Staff of the East Lansing Film Festival, which is set to hit campus this weekend, said the event will be made possible by a large supporting cast - including many members of the MSU community.
The festival, which brought about 8,000 people from across the country to the MSU campus last year, will show dozens of independent, foreign and student-made movies in Wells Hall, which has been its primary theater since 1998.
"It's really become a destination point for a lot of people," said Susan Woods, director of the festival. "The East Lansing Film Festival is probably the only event that really ties East Lansing and Michigan State together under a non-university event."
Woods said MSU has been a major sponsor of the festival in its eight years of existence.
Housing and Food Services has donated refreshments, the College of Arts & Letters contributed several hundred dollars in advertising, and the School of Hospitality Business will have about a dozen of its students help transport visiting directors to and from the airport, Woods said.
Additionally, the Kellogg Center will provide five rooms for two nights each - worth about $1,000 altogether - for visiting directors to stay in, said Joel Heberlein, Kellogg Center general manager.
The Sparty's concession stand in Wells Hall, which sells popcorn, candy and other movie theater staples during the Residence Halls Association's Campus Center Cinemas every weekend, will provide food and drink for the festival's VIP room, said Joe Garza, manager of Sparty's Convenience Stores.
In addition to those donations, Woods said the free use of the Wells Hall classrooms enables the festival to take place.
"I'm very, very grateful," Woods said. "I don't think I could run the film festival if I had that kind of cost."
And although those contributing might see a small boost in business from the festival, it's usually not enough to offset their donations.
Garza said the concession stand typically sees a slight boost in business during the event, but it depends on the weather and the popularity of the movies being shown.
Heberlein said even though the Kellogg Center doesn't usually get many additional customers from the festival, it is still glad to help out.
"If it pulls people from outside the area, great," Heberlein said. "But even for those that are within driving distance, I think it's a wonderful benefit to have a film festival like this."
