Just over a month away from presenting its 2024 festival, Hot Docs is raising the alarm over its future as an organization.
An exclusive report from The Globe and Mail finds Hot Docs president Marie Nelson sharing, "We find ourselves dealing with significant operational challenges — so much so that it puts the sustainable future of the organization on quite shaky ground. And now we’re running out of time."
The Globe's report points to pandemic-related impacts affecting both Hot Docs membership revenue and ticket sales at the not-for-profit org's 650-seat single-screen Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.
"We're seeing the impact on both the festival and year-round side," Nelson told The Globe. "As a result, we find ourselves in a situation where we have to turn to our government partners and say we really need your support. We have great support from the private-donor side, but that’s program-oriented funding, not money that we can use to keep the lights on."
Nelson notes that while the 2024's Hot Docs Festival isn't at risk of being cancelled, the organization "had to approach this year with clear eyes on the financial outlook, and be as creative as possible in trying to make sure that we’re providing an appropriate level of value for our audiences and corporate partners. But what we’re saying is that we don’t want it to be the last Hot Docs Festival."
The Globe adds that, prior to the pandemic, Hot Docs had plans to mount a capital campaign to renovate and add a second screen to its theatre. Those plans are currently paused.
"This appeal is unprecedented for us — the organization has always been in a position to not only address its challenges but create a surplus for itself," Nelson told the paper. "As someone in the first year of their presidency, trust me, this is not what I was hoping would be my first message. But at a certain point you have to face the reality that you're presented with."
Read The Globe and Mail's complete report here. Hot Docs 2024, the fest's 31st edition, runs April 25 to May 5.
Hot Docs isn't the only Toronto arts organization facing such struggle. Last week, the city's ImagineNative film festival postponed its 2024 edition.
