A Letter from Mystelle Brabbée
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Dear Friends,
If you love Nantucket and you love film, we need your help.
Since 1996, the Nantucket Film Festival has served a vital role in the cultural landscape of the island of Nantucket, celebrating the art of screenwriting and storytelling. During this time of devastating economic uncertainty, we are launching our first-ever Challenge Match to raise $100,000 by June 30th to help sustain our important cultural mission. We are calling on everyone in our incredibly supportive community to help us meet our goal.
WE HOPE YOU WILL SUPPORT OUR CHALLENGE MATCH CAMPAIGN
My name is Mystelle Brabbée, and I’ve spent most of my adult life working on behalf of the Nantucket Film Festival. I joined founders Jill and Jonathan Burkhart as an intern at the end of the Festival’s first year and, under their tutelage, became NFF’s Film Program Director. It was easy to support the Burkharts’ vision: an annual event that would shine a spotlight on screenwriting, bring much-desired commerce to Nantucket before the traditional start of the summer season, and provide creative opportunities for teens on the island to learn about filmmaking. I believe so strongly in this mission that I have remained with the organization for 24 years, serving as its Executive Director since 2013.
In March, preparations for NFF’s 25th anniversary in June were well underway when the escalating COVID-19 crisis upended everything. Just weeks from announcing our program, we shut down our year-round office, held an emergency meeting with our board of directors, and were forced to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel our in-person, in-theater festival.
Like many nonprofits that rely on an annual event for the majority of our funding, canceling our Festival was a devastating blow. In this challenging time, we have found hope through longtime NFF supporters Steve & Jill Karp and Steve Samuels & Ami Cipolla. These friends of the Festival have agreed to underwrite NFF's first-ever Challenge Match: They have generously committed to match each contribution, dollar for dollar, up to $100,000 by June 30.
Every contribution made to the Nantucket Film Festival’s first-ever Challenge Match will go towards our post-coronavirus sustainability fund and will help us support our ongoing mission. We assure you, no amount is too small.
I’m honored to be part of an organization that has brought hundreds of filmmakers and storytellers to Nantucket for the past 24 years. Here are just a few of the programs our small, dedicated staff puts together each year:
Nantucket Film Festival: An annual summer showcase of films and special live events (25 years)
Tony Cox Screenplay Competitions: Annual contests recognizing emerging writers in various categories (25 years)
Teen View Filmmaking Labs: A free writing, directing and editing program for Nantucket teens, taking place in the spring and summer (20 years)
Teen View Jury: A free program for Nantucket middle school students in the summer (20 years)
NFF NOW Screening Series: Preview screenings of upcoming film releases for year-round residents in the fall, winter, and spring (8 years)
Episodic Comedy Colony: A writers’ retreat produced in partnership with the Screenwriters Colony that provides mentorship to emerging comedy television writers in the summer (5 years)
NFF NOW: AT HOME: A new online film series launching this summer
The staff and I thank you for being united with us. Together, we will ensure NFF continues on.
With gratitude,
Mystelle Brabbée
Executive Director
