Milwaukee Film Cuts Youth, Artist Programs, Seeks Sustainability
Organization focusing more tightly on its 'unique contribution' to Milwaukee.
Oriental Theatre. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Milwaukee Film is reducing its scope in a move designed to ensure its success.
The organization announced it will end its youth education and artist mentoring programs.
“While we are deeply proud of these programs, we recognize that other organizations are also doing wonderful work advancing youth education through the arts. This decision allows us to redouble our efforts on what we do better than any other organization: a shared cinematic experience for our community,” said board chair Susan Mikulay in a press release.
The changes, announced Aug. 9, come after a February Urban Milwaukee report that the organization was shedding staff, including its CEO Jonathan Jackson, amid financial issues.
Jackson was replaced by Anne Reed, who, after an interim period, was given the title on a permanent basis. Reed has helped the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization take over the operations of the shuttered Downer Theater, adding it to its Oriental Theatre operation. The Downer reopened to great fanfare in April.
Earlier this year, the organization also announced it is replacing the Cultures and Communities Festival with a new documentary-focused festival.
“We have always been guided by an understanding of our unique contribution to the community. Our goal in these decisions was to structure our work to ensure that contribution would thrive,” said Reed in a statement. “This central focus was clear. It is the nationally recognized Milwaukee Film Festival and our ongoing rich and varied programming at the two historic cinemas we have preserved.”
While its formal mentoring program is ending, Milwaukee Film will continue the Cream City Cinema program during the annual spring film festival. The programming series, for which Urban Milwaukee has served as a media sponsor for several years, provides a showcase for locally-made short and feature films. The Milwaukee Show, a compilation of shorts, routinely sells out and has spawned several spinoff showcases.
“We are committed to continuing our core mission of bringing extraordinary cinema experiences to our community,” said Reed. “We believe these changes will allow us to do so with even more attention and focus, and will ensure the long-term sustainability of our organization.”
The 16th annual festival saw an attendance bump, though the organization said it still feels the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2024 festival had an announced total attendance of 32,624. The figure is up slightly from 2023, which saw a total attendance of 31,757, including 29,718 in-person for film screenings. The 2024 festival was the first since 2020 not to include a virtual component. The 2019 festival had an attendance of 87,618, but included far more venues and events.
The inaugural Dialogues Documentary Festival is scheduled for Sept. 26-29.
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