City Stages is almost ready to go, except for one small problem. It’s short by $250,000.

Festival organizers asked the City of Birmingham to make up the shortfall on Tuesday, which the City Council approved. This comes on top of $300,000 in cash and services already given by the city for this year’s three-day downtown annual music festival.

City Stages has said via Twitter that “Each dollar invested @citystages means 10 to 20 dollars for the city.” Its site makes a similar claim: “City Stages contributes between $10 and $20 million to the area economy each year.” It adds, “City Stages provides over $1 million in direct tax revenue paid by the festival to date.”

Yet, despite repeated attempts to obtain documentation for these claims, the festival public relations representative sent only reports made in 1999, 2000 and 2001 [reports in PDF]. It is unclear who prepared the reports at the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce or Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau, or how the methodology was determined.

Those figures from up to 10 years ago represent a period with high attendance levels and lower ticket prices. The assumptions — rather than actual figures — include number of attendees and estimated daily expenditure per attendee, creating economic impact estimates for each year:

• 1999: $29.2 million
• 2000: $14.7 million
• 2001: $16.7 million
  

Meanwhile, the festival’s tax documents from 2007 [PDF] shed a little more light:

• The festival paid $124,903 in licenses plus payroll and sales taxes that year.
• Festival president George McMillan drew compensation of $105,909, with a salary of $22,334 and an expense account of $83,575. He worked an average of 25 hours per week.
• By contrast, then-festival director Kristie McCullough made $52,568, with a salary of $50,208 and an expense account of $2,360. She worked an average of 40 hours per week.
  
• McCullough Advertising received $23,333 in 2007 and $19,883 in 2006 for advertising and marketing services. Guy McCullough was vice president of the board.
• The budget shortfall was $425,262 from a budget of nearly $3 million. The previous year’s shortfall was $1.1 million.

Birmingham faces a leaner budget this year, with greatly reduced funding for most arts and nonprofit groups. Should the city continue to give money to the festival without requirements? What impact does the festival and its potential disappearance have on the city?

• • •

The festival takes place Friday through Sunday in downtown Birmingham. Tickets are $45 for advance three-day passes (sale ends today), $28 per day, free for age 12 and younger or 60 and older. The lineup includes Doobie Brothers, Indigo Girls, REO Speedwagon, Young Jeezy, Styx and En Vogue. The weather: highs in the low to mid-90s, lows in the mid-70s, with few clouds.

• • •

Also:

• Birmingham magazine: “Something’s got to give. I don’t think anyone’s denying that: City Stages is in debt, and they too are admitting that change may be necessary.”
• Birmingham News: Even editorial writer Joey Kennedy and the board can’t pin down the festival’s generated tax dollars (see comments).
  
• Birmingham News: City Stages Unplugged, free preview from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in Linn Park, with Shirock and Dragonfly.
  
• Black and White: lineup previews of Friday | Saturday | Sunday
• Bham.fm: “In the words of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), ‘If it isn’t making dollars, then it isn’t making sense. If you aren’t moving units, then you’re not worth the expense.’ ”
• Birmingham Weekly: all stories tagged “City Stages”
• WBHM (90.3): “Tapestry” one-hour City Stages special
• The Terminal: “I’d argue that people need to bring suggestions for real solutions to the table before completely bashing the festival and saying it needs to go.”

• • •

Complete City Stages coverage.

Nonprofit organizations look for new recruits at Birmingham Museum of Art

Tonight’s third annual YP Expo comes at a critical time. Nonprofit organizations need help with funding and volunteers more than ever while weathering the economic downturn.

This is where you come in.

It started with a YP Roundtable in October 2006, a meeting of young professionals active as volunteers in the Birmingham area. The idea: Network among groups, work together to make a difference.

The YP Expo gives these groups a chance to recruit new faces to their causes. The free event takes place from 5:30 to 9 tonight at the Birmingham Museum of Art [map | event details].

How can you make Birmingham a better place to live? Start here.

A tip: Register in advance, and bring your printed ticket with you to bypass the potentially long line at the door.

Friday marks the final final deadline for the digital TV transition. As we reported in February, you know, before the original deadline, broadcast stations around the country would convert from analog to digital signals.

This transition includes all stations in the Birmingham market.

You the viewer have a few options:

• Watch cable.
• Watch satellite.
• Install a converter box.
• Read a book.

Don’t blame us when you wake up Saturday morning to watch informercials or fishing shows, only to find static clogging up your VHF and UHF tubes. Instead, check our easy guide to making the conversion to DTV. And welcome to the 21st century.

A few exclusive updates on the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival from tonight’s monthly Sidewalk Salon:

• As mentioned on our Twitter update, the July edition of the Scramble filmmaking competition has been canceled. Organizers said they wanted to concentrate on the main festival for Sept. 25-27. The July contest would have lasted 10 days, rather than the typical 48 hours. The next Scramble will take place Nov. 6-8, with screening date to be determined.

• No numbers available yet on this past weekend’s Birmingham Shout gay/lesbian film festival. Look for them on Wade on Birmingham later this week.

• Five of the six venues for Sidewalk 2009 have been locked in, says executive director Chloe Collins, all familiar sites to festivalgoers:

• Alabama Theatre
• Carver Theatre
• Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
• Alabama Power
• McWane Science Center

The sixth venue will be either the previously used Hill Arts Center (a k a the Alabama Showplace, next to the Alabama Theatre) or a new-to-Sidewalk venue, the Harambe Room at Wee Care Academy [map].

• Regions Bank will not repeat as title sponsor for the festival. Collins says organizers are not actively pursuing title sponsors, instead going after a wider group of smaller sponsors. However, she did not rule out the possibility of another title sponsor. The 2008 festival marked the first time any title sponsor was in place.

• Organizers have restructured membership packages into four levels (Limestone, Iron, Fire and Steel) with a separate one for students and military members (Coal).

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.

So much good stuff happening in the Birmingham area at the tail end of May …

First, the Preserve Jazz Festival at Moss Rock Preserve in Hoover, one of our favorite music festivals in town put on by our friend, jazzman Eric Essix. The lineup includes Jazz Attack (with Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler and Richard Elliott), Tracy Hamlin and Essix.

Tickets are $33, $38 at the door. 3 p.m. Sunday.

Video: Rick Braun interview

• • •

The Birmingham Shout film festival kicks off tonight at WorkPlay in Lakeview with “Sissyboy.” The two-day event features gay and lesbian feature films, documentaries and shorts from the folks at Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

Tickets for tonight’s film are $20, $25 at the door ($15 for members and students). Tickets for Saturday are $20 in advance or $12 per film ($15 in advance for members and students, $7 per film). 8 tonight, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday.

Video: “Sissyboy” trailer

Also:

• Birmingham Weekly: “The 2009 Shout Out”

• • •

Go back in time with the Birmingham Urban League Young Professionals Throwback Prom. Bust out the big lapels and ruffles and dance to the tunes of DJ Brian B. It takes place at Highland Conference Center on Southside.

Tickets are $20, $25 at the door. 8 tonight.

Video: DJ Brian B cutting it up and scratching

Programming alert: Yours truly will be on tonight’s edition of “Tapestry,” the weekly arts and culture show on WBHM (90.3 FM).

It airs at 6:30 tonight, and repeats at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Of course, if you don’t own a radio, you can hear the program online. Our post over at the Birmingham Blogging Academy site goes into more detail about the show, the other interviewees and the in-studio taping.

Share your favorite festivals; sponsor our exclusive guide

It’s almost time for Memorial Day, summer getaways and the Wade on Birmingham Ultimate Summer Movie Guide. This annual guide lists the films and film festivals around Birmingham, with options a’plenty for kids, adults, freeloaders, outdoor lovers and anyone looking for a good time at the cineplex or beyond.

We’ll have dates, prices, blurbs, trailers, links and anything else you need to know.

Film fans: If you have a festival or movie to share, please contact us with the details. We’d love to include your films in our lineup.

Sponsors: Our movie guide is the best resource around for families, film buffs and daters. Be seen by thousands of savvy citizens looking for a night out in front of the big screen. If you’re interested in sponsoring our guide, contact us right away.

And get ready for another great summer of popcorn, candy, excitement and cinematic community.

Often in this space, we focus on Birmingham’s present and past, but perhaps not often enough on its future.

Where is the city headed? Where do we want it to be in 50 years?

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham marks its 50th anniversary on May 11. This nonprofit organization is a public endowment, a savings account for the community, using gifts from donors to make grants to nonprofit organizations in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Walker counties.

As part of its anniversary celebration, the foundation has launched Imagine, a blog to capture the wildest dreams for Birmingham. What could happen? What should never change?

Foundation officers asked dreamers, including Wade on Birmingham, to write and share their vision. (The utopian one, not the apocalyptic sentient-robots-enslave-humanity future.) Here’s an excerpt of our contribution, “A walk to the library”:

April 27, 2059

…

On the way, I see children hurrying to Miriam Witherspoon Elementary, the nation’s top-rated public school. It must be Science Fair Day, because they’re all carrying fusion-powered gizmos and genetically engineered slaw.

The air is clearer than I ever remember. Thank goodness we curbed power plant emissions and car exhaust through smart planning and regulation. Everyone can breathe more easily, and spend their time on things other than trips to the doctor and the pharmacist.

Read the rest of the story and then contribute your own.

What do you want for Birmingham in the next 50 years? Tell us in the comments.

An outsider takes the reins at downtown festival

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The first executive director was a co-founder, serving for eight years. The second rose through the ranks, serving for two years.

The third started Friday.

[Wade on Birmingham:
EXCLUSIVE: Sidewalk hires Chloe Collins as Executive Director]

Chloe Collins has pored over the budget, fielded dozens of congratulatory e-mails and met with board members and volunteers alike. In taking the reins of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, she inherits a 10-year-old film festival with a nearly $10,000 budget shortfall and less than five months until show time.

“The biggest challenge I can see is just getting my arms around what all is involved,” Collins says. “As I learn more, I’m realizing there are lots of people who play such an important role with the festival, and those people haven’t gone away.”

In this exclusive interview, Collins discusses what’s ahead for the festival and how she went from casual moviegoer to executive director. She talked with us in person last week.

(more…)

We spoke this afternoon with Chloe Collins, the new executive director of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, a follow-up to our exclusive story from Wednesday.

Here’s a video teaser of the soon-to-be-published story. Collins discusses her vision for the annual downtown film festival.

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.

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Third director in film festival’s 10-year history

In a Wade on Birmingham exclusive, Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival announced the hiring of new executive director, Chloe Collins (pictured at left). She succeeds Catherine Pfitzer, who was let go in February.

The board had originally planned on having someone in place by April 1, but made the offer to Collins on Monday. Hundreds of applicants applied for the position.

In a media release, board president Alan Hunter described Collins as “a self-starter and leader who can effectively interface with the corporate and film communities while keeping the office running smoothly.”

Collins’ previous jobs include director of corporate communications for Enjoy the City, a national nonprofit fund-raising coupon book organization; senior account executive with Birmingham marketing firm WilbanksElam; and director of marketing and public relations for the Birmingham Music Cooperative, a nonprofit agency handling three music organizations.

The Sidewalk board previously offered the executive director position to Melissa Kendrick, owner of downtown retail store Sojourns and newly hired part-time development director for the annual film festival. She says she turned down the offer for “personal reasons” but is “still helping with fund development.”

Full media release, on the jump …

(more…)

Shift Workspace opens in May next door to What’s on 2nd?
(via Google Maps)

We’re just a few weeks away from the grand opening of Shift Workspace, one of the first coworking spaces in Birmingham.

Drew Jones, a Birmingham author and consultant, gave us a quick tour of the facility, with renovations under way.

The timing seems prescient, as thousands of laid-off area workers look for resources in managing their job search, including networking, office support and flexible meeting space.

Jones said rates have not yet been determined, but that the ground floor would be a shared space available for short-term members, while the second floor would be reserved for classes and offices leased to long-term members. The second floor would be available for rental for meetings, parties and other events.

Our exclusive inside look, after the jump …

(more…)

Food festival season has sprung for spring, but you may be in the mood for something different. How about Asian cuisine?

The Birmingham Asian Cultures and Food Festival takes place Saturday from 10:30 a.m. until 4 p.m., with food service from 11 to 3. The Birmingham Chinese Garden-Asian Cultural Center Foundation is putting on the event.

Participating restaurants:

Chinese

• Mr. Wang’s Chinese Restaurant
• Super Oriental Market/Red Pearl Restaurant
• Top China Buffet
• U China Buffet

Indian

• Silver Coin Indian Restaurant
• Taj India

Japanese

• Shono Japanese Grill
• Sumo Japanese Steak House

Korean

• Asian Restaurant at Green Springs
• Seoul Restaurant

Vietnamese

• Pho Que Huong Vietnamese Restaurant

Entertainment includes storytelling, musical and dance performances and a fashion show, plus a silent auction.

Admission is $12 (which includes three items and a beverage), $6 for children (two items and a beverage).

The event takes place at the Cedars Club, 301 Green Springs Ave. S., just off Interstate 65 Exit 258 [map].

First announced acts heavy on classic rock

Just about a year ago to the day, City Stages announced a lineup that included the Flaming Lips, Diana Ross and the Roots.

Today, the first seven major acts for the 2009 downtown music festival include classic rock and well, classic rock. Organizers changed booking agencies, from AC Entertainment to AEG Live/The Messina Group.

The performers (year of last Top 40 song), so far:

• Doobie Brothers (2001)
• Indigo Girls (1999)
• Jane’s Addiction (2003) (appearance canceled)
• Neville Brothers (never)
• REO Speedwagon (2008) (no original members)
• Styx (1999) (no original members)
• 38 Special (1997)
• Young Jeezy (2008)

A couple more dozen acts on the lineup include En Vogue, Guster and the Whigs.

George McMillan, festival president, says the festival remains about $400,000 in debt.

The festival takes place Father’s Day weekend (June 19-21). Tickets go on sale Monday through Ticketma$ter and Legacy Community Credit Union:

• three-day pass: $37.50 ($40 to $55 later);
• one-day pass: $28;
• children age 12 and younger: free.

What do you think of the initial lineup? How does it compare to the Crawfish Boil or Bonnaroo? Tell us in the comments.

Plus, video previews after the jump …

(more…)

Three fund-raisers for Birmingham-based nonprofit organizations take place tonight and Friday. Here’s a quick peek:

Drive It Forward: Have you wondered what’s it’s like for a top executive, a head honcho? At the Drive It Forward event for Junior Achievement of Greater Birmingham, you can bid of the CEO of your choice at the silent auction. Big coporations, entrepreneurs, retailers, publishers, utilities and power players will be up for grabs. Starts at 5 tonight at Tom Williams Porsche, Grants Mill Road and I-459 [map]. Tickets $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

Dancing With the Roses: See Hoover’s Fabian Sanchez, dancer and reality TV star from “Dancing With the Stars,” at the second annual Roses Dinner benefiting the Central Alabama Women’s Business Center. Win lessons at his Fred Astaire Dance Studio. Starts at 5:30 tonight at the Harbert Center, 2019 Fourth Ave. N., downtown [map]. Tickets $50, $80 for couples, $500 per table.

Raise the Volume: Rock band Better Than Ezra takes the stage Friday at Sloss Furnaces [map] in a benefit gig for the Laps for CF Foundation. Doors open at 6. Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at the door.