Bayside resident Mark Metcalf is an actor who has worked in movies, TV and on the stage. He is best known for his work in "Animal House," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Seinfeld."

In addition to his work on screen, Metcalf is involved with the Milwaukee International Film Festival, First Stage Children's Theater and a number of other projects, including the comedy Web site, comicwonder.com.

He also finds time to write about movies for OnMilwaukee.com.

LAST OF THREE PARTS

Before the 2007 Milwaukee International Film Festival ended, the Shepherd Express, the "founding sponsor" of the festival, began sending invoices to the festival offices for advertising the festival had run.

The Shepherd did not put up money the way other sponsors did, but their sponsorship was always first listed and first announced. Whenever advertising was needed, Dave Luhrssen was inclined to use words to the effect of, "Don't worry about it, we'll take care of it."

Beginning in October 2007, invoices were coming in from the Shepherd asking MIFF, now a relatively independent office in a fiscal way, to pay monies owed. They were even asking for interest on the money. Some of the dates went as far back as 2005. MIFF staff had no idea this was coming.

There was a kind of absurdity about it. The Shepherd Express and Louis Fortis, who had claimed so much responsibility for creating and for managing the film festival, who had taken so much public acclaim for everything attached to the festival, who had been the founding sponsors, were now asking for their money back.

The festival had never been allowed to advertise in any other local periodical or media; it was confined to advertising in the Shepherd Express alone and at the paper's discretion, and now the paper was asking to be paid for what had always been believed to be part of its sponsorship.

But the bills had to be taken seriously. There were other creditors also asking to be paid and there was little money in the account, since the MIFF account had been paying staff salaries and healthcare benefits, two items that had not been written into the 2007 budget.

The Shepherd Express had always paid salaries and health care costs. The budget was always a little questionable, anyway, because Fortis, who had little intimate knowledge of how the festival ran, had written it. It had never been a clearly defined guideline and was often withheld from the staff. In fact, Fortis routinely presented false budgets to potential sponsors. To a certain degree, the financial success of the 2007 festival had been set up to fail from the start.

Fortis developed certain fundraising goals each year. In 2007, funds raised from foundations and grant proposals -- an area the festival staff was permitted to focus on -- had exceeded expectations by nearly 50 percent. Funds raised from corporations, which Fortis had instructed staff not to directly approach because he and the so-called "mayor's council" were going to take care of it, fell short of the established goal by almost 70 percent.

By this time, the mayor's council was a loosely formed and constantly changing group of extremely well intentioned people, who met monthly at Hotel Metro. It was a step up from the usual coffee shop but still a busy, public place. Chris Allen would inform them of the status of fundraising and a discussion would ensue about how to proceed. Fortis occasionally attended these meetings. Luhrssen, the titular executive director of the festival, never did.

Julia Taylor, of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, was a consistent presence, as were VISIT Milwaukee's Dave Fantle, Uihlein Wilson Architects' Marsha Sehler and myself. Jodi Taback, from the mayor's office, was often present. Because there was no specific leadership and no clearly defined process for approaching corporations, and because everyone on the mayor's council had full time jobs that kept them pretty busy, they were relatively ineffective at raising money.

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by archifriend on Sept. 21, 2008 at 12:22 p.m. (report)

Several years back I had volunteered my time at MIFF and found a lack of organization when it came to finances. I had left after becoming extremely frustrated when trying to get a budget pinned down. You need to include a proposed budget with grant applications; Mr. Fortis did not appear to have the time or possibly the interest in working on a real budget. This does not bode well with those organizations/foundations from which you are hoping to receive funding. First regarding the few paid staff members, they worked tirelessly doing a fantastic job and which I believe was not fully appreciated by the Sheperd Exrpress. Volunteers, you could not find a more dedicated and hardworking group of people. With the demise of this year's, and possibly years to come, festival does this mean Jonathon Johnson has moved on to bigger and greener pastures? Milwaukee's possibly lost will be another city's gain.

Posted by patrickm1964 on Sept. 12, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. (report)

Thanks to Mark Metcalf for sharing this story. Frankly, I've always wondered why the MIFF was under-publicized except for the huge insert sure to be found every year in the Shepherd. Now I know. I don't know Louis Fortis, except by reputation and second-hand accounts from those who have worked for him. What I've heard for years, frankly, is not good. I am an avid film fan who, ironically, has never attended MIFF. Perhaps its because I've heard bad things about Fortis, but more likely its because the event was under-publicized to the point that when I became interested and informed, it was too late to fit it into my schedule. I look forward to a great film festival in 2009.

Posted by filmfanatic on Aug. 28, 2008 at 12:09 p.m. (report)

After re-reading Mark's three part article, it occurs to me that the story of MIFF's demise reads like a three act play, culminating in some eye-opening revelations in the final act. It's a fascinating story. Thanks are due to Mark for giving us an accurate insiders' description of the inevitable collapse of MIFF under Louis Fortis. If you want a more generic description of MIFF's collapse, Google "founder's syndrome." If your curiosity knows no bounds, Google the non-profit phrase "self-dealing." I have great expectations for September 2009 when once again Milwaukee will experience an annual international film festival - better and bigger than ever before.

Posted by CedartownUSA on Aug. 21, 2008 at 7:42 p.m. (report)

A million thanks for keeping the film fest going! And for taking the time to explain what's going on. We need to keep it going, it is a gem in Milwaukee's crown, for sure. Come to Cedarburg and check out our historic, newly renovated theater!! The Rivoli . It would be a perfect venue for the film fest!! We'd love to have you! We'll proudly,happily roll out the red carpet for the film fest!!

Posted by filmlover on Aug. 21, 2008 at 11:42 a.m. (report)

I just want to thank Mark Metcalf and onmilwaukee.com for making this whole, rather sordid story as transparent as possible. I realize that it's written, for the most part, from one informed person's perspective, but I feel that it fills in a lot of the gaps for inquiring minds. As I said in response to Part 1 of Metcalf's In Focus on this topic, I look forward to next year's festival films and now, to the events this October.