[Filmfestivalresearch] help to research pay levels?

[Dina Iordanova]

Dear all,

I hope you can help me to research something that may have real practical implications in the are of festivals.
I am now on the Board of Trustees for the Edinburgh International Film Festival; a position for Artistic Director will be advertised soon.
In the context of the Board meeting earlier in the week, possible salary levels were discussed. As everybody else on the board are either lawyers, accountants or businessmen, people looked at me (as someone who supposedly knows more about film festivals than they) expecting me to provide comparisons of what the salaries of other artistic directors of film festivals are. I realised, however, that I cannot quote a reliable figure; in their eyes I surely came across as superficial researcher — how is it possible to claim expertise in a certain area if I do not know the basics of a festival operation (as the director's salary would be considered a key element of the business model).

So, I wonder if those of you who know bits and pieces of information on the matter of remuneration level for festival directors would like to share privately or through the list? What are the directors of festivals (which festivals matters, of course) paid? Is it a round-the-year salary or a term one? Are they normally on term contracts (what length) or permanent ones (highly unlikely).

I believe we could come up with a piece of meaningful research if we manage to compare notes. In most professions this information is available; let's investigate it in the area of our interest.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Best: Dina



Prof. Dina Iordanova
Provost, St. Leonard's College
Director, Centre for Film Studies
University of St. Andrews

To order my new book Film Festivals and East Asia
and my other books, please visit http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/filmbooks/

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