Apologies for absence were received from Bob and Felicity Walker, Chris and
Sue Rogers, Lori Sauer and Chris Crompton.
Minutes of the AGM 2007 were circulated, read and their adoption was proposed by Jeff. Ody,
seconded by Margaret Bryant and adopted unanimously.The only matter arising was the website.It was confirmed that John Ingledew has
agreed to continue managing this and thanks were expressed to him for his work
in keeping this updated.
Report from the Chair: Roger Day
A year ago the financial situation was dire.The club is now secure, thanks to the
action taken subsequently, but we remain on a knife-edge. Many people
don’t realise that we pay £320/night just to hire the cinema.In addition we pay hire costs for each
film.So we need 99 people just to
break even.
Working the queues for other films at The Palace, and talking
to the public elsewhere, shows that many are still unaware of the club;
somehow we need to improve this and enlarge the membership.
Roger thanked the many people who make the club work.In particular Charles Slater’s work with
the finances has been detailed and of exemplary clarity.He has been aided by Margaret Bryant’s
tireless work in approaching people and raising the membership
numbers.Hardly a day goes by
without an email from the Secretary who was thanked for all his work.Gail Foster writes succinct and informative
summaries for each programme, which Stephen Brazier then works to produce
and distribute so well.
Thanks were particularly expressed to Chris Crompton who has
resigned now that he proposes to leave Devizes.Chris has been a member for many years
and his input will be much missed.
The Lamb Inn was thanked for making rooms available to us at no
charge.They are always helpful and
welcoming.
Audience numbers have increased; 2241 came during the last
year.However attendance totals
ranged from 216 to 40.Numerically
our most successful films were: “La Vie en Rose” (216) and “The Lives of
Others” (170), bothforeign, which
show that language isn’t a barrier.
Other comparable film societies are often way behind us,
showing films months, or even years, after us.
Ideally we need to enlarge and change the committee bringing in
new, and younger, members.Roger
had contemplated resigning, but most fortunately, has been persuaded by
Stephen that he would continue for a further year.This is on condition that we establish a
group method of checking the arrival of films and collecting them should
delivery fail.
Report from the Treasurer: Charles Slater
An audited financial statement was circulated.The key points are that we made a profit
of £1900 in the past year, compared to a loss of £1100 in the previous
one.
The total expenditure of £14600 was almost matched by ticket
sales of £14440.In the previous
year there was a deficit of £1070.We need approximately 99 people to attend just to break even, but
our average is 97.However the
income and donations from membership resulted in a surplus, enabling us to
transfer £2500 to an interest bearing account.
The membership for 2007-08 totalled 191, there were also
donations bringing in a total of £2081. At present we have 120 members,
but that number will rise as the season progresses. Roger Day volunteered
to write to those who haven’t renewed membership to stimulate interest.
A proposal to raise the entry charge for non-members to £8/film
was considered, but rejected.At
present about 45% of any audience is composed of non-members and we don’t
want to put obstacles in peoples’ way.Given the present financial situation we must see how the season
progresses.
Film choice is critical.The “blockbusters” keep us afloat; these films have been
well-reviewed and either not shown at The Palace or too briefly for most
members to have seen.Analysis of
the figures is confusing; our two most popular ones were in foreign
languages, but others from abroad have done poorly. “In the valley of Elah” was
widely known, but poorly attended; is this the summer season factor
working against us?
Thanks were expressed to John Yard for his work for us in
auditing these accounts and it was hoped that he would continue to do so
in future.
Adoption of the accounts and treasurer’s report was proposed by
Stephen Brazier, seconded by Diana Slater and carried unanimously.
Election of Officers
All Officers were prepared to stand for re-election and this
was carried unanimously.Gill. Ody
and Richard Goodwin volunteered to become committee members and they too
were adopted unanimously.
Future developments
Roger Day volunteered to write an article for Wiltshire Life.
Margaret Bryant volunteered to organise a quiz night.
A proposal for themed evenings e.g. with an appropriate
regional meal to accompany a film was regarded as interesting, but
difficult in practice given our numbers and time of start.
Press releases to the Gazette and Herald were mentioned I am unclear what, if any, action was agreed on this.
An email list will be compiled by Margaret Bryant and the
Secretary.This would allow
distribution of the numerous emails that come from the BFFS, often
advertising events at relatively short notice.
Conclusion
The Devizes Film Club is in good
heart.But we face increasing
competition from the village Moviola shows and pressure from the credit
crunch.Therefore we need to keep up the
pressure for new members and distribution of our events to the many people who
still haven’t heard about us, particularly outside Devizes.
