SARASOTA, FL - March 23, 2006 - The 2006 Sarasota Film Festival proved to be an across-the-board success, thanks largely to the festival’s enhanced Web site, designed by its interactive partner -- atLarge, Inc. The agency helped launch the week-long celebration of all things cinema into elite status within the film industry and the community through its highly personalized approach to the online film festival experience.
The development of the site included heavy research and planning, requiring intense collaboration between the atLarge project team and festival staff. “atLarge did an amazing job of working with our limited assets to extend our print campaign into the online medium,” says festival director Jody Kielbasa. “In our fast-paced industry, I often need things done yesterday, and atLarge consistently produces results under impossible deadlines.”
Realizing that the festival needed to connect with its patrons on a more intimate level, atLarge created My/SFF: My Festival. My Way. This program allows users to personalize their festival experience, order tickets online and synch their festival schedule with their Outlook calendar and PDA device.
“Our vision was to make this a completely functional, user-friendly, visually stunning site,” says atLarge President Anand Pallegar. “We wanted to create a festival site that would set new industry standards. With the creative license the festival gave us and a shared vision, we were able to over-deliver on everyone’s expectations.”
The results were, indeed, huge. Ticket sales increased over 250 percent, and the festival enjoyed record-setting attendance levels. More than 40,000 people participated in the festival this year, which was highlighted by appearances from such celebrities as Robert Altman, Werner Herzog, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, Allison Janney, Jason Ritter, Gene Simmons, Penelope Ann Miller and Chevy Chase among others.
The entire film industry has also taken notice of the Sarasota Film Festival. The national spotlight shined on Sarasota this year as Entertainment Tonight, People.com, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and IndieWire were among the many national media outlets to feature the festival.
“It was a pleasure working with Anand and the atLarge team,” says Kielbasa. “They essentially were able to create exactly what we wanted and needed. Any time you get such a dramatic increase in revenue, you’re going to be pleased. Our increased web presence has shown us our full potential.”
