Academy to give larger grant to Telluride

Oct 29, 2004 by Ian Evans

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expanded its festival funding and the Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, is the first festival to benefit.

The festival will receive $50,000 from the Academy in 2005 and $50,000 a year for the next two years, for a total of $150,000. Next year a second festival will be selected to receive $50,000 annually for three years and a year later a third will be chosen.

“The Academy’s goal is to provide a secure foundation upon which a festival can anchor a project with the expectation that the funding will continue to support the project over a number of years,” said Festival Grants Committee Chair Gale Anne Hurd. “Some terrific ideas have gone by the boards because a festival can’t afford to take a chance on finding the needed funds year after year. We wanted to help offset that problem for at least a few festivals.”

“It’s a ‘major grants for major festivals’ program,” said Academy Program Coordinator Greg Beal, “and it is separate from the Academy’s annual festival grants program, which last year gave $250,000 in grants to 17 festivals and this year has $300,000 to allocate.”

The Festival Grants Committee selected the Telluride Festival from a group of significant U. S. festivals, Beal said, because “it stands out as an artistic beacon” among festivals. “It’s all about movies.”

Telluride has received grants from the Academy before. In 1999, when the film festival fund was first established, Telluride was one of three festivals to receive a $50,000 grant from the Academy. In 2001, it received $30,000 and last year it was given a $25,000 grant.