BendFilm announced that it broke its previous festival records on a number of fronts: ticket sales, attendance, filmmaker attendance, premiers and Facebook activity. For a festival of its size, one of the most impressive areas was filmmaker attendance. Many commented over the weekend that more filmmakers attended BendFilm than larger, longer-established festivals in other parts of the country.
Ben Dittman, board president of BendFilm, said, “We are so pleased with this year’s numbers. We’ve experienced a thirty five percent increase in ticket sales and a fifteen percent increase in attendance. After everyone’s hard work – from the volunteers to the sponsors to the board – we have a lot to celebrate.”
“We had a record number of filmmakers – 80 – attend the festival as well as a fantastic jury that exceeded our expectations above and beyond,” said Orit Schwartz, artistic director of BendFilm. “It is safe to say, after hearing and reading the feedback from festival attendees, that BendFilm 2011 was an enormous success. We’d like to thank everyone who contributed to this year’s event.”
Here’s a look at the numbers:
- 83 films were screened
- 76 had some sort of premier status: Oregon, Pacific Northwest or world premier
- 37 films were represented by 80 filmmakers in Bend
- Ticket sales increased 35% over 2010
- Attendance increased 15% over 2010
- Facebook post views increased 346%, reaching 164,891
Top industry experts comprised the juror panel, including:
- Sharon Badal, head short film programmer for Tribecca Film Festival
- Audrey Chang, manages the Golden Gate Awards competition and programs features and shorts for the San Francisco International Film Festival
- Christian Gaines, festival strategy and business development for Withoutabox at iMDb.com
- Dana Harris, editor in chief and general manager of IndieWIRE
- Bill Plympton, twice-Oscar-nominated animator, feature filmmaker
- Ondi Timoner, the only director to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival twice, for DIG! and We Live in Public
About BendFilm
BendFilm is a non-profit group inspired by the opportunity to open doors for artists and to cast Bend, Oregon as the cultural and economic beneficiary. The BendFilm Festival runs every October in downtown Bend, Oregon at the historic Tower Theatre, McMenamins, Regal Cinemas and The Oxford Hotel. Plan now to attend October 6-9, 2011 for a long weekend of films, lectures and parties as filmmakers compete for cash awards in Bend’s charismatic setting of mountains, rivers and screaming blue skies.
BendFilm Info:
Address: 2748 NW Crossing Drive, Bend, OR 97701.
For questions or more information: call 541.388.FEST, email info@bendfilm.org or visit www.bendfilm.org.
