Stellazine: We Talk Money With Photoville

After posting my first review of Photoville, and questioning their successful Kickstarter project, I received an email from Laura Roumanos inviting me to meet and talk. I took her up on the invitation and went to the United Photo Industries gallery to meet with Laura and Sam Barzilay.

According to them, the Kickstarter pitch came after some of the partners who had committed money backed off. They were reluctant until convinced to “get the community involved.”

When I asked what would have happened if the Kickstarter pitch wasn’t successful, Laura said,

“We had some back-up plans, but we were very hopeful that the photo and Brooklyn community plus our friends would rally around the project, and we are so grateful and humbled they did.”

The money was for many things, including renting the park, the containers, power, marketing, manpower, tents, etc. It has cost just shy of $250,000 to make Photoville a reality.

As far as the cost of the containers, Laura said:

“We worked with all of our partners to tailor a deal that works for them and us. Every situation was different and we value each and every contribution both financial and in kind. We would like to state that no exhibitor was turned away because they didn't have enough money. In fact we actually turned down a few shows that came with major financial contributions because we did not feel comfortable about the quality of the work and did not want to compromise what we were trying to achieve.”

The aim of Photoville was to make it “accessible, free and fun.” As for next year, it’s hard to say whether the same space will be available.

So there you have it, some transparency so that you know what is the what. See you at Photoville again this weekend. They'll be more great panels and work worth seeing.

And stay tune for more posts.