For the ninth consecutive year, the Gasparilla International Film Festival kicked off its opening ceremony at the grand Tampa Theatre. Yet, just a few months prior, the fate of the festival was in serious jeopardy, some wondering if it would even be possible for the festival to be held in Tampa Bay.

One would think organizing a film festival would be relatively easy with as much change coming to the Tampa area focusing on arts and culture. Go to a couple of movie theatres in the area, rent them out for a week or so, pick out the films and there you have a film festival. Sadly, the process is not that simple. When choosing a venue to hold such events there are hundreds of obstacles to overcome. Location, rental costs, vendors, parking, hotels, sponsors, volunteers, advertisement, security, scheduling, are just some of the challenges the festival has to face. If this isn’t already a daunting challenge, organizers were extremely frustrated to learn there wasn’t a single venue in the Tampa area to host the 2015 festival.

In past years, theatres such as The Muvico in Ybor City, and the Tampa Theatre used to split the screenings amongst themselves. Yet when Muvico suddenly backed out because Carmike cut the amount of available screens in half, the festival was forced to find another venue, one that could meet the demand of over 15,000 visitors. When all options seemed to be exhausted and with the festival coming close to being canceled, Jeff Vinik owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning stepped up to save the day.

Vinik, now the owner of the Chanelside Plaza, offered the old Channelside Cinemas to the Gasparilla Film Festival as a possible venue to display this years films. However, there were still a couple of problems. The movie theatre had been closed for two years and most of its projectors and audio equipment had been stripped from the location. With funds running tight for the festival already, an Indiegogo campaign was started in order to raise the funds to restore a handful of screens to operating potential for the festival. The goal was a hefty $20,000, and when the cry for help was given to the community, the response was encouraging.

It took 9 long weeks to raise the money to reopen the Channelside Cinemas, but the film festival would finally raise the required amount of $20,100. They were able to take a deep breath knowing that this year’s festival was going to take place. Attendees took part in the viewing of over 100 films. The parties Gasparilla is so famous for were held on an even bigger scale than ever before. Gasparilla International Film Festival 2015 was the busiest and the most exciting year yet for the organization.

The story of this year’s festival isn’t just about filmmakers and independent films. It is the story about how a community came together to overcome overwhelming odds to ensure that the Tampa Bay area can celebrate the culture that makes this city so great.