Dear Red Phone,
“How much of each dollar does the Garlic Festival give to charities? So for each dollar they make, what percentage of that goes to the charities as opposed to administrative costs? Thank you.”
Red Phone: Dear Reader, The festival’s Executive Director Brian Bowe says it’s still way too early to provide expense details for this year since most of the bills are in the process of being paid, or haven’t been received yet. So Bowe is providing figures from the festival’s last fiscal year.
“I think it’s very important to note that our No. 1 line item is the donations to charities,” he notes. “And that number has been consistently growing for the last several years, and will hopefully increase again this year.”
The list provided by Bowe does not include the festival’s community projects/capital improvements, since those come out of the festival’s sponsorship revenue and vary widely from year to year, or even skip some years, according to Bowe.
For example, in 2011, the festival did the amphitheater project for about $450,000. In 2012, the festival gave an additional $50,000 to its scholarship funds. This year, renovations to the Mulberry picnic area and the planting of new trees cost $250,000.
*****
Dear Red Phone,
“I read that the director of the ‘Superman’ and ‘Batman’ movies is named Zack Snyder. We want to find out if he’s related to the Zack Snyder who’s an artist at Gilroy Screen Printing. We’re just curious and have a bet going. Thanks.”
Red Phone:
Dear DC Comics fan,
Red Phone is amused you asked us and not the almighty Google, but you’re in luck: Red Phone happens to be a huge Batman fan (Superman, not so much. The Caped Crusader’s accessories are cooler. See: Batmobile, Bat-Shark Repellent, Batarang). Superhero biases aside, we’d like to point out: Zack Snyder hasn’t directed any Batman movies (yet). He did direct action-packed sensory hits like “300,” “Watchmen,” “Man of Steel” (and let’s not forget that tawdry 2011 hiccup called “Sucker Punch”). Snyder is, however, set to direct a movie – slated for release in Summer 2015 – staring Superman and Batman. Egads.
As for the most recent trilogy (“Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises”), those were directed by Christopher Nolan, who has officially taken his Batman hat off.
As for whether Hollywood director Zack Snyder bears blood relation to Zack Snyder from Gilroy Screen Printing, “no, not that I know of,” responds the 36-year-old artist who lives in town. “It’d be pretty good if I was. But I do like his movies. That’s pretty cool.”
Gross Revenue: $2.74M
Top 10 expenses
1. Contributions to charities: $326K
2. Administration: $247K
3. Ingredients: $165K
4. Police/sheriff/security: $142K
5. Advertising/marketing: $133K
6. Booth/canopy rental: $81K
7. Insurance (festival): $78K
8. Contracted services: $74K
9. Shuttle buses: $68K
10. Supplies: $59K
