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A
dearth
in
corporate
sponsorships,
lackluster
membership
figures
and
failing
to
raise
enough
money
to
meet
a
cultural
matching
grant
have
forced
the
board
of
directors
of
the
Miami
Gay
and
Lesbian
Film
Festival,
one
of
the
few
organized
GLBT
events
based
in
Miami,
to
cut
half
its
staff
and
likely
move
out
of
its
office
on
Lincoln
Road.
The
budget
shortfall
totals
nearly
$100,000,
according
to
festival
insiders
who
did
not
want
to
go
on
record.
Nonetheless,
board
of
directors
chair
Franc
Castro
and
vice-chair
Francesca
Roderick
said
they
are
determined
to
do
what
they
must
to
keep
the
festival
going.
“The
board
of
directors
made
the
decision
based
on
the
festival’s
financial
outlook,”
said
Castro.
“In
order
to
get
to
our
eleventh
year
we
had
to
look
at
personnel
and
rent.”
“The
[layoff]
decisions
were
based
on
seniority,”
Roderick
said.
“We
have
a
clear
understanding
of
what
we
have
to
do.
The
reason
is
simply
because
we
have
to
get
fiscally
sound.”
So
far,
the
festival
office
remains
intact.
However,
two
staff
members,
Keith
Cromley
and
Lisa
Niven,
were
let
go
last
week.
Niven
and
Cromley
were
in
charge
of
obtaining
corporate
sponsorships,
writing
grants
and
managing
the
operations
of
the
festival.
The
elimination
of
the
two
key
full-time
positions
means
that
Carol
Coombes,
festival/program
director,
and
Kareem
Tabsch,
festival
manager,
will
likely
be
charged
with
taking
over
many
of
the
operations
and
fundraising
duties,
Castro
said.
To
ease
the
burden
of
doing
both
the
artistic
programming
and
the
business
operations,
Castro
and
Roderick
said,
the
festival
will
be
calling
for
volunteers
from
the
community
to
work
on
a
finance
committee,
membership
committee,
corporate
sponsorship
committee,
human
resource
committee,
as
well
a
separate
Broward
County
committee.
This
year,
the
festival
reinforced
its
presence
in
Fort
Lauderdale
with
the
Fort
Lauderdale
Gay
and
Lesbian
Film
Festival,
a
weeklong
program
that
ran
parallel
to
the
Miami
program.
The
Broward
event
included
opening
and
closing
night
programs
that
ran
separately
from
the
Miami-based
festival.
Festival
insiders,
who
did
not
want
to
be
identified,
told
the
Express
that
the
festival
will
continue
to
pursue
a
greater
presence
in
Broward.
Will
the
Miami
Gay
and
Lesbian
Film
Festival
shift
its
focus
north
to
Broward
where
there
is
a
more
centralized
gay
community?
“No,”
Castro
said.
“It’s
the
called
the
Miami
Gay
and
Lesbian
Film
Festival.
This
is
where
our
base
is.”
However
Roderick
said
that
the
more
centralized
and
identifiable
gay
community
in
Broward
holds
“a
huge
potential
for
money
to
be
made.”
The
board
will
begin
searching
for
alternative
and
less
costly
office
space,
the
board
chairs
reported.
“We’re
still
in
the
process
of
creating
a
plan,”
Castro
said.
“Part
of
what
we
need
to
look
at
is
operations
costs.
The
Regal
Cinema
and
Colony
Theater
are
expensive.
We
are
still
staying
on
the
beach,
but
decisions
haven’t
been
made.”
The
budgetary
shortfall
comes
in
a
time
when
other
artistic
non-profits
are
squeezed
for
grant
monies,
and
potential
donors
are
tapped
due
to
escalating
costs
of
living
during
an
economic
slump.
However,
staffing
the
fundraising
and
development
arms
of
a
festival
the
size
of
MGLFF
with
volunteers
is
a
risky
proposition,
according
to
sources
close
to
the
festival.
Board
members
who
did
not
want
to
go
on
record
described
the
cost-cutting
decision
as
being
combative,
with
some
members
resigning
because
of
the
recent
move.
Castro
said
as
many
as
five
seats
on
the
board
are
currently
vacant,
but
their
opening
is
not
due
to
the
current
fiscal
strategy.
“Just
like
any
board,
there
is
attrition,”
Castro
said.
At
the
opening
nights
and
during
most
of
the
introductions
to
the
films
at
this
year’s
festival,
Castro
appeared
with
fellow
board
member
Mark
(Marky
G.)
Gilbert,
urging
additional
support
from
festival-goers.
At
the
festival’s
closing
night
film
May
4,
Castro
told
the
audience
at
Miami’s
Gusman
Theater
that
the
funding
situation
was
dire.
“If
we
don’t
raise
this
money,
read
between
the
lines,”
he
said
pointing
to
the
cultural
matching
grant.
The
board
was
scheduled
to
meet
Wednesday
night
to
discuss
how
to
move
forward.
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