Banff Festival to get new lease on life but fates of other festivals unknown

The future of the new media industry’s well-regarded nextMedia conference is uncertain as its owner, the Banff Television Foundation, files for bankruptcy. Banff took over the event in 2003 as it faced its own shaky financial future, but now the foundation is facing an estimated $820,000 deficit, new ownership and a process to determine which of its expanded roster of events it can continue to hold. Banff filed for bankruptcy on April 14, and has handed responsibility for holding the Banff Television Festival over to a new, not-for-profit organization also to be called the Banff Television Foundation that will be headed by a board of directors made up of senior Canadian television representatives. Pat Ferns, the foundation’s colourful CEO, will be replaced in that capacity by Robert Montgomery, head of entertainment venture capital company Achilles Partners LLC, which has been contracted by the new festival owners to run the festival for the long term. That agreement is expected to close next week. Banff’s bankruptcy papers paint a picture of losses due to SARS and Mad Cow disease, the crushing failure of the new News World conference launched by Banff in the fall of 2003, unaffordable office space, too large a staff, communications challenges, the personal failings of Ferns as a manager and the aborted attempt to patch the lines of communications between Ferns and his staff by briefly hiring a chief operating officer in Newfoundland. While cash continues to flow into the foundation’s coffers, it will be transferred to Achilles as part of the asset sale. The company expects to lose $300,000 to $400,000 on this year’s festival, which will be eaten by Achilles without creating any further debts. In its bankruptcy papers, Banff lists projected distributions to creditors, including the Royal Bank of Canada ($126,000), trustee and legal fees ($25,000), employee vacation pay ($105,000) and unsecured creditors ($155,000), assuming the Achilles transaction takes place. The list of creditors is lengthy. Large debts are owed to: the Hotel Lutetia in Paris ($80,505); the Buffalo Mountain Lodge ($52,122); the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency ($23,510); CBC Radio-Canada ($23,209); Diners Club/enRoute ($17,129); Joe Media ($53,500); Jurys Doyle Hotels ($44,173); Phillipe Giroud ($74,213); SSK Conferences and Events Ltd. ($68,083); The Banff Centre ($49,104); Zeddcomm Inc. ($32,100); and, The Rodd Royalty Inn where nextMedia was held ($36,836). In all, there are just over 100 creditors listed in Banff’s application ranging from telecommunications providers, publishers, hotels, marketing providers, credit cards and others. It’s believed that if the Achilles transaction is concluded, the foundation will be able to pay creditors $0.1925 on the dollar. A spokesperson for the Banff Television Foundation will only say that the new management is examining its options for holding nextMedia and the several other conferences recently launched by Banff as it sought to rapidly increase the number of events it holds, including the World Congress of History Producers, the World Congress of Arts Producers and Creators, and the World Congress of Science Producers. Planning for nextMedia has already begun, though further organization will likely be put on hold pending Banff’s restructuring. Organizers had announced that the conference would be held from October 20 to 23 at the Delta Prince Edward Hotel, and a conference call with the group’s advisory board (on which Canadian NEW MEDIA sits) was held earlier this spring. The bankruptcy application makes little mention of the new festivals, and explains the new owners’ goal as being: "...to preserve the annual Festival for the sake of the Canadian television industry, to reduce the number of creditors who would be affected by the Foundation’s financial problems, to preserve jobs for the staff and to continue the economic and tourism benefits of having the Festival held in Banff on an annual basis." Canadian NEW MEDIA will have further information on nextMedia’s fate as it becomes available.

Banff Festival to get new lease on life but fates of other festivals unknown

Broadcast | April 16, 2004

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