John Thomas is in love—and it’s more than just with his partner.
Thomas is in love with the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, a relationship he has cultivated since he first arrived in Tampa Bay in May of 2004.
Thomas, who lives in St. Petersburg, became the development director and was eventually named executive director in 2005—a post he held for only two months when he was recruited for a career opportunity he says he couldn’t turn down.
But the love he had for TIGLFF didn’t fade, and he’s been involved with the board for years in different positions. He will wrap his second and final term as president of the board at the end of 2010.
While preparing for the Festival’s 21st Anniversary, Thomas took a few moments away from planning to speak with Watermark about what we can expect at this year’s 11-day event, why TIGLFF decided not to hire a new executive director and how technology is influencing the annual Oct. 6-16 festival this year.
What was the first gay-themed film you ever saw?
The first gay-themed film I saw in a live theater setting was Zero Patience, which almost no one remembers. It was a really off the wall AIDS-related musical that was at times shocking. The soundtrack was just awesome and I still play the tunes. As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I popped the CD into my car stereo and sang along to the lyrics, “When you pop a boner in the shower, hoisted like a flag for all to see…” It represents to me how I deal with the pain—with humor. It’s an insignificant film, but for me it had a significant impact. Without the festival, those experiences just don’t happen.
What’s your all-time favorite LGBT film?
Our closing film for this year: La Mission [starring Benjamin Bratt]. It is truly one of the finest LGBT films I’ve ever seen on so many levels. The cinematography is gorgeous and rich. The story and storytelling is as compelling as any I’ve seen. The acting made me fall in love with all the lead characters—male and female alike—and the soundtrack was stunning.
It’s the gem you find when you’re least expecting to find one.
This has been a transitional year for TIGLFF and for the first time in several years there is no executive director. How will that impact the festival?
The amazing thing to me is that this has been the smoothest festival entry I’ve ever seen in my seven festivals. And that’s not to say that staff leadership isn’t critical. It is. In fact I think it’s very important going into 2011. But when we were left without an ED in June [after Rosie Stallman resigned the post previously held by Chuck Henson] the reality was we couldn’t bring someone on board in time to make a difference. So as a working board, everyone agreed we’d dig in and make it happen.
The beauty has been that the team is 100% committed and passionate about the festival. But I don’t think it’s realistic to expect the board to sustain this pace, so going into 2011 it really is important to bring more staff on.
What other changes are coming this year?
Most of our changes are behind the scenes to make better use of the dollars and get more creative about getting things done. Many festivals have cut the number of days or changed venues, but we have not.
We won’t have a Gala Party this year because it’s gotten to a difficult to sell tickets and get budget items donated in-kind.
So we found a way to give Diva Pass holders the same or better value for their pass by including them in the Opening Night Founders’ Reception, which for years has been closed to VIPs. We can make a bigger night of film for our opening Friday night, which we had been under-programming because of the Gala.
Will there still be films in St. Petersburg this year?
We will have three nights in St. Pete with only one film rather than two. This lets us push start times back to give people more time to get out of work, have dinner and make it to the theater.
How has technology changed the way TIGLFF does business?
We’ve seen a greater shift toward online purchasing of tickets. Film submissions now come through an online website. Netflix and the internet change the dynamics of film distribution and both affect our ability to secure and screen films.
And the biggie: social media like Facebook are transforming how we reach our audience. There are more than 200,000 gay and lesbian adults living within an hour drive of the Tampa Theatre, yet our attendance fluctuates between 10-15,000 annually. With an 11-day festival and more than 35 film screening events, there’s a huge opportunity to reach more people.
What can the community do to keep TIGLFF going strong?
By cutting expenses to the bone, we entered 2010 in the best cash position I think the festival has ever been in, in spite of the worst economy. That tells you two things. It tells you how much this community cares about its festival, and it tells you how committed and diligent the board has been managing resources. The reality is that TIGLFF is strong and has a bright future.
