Area filmmakers shocked at festival’s demise

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- As last week’s International Film Festival

bankruptcy announcement continues to sink in, many ex-volunteers and

budding filmmakers are beginning to realize what the short-lived festival

meant to them.

“[It] gave many filmmakers such a great opportunity -- young

filmmakers, the Asian community and Latin community,” said Pepe Serna,

who entered a film in the festival’s first year and then served as its

creative director for the next three.

After a four-year struggle to establish the festival as a premier

event in Newport, co-founder Jeffrey S. Conner filed for bankruptcy Sept.

1. His assets were listed as a non-operable 1984 Porsche Carrera worth

$10,000 and his debts were close to $200,000, according to court

documents. The towering debts are a combination of unpaid legal fees,

personal loans, credit card debts and judgments from previous lawsuits.

Many of the debts are associated with the festival.

Conner has not talked to the press about the festival since news of

the bankruptcy broke last week. He could not be reached for comment

Monday.

“I know [Conner] put a lot of his own money into [the festival] at

first,” Serna said. “He really worked hard -- nonstop to the detriment of

his own career and business.”

Another Orange County filmmaker, Alan Fraser, said he hadn’t noticed

any great cracks in the festival’s structure. He thought it was running

smoothly until he heard it had gone bankrupt.

“The founders seemed to have a true desire to show small independent

films,” he said.

Budding cinematographer David Sperling said he was looking forward to

entering the sequel to his documentary, “Drunk in Public” in next year’s

festival.

“It was the first thing I ever did on camera,” said Sperling of his

18-minute film about Mark David Allan, a Newport resident caught 97 times

for public intoxication. Sperling had finally caught up with the illusive

character in Hawaii, where he had been arrested 80 more times.

Those closest to the festival also have their own theories of why it

fell apart.

Some felt that Conner simply didn’t have enough experience to

successfully organize such a huge undertaking.

“I spent a great deal of time and effort for the first film festival

and tried to warn him about the pitfalls and issues to watch out for,”

said Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Chamber of Commerce.

In its fourth year, Conner tried to expand the festival’s reach by

organizing a celebrity golf tournament, which never materialized. Alexis

Corp., a Nevada-based golf company Conner contracted with, is now suing

Conner, claiming he owes them $34,000.

And Conner’s constant pursuit of perfection may have contributed to

the festival’s eventual collapse, his supporters said.

“I can see why someone would say he was difficult,” Serna said. “He

wanted a good product and insisted on excellence.” Serna and others are

still holding out that “some angel will come” and save the festival.