[matilda] Lost Film Fest in Sheffield

[dougald hine]

Hi,

I'm seriously concerned about the consequences of sending out a press
release which refers to 'MATILDA, the new social centre in Sheffields
cultural industries quarter'. Journalists are already sniffing around
what's happening at MATILDA, but we are completely unready to explain
what MATILDA is to the media for two reasons:

1. It would be wrong to pre-empt the meeting on the 18th
2. We need to resolve the legal status of the building - Mark's clear
that it's not a squat, but we need to have that sorted before we'll be
able to explain it to journalists. It's the first thing they're going
to ask about.

If we send out a press release for the Lost Film Festival that refers
to MATILDA, there's a very good chance that one or other of the local
media will decide to investigate what's happening with the building
instead of reporting the event like we want them to. I think that
could make the work of getting MATILDA up and running a lot more
difficult at this stage - and it's not worth that risk in order to get
a handful of extra people along to one event.

This obviously doesn't mean we shouldn't disseminate information about
Lost Film Festival through mailing lists, etc that are largely 'below
the radar' for the mainstream media. And as I say, I'm happy to give
it some publicity on Sheffield Live!, where we can control the agenda.

-- 
Dougald Hine
46 Alderson Road, Sheffield S2 4UD
(+44)(0)7810 650213