hyde or die

» LACMA live tweets...

LACMA is going to live tweet the sold out film preservation “discussion” between Michael Govan and Martin Scorsese (which I guarantee you will be tame and probably a little boring with the mutual admiration).  You can follow them @lacma.

While you are at it, why don’t you follow me to? @hydeordie*

*I’m shameless.

January 20, 2010, 2:21pm  

» Was All the Fuss Over LACMA's Film Program Cuts Worth It?

But now that the dust has settled and everyone’s back to being best friends, the blog Hyde or Die asks if all of this was even necessary to begin with and if maybe Govan was right from the start, that the program needed to be re-evaluated and re-launched once the museum had a better idea on how to make it work (instead of just relying on handouts when things got grim).

Media Bistro is making me feel like an authority this morning.*

*Translation: I feel good knowing sometimes people read my rants.

January 14, 2010, 9:38am  

» Michael Govan and Martin Scorsese to discuss film preservation

Conversation: Michael Govan and Martin Scorsese—SOLD OUT! 
Wednesday, January 20 | 7:30 pm
Join us as LACMA CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director Michael Govan sits down for a conversation with legendary director Martin Scorsese.  Their discussion will touch on the importance of film preservation and the key role that film should play in a museum or cultural institution.

It seems like just yesterday when everyone was in a tizzy about the announced closing of the film program and I was chastising Martin Scorsese for his reaction.  Now this week they are going to have a nice little conversation about how important the role of film in our museums and in our LIVES.  Time flies when you blog in your spare time, doesn’t it?  Anywho, I am happy that Scorsese is actually going to show his face at LACMA to encourage museum-goers (and potentially a demographic of people that might not visit LACMA for any other reason than to see the famed director) to learn more about film and hopefully participate in the future of the never closed Film Program*.  Also, in lieu of money troubles, I am happy they are charging for it. 

I am still a little confused/resentful about the backlash to the announcement of the closing of the Film Program.  Govan said they needed to reevaluate things so they would be able to reopen it and have a more successful program. This seemed legitimate to me, especially in this economy that has had such an impact on museum’s endowments, and also what I can assume the major donor’s pocketbooks.  In times of financial strain, one has to be more creative in spending and also has to cut the fat.  Again, not that I am implying that the Film Program is fat, but if it is running inefficiently and losing money rather than breaking even, or making some, then maybe the program did need to be reevaluated.  Some people said that Govan isn’t a film curator, he’s not. He’s the Director of an encyclopedic museum that has so many programs it hurts my head just trying to name them all.  I know I am ranting a little, but it just makes me sad that after what I am sure was a long and much discussed decision to put the film program on hold while things could be reassessed, LACMA fell victim to what seems to me as peer pressure and bullying.

I am glad though, that along with Martin Scorsese, people are putting their money where their mouths are and not just signing petitions for a film program they never attended.

*I have read a lot of cries saying “Don’t blame the audience”, but if they didn’t attend, then how would the institution know there was a demand for such a film program? Yes, LACMA is a non-profit, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take a substantial amount of money to run, some of which is made by ticket sales for the Film Program.  Even if all it covers is tune-ups for the projectors and cleaning of the theater, the money made from ticket sales covers and is budgeted into something. No audience, no money, no tune-ups or cleaning or film rentals or paying the wages of the person who codes the LACMA email blasts for the next movie to play.  Also, along these lines, if you are so upset about the potential closing and you don’t want to have the audiences blamed so you point your fingers at the promotional effort of the museum, I have something I need to tell you, that also takes money. Fliers, emails, phone calls, and so on takes man hours of people working at the museum that are paid. Again, we are talking about an incredibly large institution that is budgeted to the last dime, and though your $10 ticket may not seem like it covers much, it has already been hoped for to cover something that the museum needs that costs $10. 

January 11, 2010, 9:33am  

» Salary cuts for one third of US museum directors

new york. A survey of more than 60 major art museums in the US shows that the directors of more than one third have recently taken pay cuts, many of them substantial, and senior staff at most of those institutions have also had their compensation trimmed. The cuts range from salary reductions and forfeiture of bonuses to unpaid leave.

Even where there have not been massive layoffs, hiring freezes leave posts vacant and incentives induce early retirement. In the past year, New York’s Museum of Modern Art has cut its staff from around 850 to 741 through a hiring freeze and natural attrition.

Pay cuts extend to curators and administrators who have had their salaries frozen, their hours reduced, or their employer contributions to insurance and retirement plans cut. But directors of large institutions are still among the highest paid in the culture sector, with packages ranging from low six figures to more than $1m per year.

In this article it states that Michael Govan is foregoing a bonus this year, so can we get off of his back about his salary now?

October 08, 2009, 11:27am  

» LACMA aims to expand film program

After meeting for nearly three hours with a group of angry movie fans and professionals on Tuesday, Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, said he was accelerating plans to replace the film program that is on the chopping block with a more expansive one — but only if the museum can raise as much as $10 million in the next year.

In an interview, Govan laid out for the first time a set of proposed budget figures for what he sees as a revamped film department at LACMA. He said that he would like to increase the program’s annual budget to $500,000 from its current level of about $350,000. He also said he was looking to raise between $5 million and $10 million in endowments for the re-imagined film program.

It goes on for longer.  I have no comment at this time.

September 02, 2009, 9:39am