The latest news on the BendFilm Festival plays almost like a rerun of
last year. The local film festival that’s earning an increasingly
strong buzz within the film industry is again saddled with a vacancy at
the top of the non-profit organization. But this time around, there’s
more changes written into the BendFilm script, with slumping ticket
sales and a board of directors saying they are looking at an
organizational restructuring.
In fall of 2007, Erik Jambor stepped
down as executive director after less than a year at the helm of
BendFilm and within days the organization’s board had named former film
industry powerhouse Sandy Henderson to the vacated spot. But now,
Henderson has announced her resignation from a position she once called
her “dream job” just a little more than a week after the 2008 edition
of BendFilm wrapped up.
Jim Bailey, the president of BendFilm’s board of directors says that Sandy’s resignation wasn’t necessarily a surprise.
“The board and Ms. Henderson had been having differences of opinion as to the direction of BendFilm and the operational goals of the festival,” Bailey said just hours after receiving notice of Henderson’s resignation.
Henderson said that her resignation letter offered detailed reasons behind her decision to step down, but neither she nor Bailey would elaborate on the specifics of the letter. Henderson did, however, mention that she was disappointed that the board of directors did not help in the fundraising process – an area that Jambor cited as problematic upon his resignation in 2007.
Although Henderson did step down from the position this week on her own accord, Bailey said that her future with BendFilm, and that of the executive director position as a whole was quite uncertain. Then, shortly after Bailey’s interview with the Source on Tuesday afternoon, BendFilm released a statement announcing a restructuring that includes the elimination of the executive director position, which, according to the press release, made up one-fifth of the festival’s operating budget. The press release, however, does not mention that Henderson had resigned earlier in the day.
“We were going to have our next board meeting [Wednesday] night and the discussion would have come up there,” Bailey said of the board’s talks to restructure.
“I’m pretty certain that we’d knocked it around enough to know that the ED position didn’t seem to be the right fit for BendFilm,” he said.
Henderson was not aware that there was any talk of restructuring the organization going on.
On the surface, the 2008 BendFilm Festival went off swimmingly. There were more filmmakers in attendance than ever before, parties were well attended, and it seemed theatres were for the most part full.
“I would have to say that the festival was a crowning moment of my life. Two weeks before I thought I was throwing a festival that no one was coming to, the fact that we threw what has been called the best festival of all, I was really proud of that,” Henderson says.
Sandy Henderson resigned as BendFilm’s Executive Director this week.Last fall, Henderson hit the ground running, initiating the Indie Reels series in collaboration with the Tower Theatre before the ink was even dry on her executive director contract. From there, the loquacious native Australian didn’t slow in her role as BendFilm’s sole paid employee. She says that for much of her time with BendFilm she was working in the neighborhood of 80 hours per week. Some of those long hours were directed toward producing BendFilm’s first-ever out of town screening, a showing of Breast Cancer Diaries in Portland, as well as corralling known industry names to appear at BendFilm – including Tony Safford, head of acquisitions for Fox Searchlight Pictures, who himself was reportedly impressed with BendFilm.
One of the areas in which BendFilm has worked to improve over the past few years is creating more of an industry-wide reputation in order to attract more filmmakers to the event. Jambor, who is now the executive director of the Indie Memphis Film Festival, says that the BendFilm chatter he heard reverberating through the filmmaker world was quite positive.
“From the filmmakers I talked to that were out there, it all sounds like it was really terrific,” says Jambor, whose own festival took place the weekend after BendFilm and included some of the same films and included some of the same filmmakers.
While reviews were positive, Bailey says the same can’t be said of the financial reality of BendFilm. When Bailey told the Source in an interview this summer that the festival was stable enough to not be banking on ticket sales to sustain the four-day event, he didn’t mean that ticket sales weren’t important to the festival’s sustainability. Bailey said that ticket revenues were down 25 percent from last year. That is a tough number to swallow, especially when keeping in mind that BendFilm 2007’s ticket sales were 25 percent behind in the 2006 totals.
Bailey was complimentary of Henderson’s work with the festival and believes that the wide reaching responsibilities of the BendFilm executive director position created some built in problems. The job requires one to work in both fundraising and day-to-day business operations while also creating a festival that the organization hopes is a creative and professional product.
Henderson disagrees that the executive director position is innately flawed.
“I think the dynamic of having someone who has the skills for that position being put in a position where they can be micromanaged by a board that has no film experience is the flaw,” Henderson said.
Katie Merrit, the festival’s founder, admits that there are some built in problems with the position, while also admitting that these days she’s in her own “raising-my-child bubble” and not formally involved with the inner workings of BendFilm. She says that the position requires someone with both “right brain and left brain” capabilities – a combination of skills that might be hard to find.
“Regardless of the economic climate it’s a tough show to put on. But do I think it’s possible for BendFilm to find a match [for the position] and grow with some cohesion? Absolutely,” Merritt says.
Merritt also has a positive take on Henderson’s work at BendFilm and is saddened to see her step down.
“Sandy just exudes passion for BendFilm. I think it’s a shame that people couldn’t get along. There was a primary conflict of personalities,” Merritt says of what Bailey refers to as the “difference of opinions.”
It’s unclear what’s next for Henderson – a woman who, judging from her accomplishments during one year with BendFilm, very well could have an even brighter future as she moves on. But she does have one plan for her newfound free time.
“I’m gonna sleep. I’ve been working 80 hours a week to make sure we had a memorable festival, and now I plan on sleeping,” Henderson says.
Chances are there won’t be as much slumber amongst the BendFilm board of directors as they begin what looks like a hefty restructuring process. Bailey says that this restructuring is primarily due to the festival’s decrease in revenue and resources. With the current economy in mind, Bailey said they were prepared to incorporate a 15 percent decline in ticket revenue, but the 25 percent drop was a bit tougher to manage. According to Bailey, the festival also saw a decline in advertisers in its festival guide as well as money from submissions – which he speculates might have to do with independent filmmakers having trouble finding funding for their projects.
BendFilm has declared that there will, in fact, be a festival next year – quelling any doubt that the resignation and restructuring are any indication of the festival’s demise – but there could be changes. Some extras to the festival, namely the parties, could be cut unless sponsorships and other donations can be found to cover the cost of those events.
There has been some speculation amongst those close to the festival that BendFilm could be placed under the direction of the Tower Theatre Foundation (which also operates as a nonprofit organization and has already worked with BendFilm for the Indie Reels series) but Bailey says that the board has never discussed this possibility.
There is likely to be more speculation as the days and weeks go by. Some may rest in knowing that there will be a BendFilm next year – but others might wonder if it will be the BendFilm they’ve come to know.
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2008.
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Wow—I was just about to write Sandy a letter and thank her for a great festival.
The board needs to get themselves together and realize they need to do some fund-raising footwork. I know somebody from the old board and when he suggested that the board members donate to BendFilm no one ponied up.
It may be true that Ms. Henderson worked really hard to try and make BendFilm 2008 a success. She claims it was “the best festival of all” and if that’s really what she thinks then I want some of what she’s smoking. The festival is down 25% from last year which was down 20% plus from the previous year. That’s like watching your favorite football team marching down the field the wrong way.
Obviously it takes more than passion, 80 hours per week, or a past affiliation with the film industry to run a successful film festival. Being the ED for BendFilm requires working successfully with the Board of Directors, businesses, Chambers of Commerce, and other organizations in ALL of Central Oregon not just Bend. The Executive Director must be a person who can effectively build relationships, someone who is polished and diplomatic, someone who has been successful running a festival. Was Ms. Henderson the right person for the job and if not then who’s fault is that?
Ultimately, The BendFilm Board of Directors is to blame for the demise of BendFilm. After all, Ms Henderson was hired by the board and worked under thier direction. I have no doubt there were personality conflicts between the board and Ms. Henderson but it seems perhaps the board should look at replacing some of it’s own members while cleaning house.
Now the board is saying there will be no ED? I don’t get that. If the board thinks they can do a better job by eliminating the ED position and dividing up the responsibilities between themselves and volunteers, I think BendFilm is in for even tougher days. Maybe Erik would be willing to come back under a 3 year agrement. Give him a call.
There is a lot being said in this article and many questions left unanswered. Obviously BendFilm does not have the funds to pay for any staff beyond a part time admin. “…E.D. position not the right fit for BendFilm” What?! Call it whatever you like, but every mature and successful non-profit needs one full time professional devoted to fundraising and donor relations as well as representing the mission of the organization. If 100% of the board won’t pony up financially, they don’t get it, so who is going to fundraise? Jim Bailey states, ” I am pretty certain we knocked it around enough…to know the ED position didn’t seem to be the right fit for BendFilm.” Who is “we”, and why doesn’t the E.D. know anything about these discussions? Is the E.D. part of this “we”? I think the throughline issue in this non-profit is obvious. There definitely needs to be organizational restructuring on multiple levels. Staffing, job descriptions and board leadership.
I am extremely disappointed in the BendFilmรข โขs board decision to accept the resignation of Sandy Henderson and to decide the Executive Directorรข โขs position remain unfilled.
I have attended every BendFilm Festival since moving here in 2004 from Eugene. Hendersonรข โขs efforts in getting and keeping BendFilmรข โขs presence felt throughout the year was unprecedented. This year was the BEST festival to date.
The role of Executive Director is absolutely essential in keeping the high level of quality and the film festival intact. A level of quality that Henderson herself raised while BendFilm was in her capable hands. To think that the BendFilm board could collectively pull off what Sandy Henderson did single handedly is ridiculous. It is Hendersonรข โขs years of experience and unmatchable energy that made BendFilm what it is today. Taking Bendรข โขs own economic downslide, Henderson did a great job in sustaining and getting new money as well getting BendFilm recognition on a national level to attract out-of-town attendees.
As far as the Executive Directorรข โขs position taking one-fifth of BendFilmรข โขs budget, based on the huge amount of hours required for the ED position, I am sure it is an under compensated position. A position only a truly dedicated and creatively driven person would accept. BendFilm had that person with Henderson and they are letting her go.
I fear for BendFilmรข โขs future. Without an ED to drive the organization, I am confident the festival will suffer if not be totally destroyed by this shortsighted decision. I am very sorry for the loss our small and ever shrinking creative community has suffered.
I for one am truly excited that Ms. Henderson is gone from Bend Film. I know of several people and business folks who wanted nothing to do with Bend Film, because of her involvement. It’s a shame Bend Film is a fun thing to do, with the right kind of people involved. In recent years I have been a part of Bend Film and had a blast. This year and the past year was not so hot. 2006 was my favorite year, the movies were extremely exceptional. I feel that Bend Film doesn’t need an ED to do the job, to take all the credit and gloat! That is not what Bend Film is suppose to be about. Bend Film is about getting to see the movies that directors have put together and admire their talents and enjoy some new culture. I really do think the board needs to start researching what the Portland and Seattle markets do for their film festivals. They practically run themselves in how smooth they go. Sandy Henderson was not the right person for the job, nor does she have the people skills to get a long with everyone in Bend. This town is not cut throat CA! If the board is going to start doing some restructure, then stop doing the hob nob parties and start focusing more on the films and the festival itself.
As someone who has attended all festivals, I would agree with Henderson’s comment that the most recent was one of the best. A Festival is not judged solely on income. It is judged by the films shown, their accesibility to an entire community and by its success in presenting the work of talented filmmakers. This years festival had an excellent lineup and in all screenings we attended, the theaters were full. If ticket sales were down, my wife and I didn’t see it.
As someone with a Full Festival pass I attended both parties. Henderson spoke with passion and unrivaled support for the filmmakers, who all obviously are fans. More than one filmmaker I spoke to said that she had changed their life by simply choosing their film for inclusion in the festival. Speak to the lady who won the top award and she could not stop from gushing about Henderson’s passion for film, support of filmmakers or integrity. Most filmmakers perceive BendFilm festival to be one of the best they have ever attended.
Henderson was able to bring in Dan Wieden and the rep from 20th Century Fox. When has that ever been acheived by BendFilm prior to her leading it?
Henderson juggled many hats for BendFilm and from what she has acheived in a short time, she will be a very hard act to follow. Who will lead Bendfilm now? the board thinks its a good idea to go without an ED? who will give their all with the passion and commitment she had? not the board, if the membership listing in the guide is an indication, they’re not even members.
Letรข โขs take a look at the BendFilm leadership. Who’s calling the shots? Who among them has the experience to lead in the growth of BendFilm? Who was responsible for ushering out Erik Jambor (a perfect fit) less than a year into the job to replace him with Ms. Henderson who we know was chasing after his job? Was Erik Jambor ambushed by an over ambitious Ms. Henderson? Is the board capable of critical thinking and making wise choices or are they too focused on personal agendas or are they in way over thier heads? Although the website lists the board members there is no other information on the website about them or their qualifications. There are no bios on any of them. Is there anyone in a leadership position that has any experience running a non-profit or a film festival much less? Two years of decline, 2 different ED’s on the job less than a year each, several board members resigned? This doesn’t reflect well on Bend, Central Oregon, or the state. If BendFilm is to survive, then I say its time for the community, sponsors and donors to take a look at the board, force some housecleaning and find a suitable ED or summarily pull the plug on supporting a film festival that is heading in the wrong direction.
Am I reading the article correctly? Did an entire board รข ” 9 or 10 hopefully ethical and professional people – sit down and agree to use (and abuse) one personรข โขs energy, dedication and experience for the gain of an organization knowing they would terminate her immediately after the festival? That stinks.
It’s a tricky position that requires both incredible knowledge of the film industry, plus personality to motivate people to participate. Seems like BendFilm just hasn’t found the right combination of the 2 for the ED role.
Let’s hope that BendFilm finds the right person, so we can get back to the popcorn and movie watching. All this political stuff is a downer.
Has anyone given any thought to the idea that Bend / Central Oregon is simply not big enough to support a film festival with the business plan that BendFilm appears to embrace? It’s one thing to be Seattle or Portland and put on a general theme film festival with a base population of hundreds of thousands of potential festival goers and another to expect little Bend to be able to do the same. BendFilm was a fun and entertaining idea but maybe it wasn’t the executive director or the board of directors fault it isn’t working but rather that Bend simply isn’t of sufficient size to pull off the concept in its current form. As is often said, trying to do the same failed thing over and over again while expecting a different result could be considered a sign of “insanity”.
My name is Vikki Mee and I am the founder of The Faerie Godmother Fund and a sponsor of the BendFilm Festival. The financial support of BendFilm in 2007 and 2008, both through the fund and personal donations is in excess of $25,000. There are many issues facing BendFilm. Firstly, the communication issues have to be addressed. These issues existed before the current E.D. and are likely to continue into the future. Professional facilitation is required and in fact has been offered (fully paid) to the BendFilm board. I would broaden this to include the neccessity of a professional non-profit consultant. Organizational hierarchy needs to be defined with clear job descriptions, communication protocols and reporting structures, for staff and board members. It’s time to professionalize the board and organization and this means more than keeping track of budgets. This includes donor and sponsor relations, how key personnel present themselves and by definition BendFilm to the public, how the E.D. fits into decision making, development of a strategic 5 year plan, how the staff and the board interact, etc..
I would suggest that the board has a responsibility to provide a formal review and report to donors. The review should include a discussion of yet again another E.D. exodus, the future plans sans E.D., a review and discussion of the 2008 finances and an open and honest discussion of where things went wrong and how the organization can do better. There are many smart, committed people on the board whom I like and respect and it is with great sadness that I have stated I can no longer support the organization with the current board leadership. The specific issues have been addressed with the board. I accept there will be disagreement with my point of view and in fact there may be a sense of relief regarding the exodus of funds. So be it. It really is all up to the remaining donors, they are the primary stockholders and investors in the organization.
Whatever your personal opinion of Sandy Henderson, this is a person who has brought Bend Film to an entirely different level. Her passion, work ethic, film industry connections and deep commitment were the ONLY reason that Bend Film 2008 happened at all. There are numerous sponsors that will re-evalute their investment as a result of Ms. Henderson’s unnecessary departure.
Of course, the underlying problem is the same as many other non-profits AND for-profits in our community — including the Cascade Music Festival, Music & Munchies, the Sagebrush Festival — we can go on and on. Too many events…too many independent, non-aligned interests…all with their hands in the same cookie jar for “support.” The non-profit HAND-OUT mentality must be eliminated — replaced by a business mentality. If the big events in this community (whether not-for-profit or for-profit) would integrate their resources under a single business model, with a single, professional leadership and administrative structure, the need for a board of directors could be eliminated. No doubt that with the right communication platforms offered to a much broader cross-section of business interests, coupled with professional, modern and sophisiticated ticket sales and other business practices — that a COLLECTIVE of these great events and their venues — Bend Film, a major music & heritiage festival, a culinary celebration (e.g The Bite), Arts Central Oregon, The Tower (why do we have our showcase performing arts venue COMPETING with many of our showcase performing arts organizations?), etc. would be able to achieve financial results that most observers would think to be out of reach. To do it, we must encourage these organizations to give up their feifdoms and start behaving according to a rationale business model, that does not rely on handouts but, rather, on best business practices. This should include investment and partnership from our major tourism partners — becasue the vast majority of our local events would do much better if marketed and sold as regional destination events — just like the Britt in Jacksonville/Medford, the Ashland Festival or Bumpershoot in Seattle, all of which fill hotel rooms and restaurant seats. Here we have the most appealing natural resources in the entire country, together with great events — and we are losing ground? In spite of the touch economy, these trends do not make sense, especially since people with means are trading in long-trips (e.g. Park City, Sun Valley, Hawaii, Mexico) for shorter “destination” mini-vacations, often anchored by great events (such as Bend Film).
Under a business model structure, Ms. Henderson would be an ideal person to be part of a team of professionals that takes the cultural offerings in our community to another level, and generates profits that can be re-distributed to non-profits, rather than asking the same companies, over and over, to foot the bill out of the goodness of their hears.
It is time for a new model, rather than a continuation of the petty politics and turf battles that are currenly too prevalent.
Without an ED, there is no direction. Anyone that has worked with a non-profit realizes that a board without an ED can’t get much done. It’s a sad thing to realize, but I won’t be giving any of my funds to this non-profit going forward under these conditions.
A board of 9 or 10 individuals each with their own agenda often becomes frayed and unable to accomplish much. Often times a board will not give adequate authority to an ED because of each individual board member’s agenda.
I agree with Vikki above in obtaining the services of a professional non-profit consultant and possibly obtaining the advice of other sucessfull non-profits that have gone through something similar.
Hopefully something positive will come out of this and we will have a successfull BendFilm in years to come!
No doubt you are right, KC, about the need for an ED. I, too, will not renew my membership of Bend Film, nor will I pay for the films, Indy Reels and parties next year, until Bend Film shows that they will be professionally managed without board micro-management. That said, i still believe that no matter what they do, they will struggle, since their primary source of revenue is handouts (e.g. charity), not sales (e.g. investment). Until the model — and mentality — changes, so this is run as a business, Bend Film will end up like all the other great cultural and performing arts event — strugglig to pay the bills.
From what I understand Sandy Henderson quit. Someone truly committed to her dream job doesn’t quit. Someone truly committed to the health of an organization doesn’t lobby supporters to take their money and run. The person who does this is someone committed to shining a light on themselves and inflating their ego. I don’t know Sandy Henderson but I know the person who is more concerned with self preservation than organizational preservation. C’mon I have worked with plenty of non-profits and in the early years of all of them there is a bit of struggling to see how to best operate. Organizations, successful organizations, can weather all sorts of personnel turbulance without a hiccup when the foremost question is the health of the organization. Whether it is an ED position or another structure let’s give the leadership at BendFilm some opportunity to really think about it rather than push an agenda. It has been all of two weeks. This is the perfect opportunity to remove self interest and egos and what’s been done before and find another option that might work. If it doesn’t well then maybe the same thing will happen next year until it is figured out. Despite transitions the film festival happened. I have to say shame on Vikki Mee – purporting to support women in film and then pulling money out of organizations that support women in film seems the opposite of the right thing to do. Pulling funding and support out of a local struggling arts organization when the going gets tough seems like the opposite of the right thing to do. Pulling funding in times like these makes me believe there could be someone else with their own agenda. Seems a bit fishy to me. Seems like playground politics to me. If you care about BendFilm and it’s success now is the time to rally your support – not ensure its demise! I’m sending my membership contribution off today and I while I don’t have $25,000, I hope my $200 counts is helpful moving forward.
The record speaks for itself. If a nonprofit hires and then for whatever reason (there are two sides to every story) they’ve lost three executive directors in three years – it is time for the donors who give to Bend Film, for the patrons of Bend Film, the volunteers, the members, and the leadership to ask what have I done (hold themselves accountable to form a better, stronger, more efficient, and more effective organization); and also ask what can I do, now? The leadership should solely be focused on the mission statement; all decision making, all work, all planning, and all evaluation should be about how well the mission is being conducted. If the leadership were to sit down and discuss the future of the organization solely thinking of what is best for the organization (again, given its mission) they would be better focused. There’s leadership quoted, here is saying too much ‘they’, ‘she’, and not enough ‘I’ in this article. Hold yourself accountable.
I believe the problem may not be so vague. The article stated, “Henderson did, however, mention that she was disappointed that the board of directors did not help in the fundraising process รข ” an area that Jambor cited as problematic upon his resignation in 2007.”
Both EDs cited the same problem. Isn’t anyone concerned about the redundency?
I work with non-profits as well as volunteer my time and skills. The most successful non-profits I’ve seen have boards committed to fundraising. Non-profit or not, money is the life force.
Katie said about the ED position, “…the position requires someone with both รข right brain and left brainรข ย capabilities รข ” a combination of skills that might be hard to find.” Even if you found the perfect person that fit this bill, “it takes a village.” One person couldn’t accomplish everything.
I’ve seen more boards comprised of people who like the status of saying they’re on the board rather than do the work required. They’d rather complain or find fault outside themselves. Well, I looked at the names of the BendFilm board members and they need to know I don’t have much respect for them.
As chair of an arts related organization here in Bend, if I ever see their name in an application to join my board, you can bet they’ll be asked about fundraising before they’re rejected.