07/08/2006

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
City resident Nick LaRose talks with Donna Hornberger of Traverse City about a nearby restaurant while waiting for Traverse City Film Festival tickets Friday morning outside the State Theatre on East Front Street. Full story: "Long line for film festival tickets."

Long line for film festival tickets

They went online, called and showed up to stand in line, for hours. Combined, the response on the opening day of ticket sales for the 2006 Traverse City Film Festival surpassed organizers' expectations.

Operations Director Susan Brown said 10,000 tickets went in the first four hours, the number sold in the first two weeks last year. By 5 p.m. Friday, 12,000 of 36,600 total available were gone.

Because of the volume, there were initial hang-ups with a new online ordering system. The line at the State Theatre was long and slow, Brown said, because many people bought large amounts of tickets.

Several screenings sold out early, including "Little Miss Sunshine," Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," "I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With" and "Mike's Surprise," festival founder Michael Moore's closing night feature.

The box office at the State Theatre remains open daily from noon to 8 p.m. until the festival, which opens July 31. Purchase online at www.traversecityfilmfestival.org; or call 929-1506.