Notice of Changes to LIFT Membership Structure – Effective July 1st, 2012
June 14th, 2012
Notice to LIFT Members Regarding Changes
to the LIFT Membership Structure: Effective July 1st, 2012
June 14th, 2012
Notice to LIFT Members Regarding Changes
to the LIFT Membership Structure: Effective July 1st, 2012
LIFT’s staff and board of directors have been working over the winter of 2012 to update the LIFT membership structure to respond to member feedback and changing production dynamics. The old structure of volunteer hours for equipment access and the low annual membership fees has provided the organization with key volunteer labour and a sense of community, however we find members have less and less time to contribute each year. Additionally the volunteer hour buy-out option instituted in 2009 makes the LIFT membership substantially more expensive than our peer organizations in the region.
Our main goal in instituting a new structure has been to simplify. Effective July 1st, 2012 we will offer two individual membership levels (General and Production) and membership for non-profit and charitable organizations. As part of the change LIFT membership costs will increase slightly for the first time in over 20 years. General Membership will now be $80/year and Production Membership $150/year; Organizational Membership will be $150 or $250/year depending on the organization’s annual operating budget.
Pricing for equipment and facilities rental has also been streamlined and the two-tiered pricing system will be replaced by a single rental rate available only to Production Members. The new single price will be identical to our current Full Member rates. Membership will no longer require volunteer contributions or buy-outs for equipment access, although reference checks and proficiency tests will still be required for members wishing to access equipment for the first time.
LIFT will continue to have volunteer support and to keep the centre thriving we will be offering credit that can be applied towards equipment and facilities rentals. This has been a regular suggestion from members in recent years and will hopefully provide increased access to equipment and facilities.
We believe that these changes will assist all returning and new members to better realize their filmmaking goals. Below is a breakdown of the new structure. All membership and pricing changes will be reflected on the LIFT website at the beginning of July 2012.
Sincerely,
LIFT staff and Board of Directors.
Note: All memberships are annual and expire one year to the end of the month in which they were subscribed. Memberships are based on a calendar month.
GENERAL: $80 per year
General Member Benefits:
– Receive weekly e-bulletin
– Post free listings of their productions screenings/broadcasts in the e-bulletin
– Entitled to member rates on workshops and courses
– Entitled to member rates on LIFT Store Items
– Entitled to member admission rate for LIFT screenings
– Entitled to LIFT member discounts with various partners
– Inclusion on LIFT’s online Cast and Crew Listings (currently offline until Summer 2012)
– Ability to submit screenplays for a LIFT OUT LOUD reading
– Ability to attend LIFT’s Screenwriters Circle
– If in good standing, member is entitled to apply for the LIFT Production Support Program (announced annually) and apply for other opportunities provided by LIFT to current members.
– General Members may not access equipment or facilities rentals and must upgrade to Production membership (please note: when upgrading you will still expire at your original expiry date)
PRODUCTION: $150 per year:
All benefits of general membership and equipment access. There is now only one rental rate for all members.
Production Member Benefits:
– All General Member benefits
– Rent production and post-production equipment at Member rate
– Advanced booking of production and post-production equipment six (6) weeks in advance
ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBER:
$150/year under $1 million operating budget;
$250/year over $1 million operating budget
Organization Member Benefits:
– Receive weekly e-bulletin
– Ability to post unlimited listings for upcoming events, call for submissions, and jobs, etc.
– Staff members entitled to members’ discount on seasonal workshops and courses (must be arranged in advance)
– Advanced booking of equipment and facilities up to six (6) weeks in advance
– Access to production/presentation equipment and post-production facilities at the Production Member’s rate for organizational productions
Organizational Memberships are only available for non-profit media arts production centers, festivals, galleries, arts education and training institutions, social justice and other not for profit organizations. As per LIFT’s mandate, commercial enterprises, production companies and other for profit groups are not eligible for organizational memberships with LIFT.
CHANGES FOR CURRENT LIFT MEMBERS:
To recognize the contributions of members under the previous structure LIFT will provide the following:
– All Associate Members will become General members and expire at their original expiry date.
– All Accessing Associate Members become Production Members until their current expiry date.
– All Full members become Production Members and have their membership extended by four months from their current expiry date.
– All Organizational Members will expire at their current expiry with no other changes.
VOLUNTEER HOURS:
After this change LIFT will still require a substantial amount of volunteer labour to maintain our current activities and low staffing to programming ratio. Volunteers providing labour after July 1st, 2012 will be compensated at $11/hour in credit to be applied to equipment and facilities rentals only. Retroactive volunteer hours (before July 1, 2012) will not count towards credit, but will be applied towards upgrading membership at the transition time. Credits earned through volunteering for LIFT are applicable to any rental of equipment and facilities up to a maximum of 50% of the value of each rental; the remaining balance requires payment in cash.
Volunteer calls will be listed in the weekly bulletin and are by application only. There is no guarantee of receiving volunteer tasks. Volunteers will be expected to be self-directed and have adequate skills for the required task. The allocation of volunteer hours is at the discretion of LIFT staff.
QUESTIONS:
If you have any questions regarding these changes please contact us via email at membership@lift.on.ca, in person during office hours or by phone at 416.588.6444.