AMPAS funds U.S. film festivals
Foundation gives $450,000 to 24 events
Producer Gale Anne Hurd, who chairs the foundation’s fest committee, announced the grants, which encourage festivals to make their events more publicly accessible.
The coin comes as financially strapped corporations slim down their sponsorship roles, forcing many fests to tighten their belts. The Jackson Hole Film Festival shuttered this month, citing the economic downturn.
Two big winners, the Nashville and New Orleans film festivals, will each receive $75,000 over a three-year period. The San Francisco Film Festival will collect $50,000 while Chicago, Heartland, Mill Valley, Sarasota and Seattle will pocket $30,000 each. Roger Ebert’s Film Festival in Urbana, Ill., gets $20,000.
The Academy Foundation grants more than $1 million to scholars, orgs and fests each year. Since 1999, its Festival Grant Program has awarded 198 grants totaling $3.5 million.
