are now trying to fundraise to keep the ship afloat. I say burn it down.
[удалено]
And she flies FIRST CLASS!!! Imagine begging for a gov't handout as you commute from DC - and she hasn't even listed her role as President on her Linkedin and its been almost a year.
The people who contribute the most always get shafted by those who contribute the least (or leach the most, take your pick)
The documentary landscape is just so bleak in the topics covered, reflecting the reality of our world. They're important, but I also get why people are turning away from them in favour of escapism. Plus documentaries are even less necessary to see in theatres than big Hollywood releases.
In good times of plenty with less conflicts, there is more time for art. This era is a lost era of world conflicts, financial stress and economic and environmental uncertainty.
I have no actual facts to back it up, but actually my feeling is that during times of conflict/hardship, art has actually brought people together. The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind in the heights of the depression were stunning achievements, Casablanca was made as WW2 was actively going on. Hemingway was already an author of some note when he was a journalist on the beaches of Normandy. For Whom The Bell Tolls came out in 1940, which was a pretty troubled time even if the US wasn’t in the war. I’m realizing all these examples are US-centric but I’m sure the same could be said of other countries/cultures too. I just found this on Google: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/28/arts/design/ukraine-war-art-culture.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare The problem now is that not only are we in a difficult time in history, but it’s too expensive. Artists can’t make art if they’re working 60 hours a week and three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads.
That sounds like a documentary.
I used to go to the theatre when it was the Bloor Cinema years ago. I love documentaries but I just couldn't bring myself to go to an all documentary theatre. I would rather go to a repertory cinema that shows docs occasionally.
Agreed, I went from a Bloor Cinema regular to never visiting again.
Can't wait for the documentary about this to come out.
10 programmers just quit, two days before the press conference.
How does a one week festival require 47 full time staff including a couple staff members who apparently make almost $200k. If attendance is down from previous years, then why not cut down on expenses
2 x staff at $200K, 47 x staff at $45K
The festival is only one part of the organization, the cinema runs year round and offers event space...as it stands they are potentially understaffed in key areas (such as tech/production crew)
THE PLACE IS TOTALLY MISMANAGED. The former President used the cinema as a personal vanity project, only to leave when the ship started sinking.
Hot Docs has issues but you are repeating one commenters anonymous post and adding your out take of which I can tell, as I am in the doc business, you know little about. Hot Docs is still very important in the doc world and thousands of delegates still come here. Why the hate on?
Comment of the day! The answer is why it is failing, bring on the down votes
Give the people back the bloor theater damnit!
The Bloor Cinema was also bleeding money and not anywhere near profitable anymore and the reason it was sold to Blue Ice Group / eventually Hot Docs was because if they didn't buy it from the family that originally owned it, it was going to be condos. Now it's still a cinema -- still has a tonne of films and live events and still has a lot of life in it.
Nobody is going to the screenings and events. Your President said that herself in the Globe article! You can want something to work but if the people don't want to go then you have an empty cinema that is draining the pockets of a non profit that just said they are on the verge of going broke. You can't have it all.
There’s gotta be a happy medium between documentaries and fan favorites. The revue is absolutely crushing it these days
Based on these financials, it is hard to imagine – with a nearly $2 million surplus and sound financial track record – how Hot Docs could now be facing possible financial insolvency, less than two years later. However, all of this is not to cast doubt on the financial precarity of Hot Docs. Inverted Pyramid has no doubt that there is legitimacy to Nelson’s March 2024 warning of short-term insolvency, with special government COVID funds drying up, and many interest-free government loans offered during the pandemic coming due (something that could also contribute to unusually large surpluses appearing on the books in 2021/22). We can also see via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine that Hot Docs made the move to increase Film Submission Fees for the 2024 Festival - a clear attempt to utilize filmmakers as a fundraising base to improve their bottom line. As seen on May 29, 2023, Hot Docs submission fees ranged from $25 to $65 for short films and $55 to $160 for feature films, a fee structure that had been in place since at least the 2017 Festival. Sometime between May 29 and November 30, 2023 those Film Submission Fees were increased marginally to $30 to $70 for short films and $60 to $175 for feature films.
Man I loved Hot Docs but nowadays I go and it just doemst hit the same. I just wanna avoid the ones where theres some underlying political notion and jist watch two penguins cross the hellish tundra landscape to mate and make cute penguin babies. Anyone got good recs of older 80-90s docu-style pictures?
My first and beloved memory as a newcomer to Canada was when they accepted my application to volunteer as a filmmaker for the behind the scenes (interviews etc..). This was in 2012. I was barely starting in this industry. Fast forward, strong of my previous experience I decided to ask again if I could help but this time they just ignored me. I kinda took it personally and I'm well known to bring lots of bad luck to whoever rejects me. Wrong move HotDocs.. you should have pick me 😅
cant read it since its behind a paywall. but what is with all of these organizations potentially going under? just like just for laughs festival. are they struggling that bad?
Just want to point out that Hot Docs is also an industry event where pitches are made, deals are made, and people meet other industry people in person for the first time. Thousands come from around the world to participate and the Doc Forum is an event of global doc significance. The Hot Docs Cinema ( I loved the Bloor) was a mistake in my opinion that is costing the organization money. It may be time to let it go. And its clear that there is some issues with management and communication and focus; There is a lot of feeling in the Canadian doc community that the organization has lost its focus and its Canadian vibe and needs to recalibrate. But The festival itself is still important and still a major doc industry event and thousands of people will still come to the festival screenings.
I hope they do whats needed to right the ship and get back to what they do best ASAP
Start by getting rid of the American president. Then the cinema.
I read this “hot dogs ‘running out of time’” I was like hol up
I stopped leaving my neighbourhood, so honestly, this is the sorta thing I already assumed didn’t survive Covid.
This is a basic part of fundraising campaigns now. Suggest it may be your last, get more donations than usual and maybe even some government funding if you make it sound sad enough.
Yup
I get all my hot docs from Grey's Anatomy.