By Maria Saporta
The Piedmont Park Conservancy just announced that it is canceling the 2011 season of “Screen on the Green.”
The film series had to be canceled because the conservancy was unable to find a partner to produce the event after the management of Peachtree TV — its former sponsor — had changed. Turner Broadcasting System had provided the funding for the Peachtree TV sponsorship.
Peachtree TV had informed the conservancy in January that it would no longer produce the popular free open air film series, and the conservancy had been trying to find other sponsors.
But the announcement stated that the conservancy had just run out of time to put on the series this year. Usually, the weekly movie series takes place in June.
The conservancy did say it still holds the permit for an annual summer film festival, and it remains committed to finding the necessary funding to host the Screen on the Green in 2012.
“It is our desire to continue the tradition of kicking off every summer with great movies in this great park,” said Yvette Bowden, President and CEO of the Piedmont Park Conservancy, in the release.
“As one of our many free community-building initiatives, we have treasured our first 10 years of movies on Piedmont Park’s Meadow,” she added. “This year’s event, however, (given) the timing of Turner’s announcement, left us with too little time to secure sufficient sponsors to support it and, as such, must be cancelled.”
Piedmont Park launched the first Screen on the Green in 2000, and it has become one of the most popular outdoor movie experiences in Atlanta. But in 2010, at one of the evening’s films, the crowd became extremely rowdy and the surrounding neighborhoods insisted on greater security for the event.
Sad! They had already published the lineup, and said they just didn’t have a sponsor this year. Why would they have published it if the lack of sponsorship was a concern?
Too bad the little thugs messed up this event, like they are destroying the city.
A timely opportunity for Southwest Airlines to burst onto the scene?
JG, I TOTALLY agree with your comment, and the same goes for how the little thugs are killing the Atlantic Station experience as well. Ugh! Does anyone know the fate of Flicks on Fifth? Is that still going on?
once again people like to use the word “thug”..which we know is a code word for..