Newport Film Fest Files for Bankruptcy

The Newport Beach International Film Festival, dogged for most of its four years by foul-ups and poor attendance, has gone out of business.

Co-founder Jeffrey S. Conner filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Sept. 1 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana, seeking to liquidate the festival business. Conner listed assets of $10,960 and debts of $191,900. The festival’s annual budget has been estimated at as much as $150,000, which organizers tried to raise through corporate sponsorships.

Conner did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday. His attorney, Sundee M. Teeple, declined to elaborate on the petition. Co-founder Michelle Parsons could not be reached for comment.

Conner, a real estate developer and film buff, launched Orange County’s only film festival in 1996 with Parsons. They were flush with hopes of outshining other successful start-up film events because of their festival’s proximity to Hollywood. But it never caught on with movie producers or filmgoers.

Still, with its limited budget and volunteer staff, entries this year swelled to more than 100--chosen from more than 550 selections--representing 30 countries. Films were screened by juries in various categories.

Most films shown during the festival’s brief history were made on shoestring budgets by filmmakers looking for a big break. Most were feature-length, although animated movies, documentaries and even 16-millimeter student films were part of the mix. This year’s event branched out to include Latino and Asian films, which reportedly saw poor attendance.

The festival, however, did manage to attract some of the glitz known to the venerable Cannes and Sundance festivals. Jack Lemmon attended its opening in 1996. Then, in 1997, it offered the world premiere of the director’s cut of Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 film about a German U-boat, “Das Boot,” showing previously unseen footage.

Even though its bare-bones advertising budgets had increased recently, the festival had trouble attracting Hollywood’s A-list elite. In fact, in an attempt to make the festival more “user-friendly,” organizers last year offered limousines to Hollywood producers for the event’s Orange County screenings, Conner said at the time.

Even with the demise of the local festival, some 250 like it remain worldwide. Cleveland, Minneapolis and even tiny Temecula have jumped on the festival bandwagon, hoping to provide an outlet for up-and-coming films and generate both tourist revenue and publicity.