On Labor Day weekend in the tiny mountain village of Telluride, Colorado, the town triples in size. Throngs of passionate film enthusiasts flood the town to embark on a viewing adventure, eagerly spending entire days in flickering dark rooms as part of the prestigious Telluride Film Festival (TFF). Why do they come? Some say blind faith, because the schedule is kept secret until opening day. Once it is revealed, it is coordinated with military precision that makes the event picture perfect for everyone involved — with help from FileMaker Pro database software.

Successful Solution

The TFF began using a FileMaker Pro database for its passholder records to capture new entries and maintain historical records of attendance. Grasping the power and flexibility of FileMaker Pro, the TFF expanded the initial database to include several databases covering many needs, including submission management.

The TFF immediately saw ways to expand the FileMaker Pro application to organize many aspects of the event such as staff coordination and guest requirements. FileMaker Pro has enabled the team to more efficiently manage a very large and temporary venue staff. With FileMaker Pro, the festival streamlined and standardized business processes and enabled easier coordination.

For the TFF, a staff database helps managers with roster planning, scheduling, benefit allocation and human resource management. A separate database relates housing assignments into each staff record. Based on the criteria for each person in the staff database, the housing database configures and reports back the appropriate bed assignment.

Customer Benefits

The TFF appreciates the ability to edit layouts or databases as needs arise — without having to invest in expensive system overhauls. The team also likes the fact that FileMaker Pro makes it easy to maintain the changing status of film selections and manage processes among a dispersed staff.

The festival remotely hosts its FileMaker Pro database, so it can conduct satellite screenings among offices to streamline submissions processes. FileMaker Pro is cost–effective, and it supports the staff locally on Mac or PC systems, or remotely over the Internet.

For the TFF, FileMaker Pro provides a way to easily develop solutions to support virtually any business process. For instance, as venues are set up, FileMaker Pro enables better effort and traffic coordination. Venue staff can keep a pulse on what is going on at the event based on continuously updated information. The staff reports that crowd management is improved, enhancing the experience for attendees.

FileMaker Pro adapts easily and allows for fast fine–tuning. The FileMaker Pro databases now manage all the different aspects of the event, from attendance and planning to programming, staffing, and fundraising. FileMaker Pro databases also manage film submissions, libraries, guests, staff, passholders, sponsors and prospects — essentially, everything needed to run one of the top film festivals in the world. With FileMaker Pro, the team can make everything plainly visible to staff, while maintaining a bit of mystery for festival attendees.