2008-08-05 ParadiseCinema Meeting

< ==Present==
< Board: Kate, Michele, Lynda, Shaun (regrets: Susan Wakefield)
< Ulrike Lohman, Peter Roberts, Bill Niven, Suzanne Funnell, Calum Johnson, Daniel MacKay, Scott Donovan, Emanuel Jannasch, Ron Skibbens, Matthew DuBois.
< ==Notes==
< Kate: We on the board have encounterd wonderful gifts, we have encountered challenges.... (much more.)
< Scott: sense some frustration in the room, hope that the meeting will continue.
< Peter: we can continue with the discussion and decide to notify the members, ''later.''
< Emanuel: it may be better to reinvent the board.
< Kate: we kept going on and ground ourselves into a hole, clinging to a slim chance that something might happen in the future. We've had over five hundred board meetings, trying just one more thing. I've had a few difficult years; public service is a hard thing. Now, we have assets, they're sitting there, we want to do something good with it. If we don't arrive at a decision tonight; if we need legal advice, the money will immediately disappear. We want to do good things, we want good movies in Halifax. We can analyze whatever sins we may have committed for five years, but we need to make a decision. The scoieties act [she means, our bylaws] says that we must pass on our money to another nonprofit, preferably one with similar goals.
< ??? Would the Board be open to putting this off to more participation?
< K: after the last AGM we made an effort to get new boardmembers with no success. Some of us came close to resigning repeatedly. We have not had the response we needed. If we're going to do any business at this meeting, we need to have a motion.
< ??? What was the process of notifying the members?
< The process for notification: ten days before the meeting, snailmail was sent out to people we had no email addresses; seven days before, email was sent out.
< Calum Johnson: Sending out an email saying, "We give up" instead of having a general meeting because the board is ready to give up, is not acceptable. The response is poor; the notification is poor. There has been no notification. I haven't gotten anything since 2002 on this group.
< ???: I have been on various committees; it is normal for less than 5% to show up up. An honest efford has been made to contact our members. History shows that renewing the effort is not going to work at this time, or in this way, I would move that we have an AGM.
< Motion that we should proceed with the meeting. Passed.
< ===Finacial report===
< Cash: 58,828, 10,000 belongs to HRM; Receiv: 540; Equip: 9,400 [??] Bills: 10,638. Expenses in last year: $720; income: interest.
< Main loss of $$: the lease on Market Street: $32,000
< Grant from HRM, $20,000 (Dan got that!) About $10,000 spent on equipment; remanining $10k must be repaid. Motion to pass the financial report, carried.
< ===Presentation, Atlantic Film Festival===
< Shawn: Introducing Gregor Ash, executive director of the Atlantic Film Festival. We tried many different things to find a home for Paradise; private landlords. Atlantic Film Fesival shares most of our mandate and is the best proposal for a home for independent films.
< GregorAsh: I appreciate how much work has gone in to trying to make Paradise Film Society work. Thanks for oportunity to present. AFF produces significant film events, some of the best in the country, via the support of the community -- particularly successful if you consider that we're doing it in one of the smallest cities in Canada. It has an inernational reputation for the festival. We've seen the festival grow 500% in the last few years including the Al Fresco and the International Film Finders. Long term sustainability requires new capital -- we need a new home. We want to create a landmark home for AFF for our offices for seventeen staffmembers, and a digital theatre. The film community as a whole needs to be considered. The space will require capital. This fall, well begin determining what it'll be. If Paradis Sisters donates, we'll use that capital towads that. We'll exercise all possible options including a posssible repertory cinema. Would like to work with you to provide this kind of cinema. Bill (Niven) is a member of the board and this has been discussed at length. Repertory cinema will exist in Halifax.
< Susie: Is there a proposal about what form it might take before a real cinema appears?
< Gregor: We're about to launch into a discovery session with an outside consultant about what it'll mean. We don't know exactly what it might entail. We've been in discussions, like you have, with various organization. The goal is to look at the space for AFF and a space that will successfuly house repertory theatre.
< ???: Are you definitely not talking about integrating this money into the festival?
< Gregor: No, we are thinking of using this money for the new space. We can't guarantee it will bring a cinema to Halifax. We don't know what it means to bring the cinema to Halifax, it's getting harder to get films. We want to make sure what we're doing is done right, but doesn't threaten what we already have?
< ???: Is there an agreement about what you'll do with the money? Or are you free to do whatever you want with it?
< G: This money will go towards our capital. If you agree, we'll take up the torch and look at a new space. We need a new space for ourselves, we've had free rent for fifteen years, we need a new home.
< BillNiven: Just to assure the member here. I attend the GM and the AFF . I'll be holding Gregor to this promise.
< G: Our goal is to create theatre in that new space, and we'll go ahead with that goal regardless.
< PeterRoberts: it does seem fair that since the members gave money with the specific goal of bringing repertory cinema. I wouldn't want to see the moeny move into a general capital fund and is used for e.g. upgrading your email, and that it's used to upgrading your lodgings and cinema. We're earmarking the $48,000...
< G: The job will cost between 3 and 5 million dollars.
< Peter: the process is one thing. It's a drop in the bucket for the total amount. It's egotistical to say that our $48,000 is to be used for something specific in that amount.
< Susie: we were successful in the goal about bringing repertory cinema in the same way that Paradise did for those few years. You could spend $40,000, and we won't be seeing any films in the meantime.
< G: we're launching our own goals to raise that capital. You guys can be part of that process. Will we be be using it to create an ongoing series? No - it'll be eaten up pretty quick. Our goal right now is to get our own space. Would we start a Monday night cinema series? We don't know -- and, we're already doing it.
< ??? Are you under any deadline for you to get the $48,000?
< G: We have a meeting next week -- but we're responding to our needs .
< Dan: Does it make any difference whether you get an answer tonight, or a month from tonight?
< G: We're going ahead with our project in any case.
< Clarification from Michele: no, it wouldn't.
< Q: what would be the benefit to the members of the paradise film society? will we get a free pass to the atlantic film festival? Will there be a tax donation? A receipt? Apart from the benefit of the general population at large?
< Kate: that would be the only benefit, yes. There would be no specific benefits. We've been assured that the contribution of paradise cinema members will be worked out with the Society.
< Dan: It can't be if the agenda is carried out tonight; there will be no society to make or supervise any agreement.
< Michele: A correction; the society will exist until it is legally dissolved and the RJSC accepts the request.
< Purple shirt: you're looking to raise about five million, and that you may know about space in 1.5 to two years. Is that correct?
< Gregor: I'm not on the committee, I have no idea how long it might take or how much it might cost.
< ??? So when you have a firmer idea, so when you want to approach paradise, that would be a more proper time to do it because then we'd know what we could contribute.
< Kate: all we can do is continue the society or put the money in trust, so that we can decide what to do with it.
< ???? How much would it cost the society to continue to exist? for a year? do you imagine?
< Linda: It would cost about $1000 a year. We'd need to keep the membership list active.
< We would need a proper annual general meeting.
< Back-left: we should have a new board of directors, and make an effort to do something with this money.
< Kate: lengthy discussions with AFCOOP. Lump sum - takes a large amount of money to build a cinema. A lot of money will be needed. We considered the lump sum might make sense as a scholearship for someone who's learning programming; iit could be a perpetual scholarship at the community college, NSCAD, or AFCOOP, but that wouldn't help the Halifax film community in any way. We're about showing films, not making films.
< Shawn: when we were kooking at organizations, we followed our bylaws which state that we would contribute to organizations which had similar mandates. The AFCOOP memberships are for the productions of independent films, and training of filmmakers.
< MJ: Next to me: AFCOOP shows more films than AFF in a year. And more of them are local.
< Shaun: AFCOOP doss many wonderful things and many organiations help with film presentations. The mission of Paradise was to open up a cinema. But not too many organizations actually show films or have the xpertise to do programming. AFCOOP suggested putting the money towards their Monday night series, which costs them about $4000 per year; their "Underground" festival costs about $40,000 per year, so our money could sponsor it for one year. Gregor has the idea of building a cinema of their own. Also, they're willing to put this into writing an agreement, that they'll use other options of things with the Paradise name on it.
< Gregor: we're going ahead with that, one way or another. But, we don't know if we'll be able to raise that money.
< Gregor leaves - thanks.
< ===Continued Discussion===
< ??? Were any other organizaions asked to present another proposal?
< Susie: talking to the AFCOOP people, could it be specified what would be done with it?
< ??? (Bill?) To go back a bit - my sense is that AFF... my experience immediately needs Empire. Part of the reason they couldn't support Paradise is that Empire saw Paradise as a huge threat. I'm skeptical that they could build a new theatre without the support of Empire at all. They're too dependent on Empire. Everyone should know that.
< Scott: he did refer to it as a digital theatre; it could possibly be totally different.
< MJ: what would it cost to set up a trust and delegate a group of individuals to take care of it?
< Linda: with a financial institution and a law firm, they would hold the money in trust.
< ???? The organization is right here, that has the money in trust already. The board has expressed that they have worked hard and is at the end of their options. The renewal of the board might be the best way to continue this. And a changing of the guard.
< MJ: what about the possibility of giving the money back?
< Kate: it would be an incredible amount of work to figure out how much that would be. And besides, that $100 was a donation, not an investment.
< ???? What if we put forward the motion to postpone any decision tonight, and hold an AGM.
< Kate: Whether we can stand to be a board for a while longer, even is debatable.
< Peter: It's a preciptious move, it's rash to make any decisions for this meeting. We should explore options for the disbursement of the amounts. You're exhausted.
< Kate: we should have another meeting some time in the future. People who are interested in making proposals for the use of the funds
< Shaun: I'm moving to Ottawa -- but I don't need to resign, I can continue it there.
< Ron: to follow along with these suggestions - to keep moving foward, is a combination of things from four to six weeks from now, to wind up the organization, with notice to the Coast, the Herald, CBC etc. Members have not been privy to the activities of the board, but we can remedy that.
< Cal Johnston: the board has worked very hard, and I'm not optimistic about a new board doing anything more progressive. I'm particularly concerned with the transfer of assets of the AFF. That's AFCOOP and Atlantic Film Festival? Was there a general call for proposals? I didnt' see anything.
< Shaun: No, we discussed with just those. We were thinking of the membership's best intentions.
< Cal: Winding up the society: we could distribute the $$ to the members.
< Kate: we did consider if that is feasable.
< Motion: We set a date for an AGM in about 4-6 weeks to be followed by a special meeting to discuss the future of the society.
< Cal: most people didn't show up at this meeting because they saw the agenda.
< Silver pony tail lady: We've had six to eight YEARS to make the decision. I'm in total trust for whatever you're planning to do.
< Susie: we need a more specific mandate, more clearly laid out.