Wal-Mart got ball rolling on movie festival

Aim is promoting women, diversity, retailer exec says

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette//KAREN E. SEGRAVE --2/7/12-- Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis talks about the challenges of changing female portrayals and gender stereotypes in the media during the Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series held by the Clinton School of Public Service on Tuesday evening.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette//KAREN E. SEGRAVE --2/7/12-- Academy Award-winning actor Geena Davis talks about the challenges of changing female portrayals and gender stereotypes in the media during the Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture Series held by the Clinton School of Public Service on Tuesday evening.

Getting Wal-Mart Stores Inc. involved in the coming Bentonville Film Festival wasn't a hard sell. In fact, the idea for the event originated with the retailer.

While evaluating how his department was lining up with the company's overall mission of promoting issues related to women and diversity, Louis Greth, Wal-Mart senior director of movies, began brainstorming. He developed the idea of a film festival with Trevor Drinkwater, ARC Entertainment chief executive officer.

"If we can't directly buy more films from diverse suppliers, then how can we promote more diverse films being made?" Greth said of the question that led to the idea for the festival, scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday in Bentonville. "We looked at it from a different lens and wondered what could happen if we used Wal-Mart's size and scale to put on a film festival that aims to promote more women and diversity."

A short time later, Drinkwater took the idea to actor/producer Geena Davis whose Institute on Gender in Media aims to improve "gender balance, reduce stereotyping and create diverse female characters in entertainment targeting children 11 and under."

Wal-Mart, the nation's largest seller of DVDs, is guaranteeing distribution for the Bentonville Film Festival winner in up to 2,500 stores and through VUDU, the retailer's video on demand service. It is the only festival with guaranteed distribution for the winner, the company said. Wal-Mart joined the event as a founding sponsor with Coca-Cola Co., and other national brands like Kraft, Clorox and Google quickly joined in support.

"It's hard to argue with our mission. It's a pretty good one," Drinkwater said. "Everybody can see the benefit. Wal-Mart as a founding partner is critical in a lot of ways."

Davis was sold on the event for a number of reasons, including Wal-Mart's Global Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative. Through that initiative the retailer committed to buy products or use services totaling $20 billion from women-owned businesses in the U.S. Davis mentioned that focus and how the mission fits with hers in a statement announcing the festival, noting "I have been so impressed with the commitment Walmart has made."

Sponsoring the film festival helps Wal-Mart further its mission to empower women. It also allows the retailer to continue shaping the quality-of-life options available to residents of Northwest Arkansas.

Wal-Mart has shown a commitment to investing in quality-of-life initiatives in the region. Its name -- and money -- are attached to the Arkansas Music Pavilion and a Ladies Professional Golf Association golf event in Rogers, the Arts Center in Fayetteville and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

Expanding on the entertainment options available in the region can only help expand the economic opportunities, said Rob Smith, communications and policy director for the Northwest Arkansas Council. Employers surveyed annually by the council often talk about a need for more quality-of-life options to help them recruit and retain workers.

"Northwest Arkansas for many years has provided great job opportunities, but we're now adding rapidly to amenities," Smith said. "Some of those amenities are big-ticket structures like Arvest Ballpark, the Razorback Regional Greenway, Wal-Mart AMP and Crystal Bridges, and others are events such as the Bentonville Film Festival and the Wal-Mart NW Arkansas Championship. It all works toward attracting talent here, keeping talent here and making the place one that's better for business."

Identifying how the festival can help the economy isn't difficult in a broad sense, but specifics on what the festival will mean economically are harder to come by. Anecdotal evidence from restaurants and hotels in the area suggests they're preparing for an influx of visitors.

Data complied by the University of Utah provide insight into what's possible for the Bentonville Film Festival. Attendance at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival was 45,352, and the event generated $63.9 million over a 10-day period. Nonresidents were responsible for generating more than $59 million, while locals spent about $4.6 million at the festival, which launched in 1985.

The Sundance festival compares economically with Northwest Arkansas' Bikes Blues and Barbecue, according to figures reported by the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research. That Arkansas event began in Fayetteville in 2000 and has grown to include events in Springdale and Eureka Springs. It had an estimated economic impact of between $69.4 million and $81 million in 2012. Those numbers are based on attendance estimates of between 300,000 and 350,000 people.

Even without tangible numbers on what the Bentonville Film Festival will mean for the economy, the feeling is that it could be a boost for the region's profile. If it grows the way organizers hope, it could become identifiable with the region in the same way Wal-Mart and Razorback sports are, Smith said.

Greth said a potential positive impact on the region is important to organizers, but there is a larger mission.

"We knew it wasn't good enough just to have a film festival," Greth said of Wal-Mart's involvement. "We saw a real opportunity to make a change here. We're hoping we'll find films that customers will love. That's the ultimate goal here. We want more films with diversity, and we're going to put our money where our mouth is."

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