Into focus: In fourth year, CineVegas continues to shape its identity

Kirk Baird

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 8:25 a.m.

There is a reason Mimosa Jones was a speech writer for Gov. Bob Miller.

Now the founder and CEO of Entertainment Development Corp. (EDC), Jones is a veritable hype machine when it comes to her company's largest production, the CineVegas International Film Festival:

"Even Sundance (Film Festival) had to start somewhere. That's the moral to the story. This is the fourth CineVegas, but we kind of like to call it the first annual' around the office, because we've changed the festival so radically.

"We really wanted to put the festive back in festival."

In just three comments, Jones summed up both the rocky history of CineVegas and what EDC is doing to change that.

It is no secret Jones has faith in CineVegas, which opens Friday at Palms' Brenden Theatres Las Vegas 14 with a schedule of 40 feature films including foreign movies and documentaries and 15 shorts.

Why else would the nonprofit EDC acquire the rights to the festival 14 months ago, taking on a six-figure debt for what amounts to name recognition?

"That name works," Jones said. "It works for the festival and what we're trying to do, so we're building on that."

What EDC is attempting in large part through CineVegas is to foster the growth of film and television production in Las Vegas.

"The board of directors and myself strongly felt one of the best ways to do this is to get the filmmakers here for a weeklong festival, show them great films, show them the city," Jones said, "introduce them to living and working in Las Vegas with the hopes that next year they will write about or produce a film in Las Vegas."

Consider her approach a "build it and they will come" philosophy, only with a more Hollywood-party atmosphere, which includes 17 non-film screening events at Las Vegas clubs and restaurants.

She said EDC relocated the festival from Paris Las Vegas to Palms, in part, because the newer hotel-casino attracts a younger crowd. EDC also changed the CineVegas festival dates from December to June.

"It's a better month for festivals and the city in general," Jones said. "When you get to the holiday end of November and December, the industry tends to check out of any work-related items."

Plus, she added, having CineVegas in early June -- perfect poolside weather -- makes the festival more similar to Europe's Cannes festival than Sundance.

"Sundance is more casual, since it's like 9 degrees in January," when the festival is held in Park City, Utah, she said. "(CineVegas) is more poolside with a martini talking to a filmmaker."

All the changes to CineVegas are what Jones termed "rebranding."

Perhaps CineVegas' biggest coup, at least from a film industry standpoint, is the recent hiring of Trevor Groth, CineVegas' director of programming.

For nine years Groth has worked as senior programmer for Sundance, the top film festival in North America. Bringing him on board, Jones said, gave the festival much-needed "industry recognition" and "almost instant credibility."

She said Groth's involvement has already paid off for the festival, with nine world premieres scheduled.

"CineVegas has never had more than one premiere," Jones said. "To take a festival that is as young as we are, and showcase films that no one has ever seen before, and films that acquisition executives are interested in purchasing, is really phenomenal. To turn that around in 12 to 14 months is really a feat in this industry."

Oddly enough, Groth was not even aware of CineVegas when he was contacted by Jones in February.

"I didn't really know there was a film festival in Las Vegas," he said. "If anything, I was curious about why I hadn't (heard of the event). With the resources that are here, it seems to me an obvious match. There's all the hotel space you could ever want, all the venue space for parties."

After researching the event, Groth found the position enticing. There was only one hitch: scheduling.

Groth has a five-month break from Sundance, beginning in February. To allow him to work for both festivals, CineVegas had to be in June.

"Coincidentally, that's when it was going to be," Groth said.

Once hired, he began shaping the event. The biggest obstacle, he said, was the city itself.

"In Las Vegas, there are a lot of distractions," Groth said. "Ultimately, for a film festival to work in Las Vegas, it has to stand on its own and be flashy. There has to be a dynamic quality to it that will attract people to see it. To get people into the seats to see the films, there must be something eye-catching to them."

The immediate goal for CineVegas is simple: earn enough money to be self-sufficient and to help fund other EDC activities, such as its educational program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In time, Groth said, the Las Vegas film festival will develop a reputation in the industry. But that cannot be in the likeness of other film festivals for CineVegas to succeed.

"I think festivals in general have gone wrong by saying, 'We want to be like Sundance,' " he said. "I think (CineVegas) can become big (but) it can never become big like Sundance. If it's going to grow it's going to have to create a unique experience to Las Vegas. If you want to create a festival, you have to feed off both the resources you have and the mentality around what it's all about.

"There's unlimited potential for what (CineVegas) could become. What it will be specifically, who knows. But I'm excited."