Pontardawe Film Club

19th October 2004 AGM

Chairperson's Report

October 19 th 2004

Welcome to the fifth AGM of the Pontardawe Film Club - I am really sorry I cannot be at the meeting but my job requires me to be in north Wales to night. It's ironic really that the first AGM I have had to cry off from is showing a film called the Weeping Camel .

I have been the chair of the club since it started in 1999, something you may want to consider when it comes to electing officers, and every year I have issued a dire warning about the future of the club, about the need to recruit more members in order to keep the club financial viable.

Well, here we are having had another successful year - still around - still vibrant - still showing films. So I have now become somewhat superstitious about the warnings. I am concerned that even if we are doing well I should still issue the dire warnings in order to ensure our further survival.

But the warnings are still necessary - and will always be so I think. The club has had a good year - shown some excellent films and seen its membership rise.   But clubs like this always need to keep recruiting,   always needs to show a good mix of films including a few 'blockbusters' that get a good walk in audience to fill the coffers. The club lives very much on a hand to mouth basis having just enough funds for the next few films and relying on income from those films and new members to fund the next few.

That's what being a club member is about. Looking for possible new members, donating prizes for raffles and quizzes contributing to selecting a good range of films and I would like to thank the members of the club this year for your continued support in these activities.

At last years AGM, with your agreement, we changed the membership fee from £25 to £30 for the year with concessions at £25 . We did this because we felt that it would still be tremendous value for money as well as increasing our income. It does not appear to have dissuaded membership, indeed, as I said earlier, membership has risen to 50 since the last AGM.

During the year, with your agreement, we also raised the walk in price to £5. There was a lot of discussion and heart searching in the committee about this decision. But in the end it was felt that it aligned us more effectively with the cinema price market and again, of course, would provide more income so that we could go on showing films.

It's probably early days on this decision at the moment but it does not seem to have as yet reduced our walk in income. Indeed of course, its the quality of the films and our ability to effectively promote them that will ensure we get a good walk in audience and possible new members. We seem to be doing that well at the moment.

We were also able to run a stall in the revived Pontardawe Music Festival this year which, like the first time we held it in 2001, got a lot of interest - some new members and a number of new people coming along to our first set of films in the this season. I want to thank everyone who helped on that day - Angie, David, Carol, Colin and Ritchie and the excellent team work shown in lashing up the film club banner in a particularly high wind.

Since the last AGM we have shown21 films including tonight's more than fulfilling   our aim of 20 films a year and certainly continuing to be very good value for money. We have had a couple of raffles and a quiz as well during the year and perhaps people tonight can suggest some other social type events which can also raise income for the club.

It is important for me to mark on these occasions the work of the committee over the year. So I would like to thank David for his hard work as secretary - arranging meetings, films, information and producing and distributing Flicks -   Claire for her continued input into the work of the club, promoting it, providing food, quiz questions etc. and undertaking many other tasks. Colin again for his important work promoting the films and the club and Roland for maintaining the clubs accounts and finances so efficiently. Richie as well has given up time to attend meetings and provide support. We always welcome new members to the committee.

Finally it is my (or in this case Clarie's) great honour to present the Ponty award for the highest rated Film Club film of the year and the Schwarzenegger prize for the least liked.

We have had a high quality year of films and I will, in reverse order, give the top three rated films.

In third place, Elling

In second, Monster

And the winner of this years Ponty is To be and to Have.

Now to this years Schwarzenegger prize - first some special mentions - quite low ratings were recorded for Elephant and Mystic River   - Intolerable Cruelty got the equal highest number of not goods in the year but was saved by a reasonable number of very goods and averages. But this year's Schwarzenegger goes to The Son ( Le Fils ) which had no very goods just two averages and no less than 10 not goods and seven very bads.

Overwhelming though our films this year had very good audience ratings - and after all variety is the spice of film club life.

PONTARDAWE FILM SOCIETY

Minutes of the AGM 19th October 2004

1. Apologies from John Puzey (Chairperson) and Roland Murdoch (Treasurer)
2. Minutes of the rpevious year's annual general meeting were agreed as an accurate record
3. The Chairperson's report and the financial accounts were discussed (as above) and accepted.
4. It was proposed and accepted that the Executive Committee and officers be re-elected for another year in office.
5. A.O.B., A number of ideas were discussed at the AGM for the Executive to consider and act upon during the coming year.
   1. Membership of the Executive could be expanded, with new members taking a role, by opening the meetings up to others. This has been encouraged before, but members need more notice of its meetings. The next meeting was therefore arranged for 24th November, at 8.30pm, in the Pontardawe Arts Centre.
   2. There was a discussion about publicising the club more, and a suggestion that schools and colleges be notified in advance of films that may be of interest to their students. It was also suggested that the public libraries should also have our publicity material. Both these suggestions were agreed.
   3. It was also suggested that we look into showing some of our short films - the shorts provided by Sgrîn - after one of our shows
   4. It was also agreed that we would organise food for after our showing of Hero, as a pre-Christmas season event, and this should follow the format of a 'pot-luck' banquet.