Movie review: ‘The Dungeon Masters’

sidewalk.wadeonbirmingham.com
By Kenn McCracken

Review at a glance: “The Dungeon Masters” has no agenda as a documentary, other than to show three role-playing gamers and their hobby up close.

A scene from “The Dungeon Masters.”

When I watched “The Dungeon Masters,” I wondered if it would present a fair portrayal of people commonly regarded as socially inept geeks. The documentary follows three participants in role-playing games, especially Dungeons and Dragons (the title refers to the person who organizes and runs the games).

The film screens Saturday at the  Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

I was pleasantly surprised. While most documentaries that receive attention seem to have an overt message, “The Dungeon Masters” does a commendable job in presenting a likely prejudged topic in a very “without-comment” manner.

The film, directed by Keven McAlester, was too long by 30 minutes, delving into areas that seem completely tangential to the focus. While the storyline follows the three subjects, too many scenes come across as either minutiae or unrelated to their hobby.

As a people watcher and a (cough) former D&D player in elementary school, I would’ve also liked to know more about why they became interested in gaming, how it influences their everyday lives, what they think about being stereotyped. The three touch upon these points briefly, but I wanted more substance.

The film is beautifully shot, as cinematographer Lee Daniel seems to have a natural for presenting a mostly unbiased view while still delivering some extraordinary scenes.

Make no mistake: “The Dungeon Masters” is not going to change your mind. If you’re a gamer, you’ll recognize your friends or yourself.

If you’re the guy who beat up my high school friends, you’ll still be a small-minded jock destined to die alone and miserable, secretly wishing you’d had a good hobby, too. (Kidding. Mostly. Sort of. OK, not really.)

The film will, however, demonstrate a well-made and well-considered documentary.

Kenn McCracken (@insomniactive) is a director and an award-winning screenwriter (2005 Sidewalk Sidewrite grand prize, “Muckfuppet”).

He’s also a writer (Birmingham Weekly, Spin.com, mental_floss), a bassist for the Exhibit(s), an eight-time cat juggling champion for Malta and an ongoing experiment in sleep deprivation. He occasionally steals your best ideas to claim at his blog, Dairy of a Madman.

“The Dungeon Masters” will screen at 6:15 p.m. Saturday at Alabama Power.

Video: Interview with “The Dungeon Masters”
director, Keven McAlester

Also:

• Official site
• Sidewalk summary
• Reviews from Austin Chronicle | Games Information Blog | The Independent Critic | Movie Moxie | SpoutBlog

• • •

Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.

Movie review: ‘Courting Condi’

sidewalk.wadeonbirmingham.com
By Jennifer West

Review at a glance: A “love story” in the guise of a documentary, “Courting Condi” would’ve better been served by ditching the faux-mance and focusing on its true object of desire, Condoleezza Rice.

A scene from the documentary “Courting Condi.”

It’s a love story, about a simple nobody and the Secretary of State originally from Birmingham. The quirky documentary “Courting Condi”  traces the journey of a man in his 20s to meet the woman of his dreams, Condoleezza Rice.

Or so the trailer would have you believe.

The film screens Sept. 26 at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

Viewers will quickly figure out this film is actually about Rice herself, a k a Condi. Our lovestruck hero turns out to be completely fictional, a framing device to move the documentary forward.

But it doesn’t work, serving to distract from the film’s true message. And the musical interludes? Really bad and frustrating to sit through.

[Editor’s note: Perhaps this column is the basis for the original idea.]

The movie takes us through the life of a controversial political figure from birth through the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to 2009. And it reminds us of Rice’s role in the George W. Bush administration, throwing in some lesser-known nuggets of intel.

This one is a hard call. If director Sebastian Doggart had cut a few of the silly bits woven throughout the “real” documentary, “Courting Condi” might have been a really great movie.

Jennifer West (@juniperlou) won the Sidewalk Audience Choice award for her romantic comedy “Piece of Cake” in 2006, which she wrote and directed. She’s working on a feature-length screenplay and blogging about it on JuniperLou.

“Courting Condi” will screen at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

Trailer: “Courting Condi”

How to woo a Secretary of State

Also:

• Official site
• Sidewalk summary
• Reviews from Cinema Signals | Documentary Films.net | ReelTalk | Screen Junkies | Socially Superlative

• • •

Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.

Movie review: ‘Forgetting Dad’

sidewalk.wadeonbirmingham.com
By Kenn McCracken

Review at a glance: “Forgetting Dad” provides a chance to explore questions of identity and memory in a doc about a dad who loses his memory and moves on to another family.

“Old Richard” and Rick Minnich on graduation day
in 1990, in a still from “Forgetting Dad.”

“If your father no longer remembers you, does he stop being your father?”

The answer, of course, depends on who you ask. Director Rick Minnich asks the question in his documentary, “Forgetting Dad.” More interesting are the questions that such an exploration can — and in this case, does — uncover.

The film screens Sept. 26 at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

In 1990, a car accident caused Minnich’s father to lose his memory, or so it seems, since no physical damage was ever uncovered. The amnesia gradually caused the family to fall apart, creating a divide between what he terms as “Old Richard” and “New Richard.” Minnich spent years documenting his exploration of his own memories and connections to New Richard.

Trailer: “Forgetting Dad”

The narrative seems to move a bit slowly at times. But it is put together so new questions — wrinkles in the fabric of the story — introduce themselves gradually and naturally, creating a layered, thought-provoking examination of family, identity, memory and self that should be of interest to anyone.

Also, Minnich manages to avoid what I feared: playing the personal connection for cheap emotional reaction. Not to say that the family members are without emotion, but rather that the simple honesty and rawness in the presentation doesn’t feel manipulative.

Mom wonders if Richard’s amnesia could be fake
in this clip from “Forgetting Dad.”

From a production standpoint, the film itself is nothing terribly unique. The cinematography is mostly quite passable, current interview footage interspersed with old 8mm family films. The audio mix seems a bit uneven, making it difficult to focus on the interviewees at times.

Also, momentary blackouts of the picture occurred (the audio was clear throughout), hopefully a glitch limited to my screener copy. Those were very jarring, especially well into the film.

It’s certainly not the strongest documentary you’ll have the chance to see over the weekend, but those interested in the workings of the human brain and mind, or the dynamics of family memory, will find a provocative story.

Kenn McCracken (@insomniactive) is a director and an award-winning screenwriter (2005 Sidewalk Sidewrite grand prize, “Muckfuppet”).

He’s also a writer (Birmingham Weekly, Spin.com, mental_floss), a bassist for the Exhibit(s), an eight-time cat juggling champion for Malta and an ongoing experiment in sleep deprivation. He occasionally steals your best ideas to claim at his blog, Dairy of a Madman.

“Forgetting Dad” will screen at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at Branch Life Church.

Also:

• Official site
• Sidewalk summary
• Reviews from 1More Film Blog | Exclaim.ca | CityNews

• • •

Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.

Work by Jill Marlar

Artwalk 2009 promises to be wet and wild. (It just had to rain this weekend, didn’t it?)

The free downtown event runs from 5 to 10 tonight and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday. So what are you going to do with those 11 hours?

Our marathon last-minute itinerary …

Hour 1: Don’t know where to start? How about Dave West’s picks for Artwalk, including perennial faves Charles Buchanan, Jill Marlar and Véronique Vanblaere and newcomer Abi Wright? Wait, Dave who?

Hour 2: Speaking of our friend, Buchanan promises no prints over $50, and some as low as $18. Wow!

Hour 3: It’s the 7 o’clock dinner hour, so grab a bite. Black and White has a guide to the area restaurants and bars ready for hungry patrons.

Hour 4: Drop by Greencup Books for the return of editor Todd Dills (now a Nashvillian) for the 2nd Hand event, “Extraordinary Rendition.” The reading will feature Dills, Jim Murphy, Nadria Tucker, Soapy Jones and Meeksworth. Free, but donations accepted.

Hour 5: Need more recommendations? Birmingham Weekly has picks from A to … W.

Hour 6: It’s noon Saturday! Stake out a spot at the Kidzone, behind Space One Eleven [map]. Children can make masks, tiles, murals and glasses (eyeglasses, not drinking glasses) with teachers and artists, and also have their faces painted (the kids, not the teachers or the— well, you get the idea.

Work by Nada Boner

Hour 7: So who should you see this afternoon? Deep Fried Kudzu recommends Nada Boner, Liesa Cole, Tony Rodio, Joe Minter, John Lytle Wilson, Don Stewart and Charles Buchanan. Get moving!

Hour 8: Become a video star. The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham wants to capture your vision of this city’s bright future on video, so stop by the booth [map] on Saturday.

Hour 9: Say hi to your friends. It’s easy to do while wandering First Avenue North as 10,000 other art fans stream by. (Or just follow along on Twitter …)

Work by Stephen Smith

Hour 10: Check out recommended artists like Salty ’Ham Cartooneesta Stephen Smith and painter Kate Merritt Davis.

Hour 11: Thank a volunteer. Without them, events like Artwalk don’t happen. (Of course, you can thank them any hour and every hour.)

sidewalk.wadeonbirmingham.com

A first: documentary on opening night

“Best Worst Movie,” a documentary about the so-called worst movie of all time, will open the 2009 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival. The selection marks the first time a documentary feature, rather than a narrative feature, has opened the 11-year-old event.

The festival announced the selection this morning on its site, along with e-mail, Twitter, Facebook and Fox 6.

The movie catches up with the stars of the much-maligned “Troll 2,” a horror movie made in 1989 in Utah that neither featured trolls nor was a sequel. The Italian director, as well as the crew, spoke no English, but worked with an American cast, including Alexander City’s George Hardy. (Organizers plan to show “Troll 2,” though the time and the location have not been announced.)

“Best Worst Movie” has won awards from various festivals, including South by Southwest.

In an interview with the Birmingham News earlier this year, Hardy discussed the unique aspects of “Troll 2,” saying with a laugh, “One of my lines is, ‘Go away, monster.'”

It screens at 8 p.m. Friday at the Alabama Theatre. Tickets are $12, $10 for members in advance. Scheduled to appear are director and producer Michael Paul Stephenson, producers Lindsay Stephenson, Brad Klopman and Jim Klopman, and stars Hardy and Jason Steadman.

Official site | Sidewalk page | IMDB

• • •

Have you seen “Troll 2”? Will you be at Sidewalk on opening night?

Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.

sidewalk.wadeonbirmingham.com

Details about the lineup for the 2009 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival have been trickling out this week.

Among the 60-plus blocks, we take a closer look at the movies with an Alabama connection, complete with preview videos.

(Only the opening night film remains to be announced. The opening night film has been announced.)

The lineup so far:

• Competitive features
• Noncompetitive features
• Closing night films
• Schedule grid

The 11th annual Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival takes place Sept 25-27 in downtown Birmingham. Tickets: two-day pass, $15, $12 for members; opening night film $12, $10 for members.

• • •

‘Alabama Moon’

John Goodman stars as “Mr. Wellington” in “Alabama Moon,”
premiering at the 2009 Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival.

World premiere. One of two closing night films, “Alabama Moon” is based on the award-winning children’s book of the same name by Point Clear native Watt Key. Set in the early 1980s, the movie focuses on 11-year-old Moon Blake who hides out in the Alabama forests with his radical father. Suddenly orphaned, Moon must learn to adapt to the world around him on his own. Filmed in Louisiana.

• Stars Jimmy Bennett, John Goodman and Clint Howard.
• Directed by Tim McCanlies.
• IMDB
• 6:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Alabama Theatre
• Scheduled to attend: Howard, Gabriel Basso, Uriah Shelton, producer/Tuscaloosa native Lee Faulkner and composer Ludek Drizhal.

• • •

‘Courting Condi’

A pseudo-documentary about one man’s object of desire, former Secretary of State (and Birmingham native) Condoleeza Rice.

• Directed by Sebastian Doggart.
• Official site | IMDB
• 12:30 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Birmingham Museum of Art

• • •

‘Interplanetary’

North American premiere. Five years after making a splash at Sidewalk with the horror-comedy “Hide and Creep,” Birmingham-based Crewless Productions returns with a sci-fi-comedy set on Mars about a slasher loose on a corporate base. Filmed in Birmingham.

• Stars Melissa Bush, Chuck Hartsell and Kyle Holman. (And yours truly.)
• Directed by Chance Shirley.
• Official site | IMDB
• 4:15 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Carver Theatre

• • •

Shorts blocks

• Films from August’s Scramble, 6:15 p.m. Sept. 26 at Alabama Power
• UAB Digital City, 11 a.m. Sept. 26 at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
• Local shorts No. 1, 9 p.m. Sept. 26 at Alabama Power
• Local shorts No. 3, 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at Alabama Power [we’re not sure what happened to No. 2]

• • •

‘So Long Are You Young’

A documentary about “Youth,” written by Birmingham businessman, author and humanitarian Samuel Ullman in 1917. The poem lives on to influence political leaders Robert and Ted Kennedy, Panasonic founder Konosuke Matsushita, Nobel Peace Prize winner and president of Korea Kim Dae-jung and Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

• Directed by Judith Shaeffer.
• Listing in the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
• 12:45 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Young and Vann Building

• • •

‘They Came to Play’

A documentary about the entrants in the Van Cliburn Foundation’s piano competition, including Birmingham ophthalmologist Drew Mays.

• Directed by Alex Rotaru.
• Official site | IMDB
• 6:45 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Birmingham Museum of Art

• • •

Which ones will you see? Let us know in the comments.

Action! Complete Sidewalk Festival coverage.

Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival updates …

• Awhile back, a long while back, we promised numbers from May’s Birmingham Shout gay/lesbian film festival. Here’s where we stand:

Officials at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, which runs the annual event, declined repeated requests for revenue figures form the two-day event. Shout festival director Ralph Young said that attendance increased 250 percent from 2008 to 2009, though it’s unclear how he arrived at this figure.

He states that 2009 attendance was 710 (135 on opening night and 575 the following day). In 2008, the one-day festival attracted 285 attendees, but this accounts for only a 149 percent increase. For comparison, the 2009 festival had 13 feature-length films and a shorts block, while 2008 had five films and one short, and 2007 had 14 films and three shorts (over three days).

Ticket prices for 2009 were $20 to $25 for opening night and $20 for all day Saturday, or $12 per film.

Chloe Collins, Sidewalk’s executive director, said:

“The Alabama Moving Image Association [Sidewalk’s umbrella organization] presents numerous events throughout the year (Sidewalk, Shout, Scrambles, Teen Filmmaking Challenge etc.), and each of these events have expenses and incomes, making up the total AMIA budget.

“Like most nonprofit organizations who host multiple events throughout the year, AMIA provides the expense and income information for the entire season, as requested by the various organizations from whom we seek funding and as required by law.”

Other Sidewalk updates:

• The festival launched a three-week Kick the Bucket online fund-raiser with a goal of $10,000. Despite extending the campaign by a week, it appears the effort fell short by a considerable amount. The last update said it had raised $2,861 as of Aug. 31. Update: The campaign raised $5,864.
• Speaking of fund-raisers, Theatre Downtown is donating all proceeds to Sidewalk from its 8 p.m. Sunday performance of “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.” Performances take place at Birmingham AIDS Outreach, 205 32nd St. S., Ste. 101, Lakeview [map]. Tickets — $17, $12 for senior citizens and students — can be purchased online or by calling (205) 306-1470.
• The schedule, originally to be posted Aug. 10, should be posted Friday on the site, according to today’s e-mail newsletter.
• Lastly, the November Sidewalk Scramble has been moved to this month, with entries to be screened at this year’s festival on Sept. 25-27. Registration, $50, closes 5 p.m. Monday, with competition taking place Aug. 28-30. For more information, visit the Scramble page.

Update Aug. 21: Sidewalk schedule delayed till next week. The word from organizers:

The Sidewalk Staff is pleased to announce that we have secured a new screening venue, giving us a grand total of 8, all located in downtown Birmingham. Because of this exciting development, we are now having to reorganize the official schedule and will not be able to post it today.

In addition, we’ve had some exciting developments with our Opening and Closing Night films, special screenings, and more. So, beginning on Monday, we will be giving you updates every day next week, beginning with the Sidewalk Minute on Fox 6, starting at about 7:50am. Stay tuned to your inbox, sidewalkfest.com, Facebook, and Twitter to stay on top of all things Sidewalk.

To whet your appetite, here’s a sneak peek at some of the films we’ll be showing at Sidewalk:

• “Etienne”
• “Dear Lemon Lima”
• “We Fun”
• “Lightning Salad Moving Picture”
• “Autistic Like”
• “Modern Love is Automatic”

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.

A still from the documentary, “Food Inc.”

Following up on our exclusive story from earlier this week, “Food Inc.” tickets are on sale through Bottletree Cafe for the Labor Day weekend screenings in Birmingham. Proceeds benefit Greater Birmingham Community Food Partners, a nonprofit advocacy group for sustainable food.

“Food, Inc.” is a critically acclaimed documentary that examines the modern American food industry.

• Sept. 5, 1 p.m., $7 [buy tickets]
• Sept. 5, 5 p.m., $7 [buy tickets]
• Sept. 6, 4 p.m., $18, includes panel discussion and Sunday supper after screening [buy tickets]

For more information, contact Amanda Storey on her site, Food Revival, or e-mail her at Amanda.storey[at]foodrevival.com.

For more on “Food Inc.,” see our previous story, “EXCLUSIVE: ‘Food Inc.’ to screen at Bottletree Cafe on Labor Day weekend.”

Update: You can also find out more about the screenings on Food Revival.

Earlier today, we posted a preview of the returning Birmingham Heritage Festival.

Scratch that.

The three-day music festival was scheduled for Linn Park on Friday through Sunday, with Ludacris, Angie Stone, Keyshia Cole, Chaka Khan and OverFloe. But financial woes have forced organizers Ascension Event Management to pull the plug three days before opening.

The first hint of trouble came when the organizers approached the city council for a last-minute loan of $300,000 to pay acts. The second hint came today when rapper Ludacris, billed as a performer, said he wasn’t performing, calling the festival “bogus.”

Lawrence Walker of Ascension Event Management released a statement on the Birmingham Heritage Festival site, citing a broken promise from the City of Birmingham and even blaming negative media coverage. [See statement after the jump.]

Ticket buyers can receive refunds from the original point of purchase.

(more…)

Update: Organizers cancel Birmingham Heritage Festival, citing financial woes.

• • •

Friday marks the return of the Birmingham Heritage Festival, which originally ran from 1991 to 2003 under Larry Allen. This year, Ascension Event Management has taken on the three-day event, but not without a hiccup or two.

Organizer Lawrence Walker asked the city council for a last-minute loan of $300,000 for the Birmingham Heritage Festival, the same day City Stages declared bankruptcy after taking an additional last-minute $250,000 from the City of Birmingham. Walker said the 30-day loan would be to pay acts after a financial backer had pulled out, but the council rejected the request.

The festival takes place Friday through Sunday in a new location, Linn Park (previously, the event was in and around Kelly Ingram Park). Tickets, $55 for all three days or $33 for one day, are available online and at select Piggly Wiggly locations.

Scheduled to perform …

Friday

• Angie Stone
• SOS Band
• Lloyd
• Ludacris

Saturday

• Dwele
• Avant
• Keyshia Cole

Sunday

• Prince Yelder and DFC
• OverFloe
• Cheryl Bufford and the Floodland Family
• Ashley Guin
• Church Boy
• Atlantic Starr
• Joe
• Chaka Khan

Update: Ludacris said via Twitter that he is not performing at the Birmingham Heritage Festival: “Bogus promoter alert!!! Birmingham, AL Heritage festival, completely false. Luda will not be there so don’t buy tickets!!!”

(hat tip The Terminal)

Video previews after the jump …

(more…)

Video: “Food, Inc.” trailer

“Food, Inc.,” the critically acclaimed documentary, started its four-night stint at the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa Sunday night. It followed a one-week run in July at Mobile’s Crescent Theater.

But, Birmingham foodies and film fans will have their chance on Labor Day weekend, as Bottletree Cafe will show “Food, Inc.” for several nights. In addition to the film’s exclusive Birmingham screening, organizers plan to have tastings, a panel discussion and handouts detailing area food groups and resources.

The movie, directed by Robert Kenner, takes a look at the American food industry and the dire consequences of modern production and consumption to people and planet. Film critic Roger Ebert gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing:

This review doesn’t read one thing like a movie review. But most of the stuff I discuss in it, I learned from the new documentary “Food, Inc.,” directed by Robert Kenner and based on the recent book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan. … I just wanted to scare the bejesus out of you, which is what “Food, Inc.” did to me.

“Food, Inc.” also scored well on the review site Metacritic.

Sponsoring the film are the Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network, Greater Birmingham Community Food Partners, Jefferson County Childhood Obesity Task Force, Jones Valley Urban Farm, Slow Food Birmingham and Whole Foods Market.

Screenings will be on Sept. 5 and 6. Information on times and ticket prices will be posted on this site soon. [Update: You can purchase tickets for $7 to $18 through Bottletree.]

For more information, contact Amanda Storey on her site, Food Revival, or e-mail her at Amanda.storey[at]foodrevival.com.

Video: “Food, Inc.” opening scene

Note: See our Independence Day weekend activities for 2010.

Looking for some hot and/or cool ways to spend your Independence Day weekend?

• The Birmingham News has 12 things to do (and one not to do, confusingly labeled under “Drinks”) around town. [PDF version]

• The Alabama Tourism Department has great activities across the state from A to V (Alexander City to Valley Head). [PDF version]

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Photo: Flickr: Jim Brickett / CC BY-ND 2.0

Last weekend’s disappointing ticket sales leave event $1 million plus in red

The Birmingham News reported via e-mail and Twitter that “Music festival organizers say City Stages will not return.”

And according to the News’ site:

The Birmingham Cultural and Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind City Stages, is “irretrievably insolvent,” and intends to go out of business, according to a statement released today by festival organizers.

City Stages can’t pay its expenses from this year’s festival, because revenue was “drastically below expected levels,” the statement says. Organizers pointed to the economic crunch, hot weather and low attendance, among other factors.

The downtown summer music festival, started in 1989, featured a wide variety of musical acts and quickly became Alabama’s largest music event. In recent years, the festival has been plagued by recurring debt, asking for and receiving $250,000 last week from the City of Birmingham. Last weekend marked an all-time low in day passes sold in the festival’s 21-year history.

Updated June 26: The final debt tally? More than $1 million, leaving vendors high and dry.

Also:

• Why festival president George McMillan should have stepped down in 2008
• City gave $700,000 in cash and services to festival in 2008
• An analysis of  the 2009 festival’s numbers and economic impact

Could the festival have been saved?
What are your favorite City Stages memories?
Should festival president George McMillan have stepped aside sooner?
How will this impact Birmingham culturally and financially?
Sound off in the comments.

• • •

City Stages officials released this statement [original PDF]:

City Stages Statement of Intent to Go Out of Business

For 21 years, the Birmingham Cultural and Heritage Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit organization, has been producing the annual City Stages Music Festival, which has consistently drawn hundreds of thousands of attendees from all backgrounds and cultures to downtown Birmingham to enjoy three days of live entertainment from national and local artists, a children’s festival, arts and crafts, and a festive atmosphere, all in a family friendly event

The Foundation has given back to the City of Birmingham and the state with an economic impact in the tens of millions of dollars and has provided scholarships, music camps, and other valuable benefits to the City and the region. Most of all, City Stages changed the landscape of downtown Birmingham’s Linn Park and the surrounding area for one weekend during the year, in a way that helped to unite the community. We are proud of our heritage and the long-term success of the festival and what the Foundation has been able to accomplish over the last two decades.

However, due to the recent economic downturn, weather challenges, low attendance, low ticket sales, and other factors, revenue from this year’s Festival was drastically below expected levels and insufficient to pay the expenses of the Festival. Coupled with the substantial debt the Foundation has carried from previous years, the inability to meet the expenses of this year’s event cannot be overcome. Therefore, we regret to inform the community, our loyal sponsors and vendors, and the many volunteers who have lent their time, talent and effort to this endeavor that it is no longer viable to continue this Festival.

The Foundation is now irretrievably insolvent. With great sadness, pursuant to a resolution adopted by its Board of Directors, the Foundation is in the process of officially going out of business and legally terminating its existence. City Stages has come to an end.

We would like to thank all of the artists, corporate sponsors, vendors, festival attendees, the City of Birmingham, Jefferson County, State of Alabama, local small businesses, board members, community organizations and all of the other many volunteers and partners who have worked with City Stages over the past 21 years. The Foundation would also like to express its regret that the drastic reduction in revenue from this year’s event has made it impossible for the Foundation to satisfy its debts.

It appears vendors such as Bottletree Cafe, which provided catering and shut down its restaurant/bar for five days, will not be fully reimbursed.

Rebecca Davis, promoter for the club, mentioned via Twitter:

“PLEASE come out and support Bottletree!! We won’t be getting paid what we were owed for the catering and hospitality we did for City Stages.”

(Hat tip: Bham.fm.)

More from Bottletree Cafe on its blog:

• “Bottletree caters the last ever City Stages”
• “Bottletree and City Stages”

• • •

A few more updates:

• ABC 33/40: “Some vendors say they were paid but their checks bounced. Others, like Bottletree, only got half of their money and don’t know how they are going to pay their staff.”
• The Terminal: Scott Schablow’s musical tribute to City Stages’ passing
• Black and White (published before festival’s termination): McMillan “makes perhaps his boldest and most repugnant claim, i.e. that his efforts with the festival were done ‘for this city.’ “
• Black and White (published before festival’s termination): “With all of the financial problems this event has suffered over the past nine years, somewhere, somebody should have put a stop to the idea that City Stages had to compete with every other festival in the region.”

• • •

Complete City Stages coverage.

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.