Trustees had said they considered it unlikely that the Dayton-based film festival would return for its third annual tour in 2010 after last year’s primary corporate sponsor, Columbus-based NetJets, said it would not return as a sponsor.
Any arrangement with the arts organization would be subject to approval by the National Aviation Hall of Fame’s board of trustees, Kaplan said.
“The board is in discussions with a Dayton-based nonprofit group that expressed its interest in producing the festival while keeping the hall as the beneficiary,” the aviation hall said in a statement.
The festival — intended as a fund-raiser for the National Aviation Hall of Fame — likely would be scaled down to three days from last year’s four-day run, and other efforts would be made to cut costs, while retaining the commitment to offer quality aviation films, Kaplan said. The festival would continue to bring in the filmmakers to present the movies that are shown, he said.
Past presenters at the festival include actor and pilot Cliff Robertson; Catherine Wyler, producer of the 1990 film “Memphis Belle” about the World War II bomber, and aerial cinematographer Clay Lacy, who has been nominated for enshrinement in the National Aviation Hall of Fame this July.
The hall is housed in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.
About the Author