Film Thu Oct 29 2009

Chicago Outdoor Film Festival Cut, but Movies in the Parks Still On

News broke this week that the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival may not return next summer. The popular film series is one of many events and services on the list to be cut in the City's 2010 budget; other cuts include Venetian Night and the Chicago Criterium bike races. The Mayor's Office of Special Events told Reel Chicago that the film festival was cut to help reduce a $512 million budgetary shortfall. The $300,000 event cost more than was covered by corporate sponsorships.

Fans of watching movies in the park will still have an option, though: the Chicago Park District's Movies in the Park series, which spokesperson Marta Juaniza confirmed was still on the schedule for next year. Since its budget comes from the Park District instead of Special Events, it wasn't under the same pressures as the Outdoor Film Festival.

Movies in the Parks screens mostly kids fare -- recent animated films, broad comedies and occasional blockbusters that will appeal to the families with young children who make up the bulk of the audience. Whether such movies will interest folks who came out to see classic films at the Outdoor Film Festival is anybody's guess.

"It's hard to say, because it's a downtown audience versus out in the neighborhoods, but we do still plan to support the program," Juaniza said. The 2010 schedule for Movies in the Parks hasn't been released yet.

— Andrew Huff / Comments (0)