2008 Wisconsin Film Festival : Madison : 3-6 April

Information from the 2008 Festival is here; you can sign up to be a volunteer for the next Festival starting in January 2009. Consider adding your name to the Volunteer Information Email List, using the form at the bottom of the page!

Questions: Jess Main, volunteer@wifilmfest.org

The Week A volunteer meeting on Monday, March 3, is in Room 2650 Humanities (455 N. Park St), on the UW-Madison campus. Time is 7 pm to 9 pm (with luck we'll wrap up early).

The Wisconsin Film Festival invites you to become a Festival volunteer in 2008. Now in its tenth year, the Festival depends on the hard work of local volunteers for its success.

Volunteers helped make the Festival a great experience for audience members and filmmakers and speakers. Last year, over 200 people — from students to grandparents — volunteered for the festival. They helped 28,700 ticket-holders enjoy films from around the world and from right here in Wisconsin. That’s one volunteer for every 150 people!

The staff of the Festival is small, and it’s the volunteer teams who keep the theaters running smoothly during the four-day Festival.

we sell tickets
answer questions
help people find seats
introduce films and filmmakers
get each screening started on time by coordinating with the theater projectionist
make sure each film has the right sound volume and runs smoothly
assist with panels and Q&A sessions with filmmakers
hand out and collect Audience Award ballots
do it all over again for the next film in the schedule!

You work a lot, ideally committing to at least ten hours of volunteering during the Festival, over two or more shifts.

In exchange, you become a core part of the Wisconsin Film Festival, see Festival films, meet the filmmakers, and learn how a festival works behind the scenes. It’s also a great way to connect with other volunteers and community members who share your passion for great movies.

Volunteers also get a coveted volunteer-only t-shirt, free tickets to Festival films, and treats like free coffee drinks from Steep & Brew.

We’ll have two mandatory training sessions in the weeks before the Festival.

2008 VOLUNTEER INFORMATION

WELCOME!
if you’re a returning volunteer, welcome BACK!

(approximate) 2008 Wisconsin Film Festival Schedule:
Thursday, April 3: 4 pm – 1 am
Friday, April 4: 10 am – 2 am
Saturday, April 5: 10 am – 2 am
Sunday, April 6: 10 am – 10 pm

Most volunteer shifts will be scheduled during these time slots. See below for pre-Festival activities and meetings.

Volunteer schedule
A few weeks before the Festival, we’ll start scheduling volunteers into time-slots over the Festival weekend. If you want to volunteer, please arrange to free-up time during the Festival. We divide up the weekend into shifts of roughly four to six hours. You’ll have an opportunity to share with us what days and times work best for you. We ask that you work at least two shifts — many people work much more!

Mandatory volunteer meetings
We hold meetings before the festival to present the information you’ll need to be a volunteer. To accommodate people’s schedules, we arrange for two pairs of meetings.

You must attend one meeting during Week A and one meeting during Week B.

This is true for returning volunteers as much as for first-timers—we rely on the experiences of those folks who worked at past festivals to help us improve our procedures for 2008.

If you apply to volunteer, please be sure to arrange your schedule so that you can attend these meetings and are available during the Festival. When the times are firmed-up we’ll update this page and email everyone who signed up for volunteering.

Email and web access
You are strongly encouraged to have access to email and the web. Important communication about volunteer assignments and activities will be given to you via email and the Festival website.

Volunteer benefits
In exchange for your hard work at the festival, you’ll receive a coveted volunteers-only t-shirt. We wear these during the event to identify ourselves as festival crew, and it’s yours to keep. All volunteers receive a Festival poster as well as additional benefits to be announced at the first volunteer meetings.

You’ll also receive four ticket vouchers for festival films. You swap them for film tickets at the box office, and we recommend doing this as early as possible, because films have been selling out quickly. These vouchers can be used by other people, and in any combination (four different films, or all for one film).

Fine print
The Wisconsin Film Festival is a public program of the UW Arts Institute, a nonprofit, tax-exempt unit of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To successfully accomplish our mission of educational outreach, support for independent filmmakers, and service to the community, we ask volunteers to commit to the following:

a)	Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.
b)	All volunteers are responsible for their own transportation, lodging and meals in Madison for Festival activities.
c)	Volunteers understand that they are freely donating their time and expertise to the Wisconsin Film Festival.
d)	Please note that acceptance of your application makes you an official volunteer and that you will be covered by the State’s liability protection program so long as you perform your duties within the scope of the description provided above. Since volunteers are not covered by the state’s worker compensation program, however, you are encouraged to maintain your own health insurance. If you should be injured during the course of your volunteer activities and the injury results from the negligence of a University employee or agent, you would have the legal rights to seek compensation from the negligent party or property owner.

After reading the volunteer information, if you have questions about volunteering, please email Jess at volunteer@wifilmfest.org or call the Festival hotline at 608-262-9009.

Thank you!
Meg Hamel, director, and Jess Main, volunteer coordinator