AGENDA #5c

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Response to Petition for Funding a Documentary Film

 

DATE:             April 26, 2004 

 

 

The Council at its March 22 meeting received and referred a petition from Ms. Diane Bloom requesting funds in support of a documentary film. 

 

We recommend that the Council take no action.

 

BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION

 

Ms. Bloom has stated that the documentary, An Unlikely Friendship, tells the story of an unexpected friendship which developed between the exalted grand cyclops of the Durham KKK and a very vocal black civil rights woman activist in 1971.  The documentary has played in 26 film festivals and has won 4 national awards.  It has aired on PBS in North Carolina and in Chicago.  Ms. Bloom expects the documentary to air at least four more times in North Carolina.

 

Ms. Bloom requested that the Town consider becoming an underwriter for the documentary.  Underwriters would pay $5,000 each and receive a credit on the screen at the end of the program.  In order for credits to be listed on the documentary, the Town needed to make a funding decision before April 1, 2004.  Ms. Bloom has indicated that funds from the Town would be used to cover the costs of the production which are still outstanding. Payment would not have to be made by the Town until September or later. 

 

The only source of funding that we have been able to identify that could be used for this request is the Council’s Contingency Fund.  Granting this request likely would result in similar requests from others.  We believe that undertaking such sponsorships is not directly related to Town services.  In addition, the Council already faces a difficult budget picture.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

Manager’s Recommendation:  We recommend that the Council take no action.

 

ATTACHMENTS

 

1.         March 3, 2004 Petition from Ms. Diane Bloom regarding the documentary, An Unlikely Friendship. (p. 2).