SVJFF President's letter
The forming of the Silicon Valley Jewish Film
Festival or more appropriately,
the reshaping of the 16 year-old San Jose Jewish Film Festival, was to make sure that top
quality Jewish and Israeli film and film events will be presented in this area for many
years in the future.
To accomplish this, we made the determination that the SVJFF needs to have three operating
components:
1. Executive Board - This Board would spend the majority
of its time and energy focusing on strategic issues such as how the organization will
operate, financial resource acquisition, film distribution options, and programming goals.
Our previous all-volunteer organization did a great job getting film festival out, but
relied too heavily on a few people's time to the point where they could no longer contribute
to the festival and enjoy their experiences. Now the Executive Board will plan the
future growth areas and programming and raise the funds in order to accomplish those
goals.
2. Paid Staff - Starting this year, the SVJFF recognized that paid professionals
were needed to become the central core of activity for festival operations. With that,
we hired our first part-time Executive director, Mark Levine (former SJJFF President).
Along with that there is a half-time administrator, part-time film search researcher,
with the desire to have grant writing, audio/visual, web developer, and marketing specialists
hired in the near future. As you can see , we are proceeding toward this goal in a very
measured manner. Until new resources have been found, we want to make sure the financial
foundation is in place while we experience our new growth.
3. Volunteers - As the Festival grows in the coming years, we will continue
to work with new partners. Our programming is transitioning to produce more Jewish and
Israeli film events than in previous years and we will need new support from others who
would enjoy committing their personal time to bring unique programming to the Silicon
Valley. New volunteers are important because we are still relying heavily on people who
have been volunteering for years. They need some relief!
With this framework and vision
in place, it is important for all who read this to know that the organization is still
small enough that it gives new members the opportunity to exert an important influence
on the Festival's future direction. You can make a difference and have fun doing it!!
We are certainly a democratic group. Not every film the President, Board member, or film
selection member wants makes it to the festival. Instead, we try to take into consideration
the wide variety of tastes of our diverse community for our programming selections. So
one time it may be mainstream or the next very challenging. We know that generational
tastes require special attention. Not every film will appeal to everyone, but we hope
we can present some films that all members of our community can appreciate.
So participate as a volunteer, a patron, an audience member, or a web viewer. We hope
to build an organization that you will want to support today and in the future.
Lorin Fink, President
Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival
