Bankrupt festival owes money to theatre
The money that Just For Laughs owes to the Duceppe theatre is a sizable chunk of their budget and is likely never to be paid, and they have stiffed several other businesses and cultural entities around town.
So you want to ask, what happened to all that cultural grant money, and how long did the honchos in charge know that bankruptcy was looming, and how many rooms do their houses have?
Global has some bulleted information about money owing to individuals, production companies and – strangely – a single dépanneur owed more than $78,000.
Joey 13:03 on 2024-03-15 Permalink
The $250K JFL owes Duceppe represents 3.5% of their annual budget – not peanuts but not enough to threaten the sustainability of the theatre IMO. Maybe SODEC, which is a more substantial creditor, can redirect some of the funds it will recover to the smaller creditors who won’t see a penny.
thomas 13:48 on 2024-03-15 Permalink
Certainly, I can’t be the only one curious about whether the disappearance of the funds is related to the multiple sexual assault allegations over the past years. Could it be possible that the money was used as a coverup to settle with the victims?
Kate 14:14 on 2024-03-15 Permalink
I don’t think Gilbert Rozon has been directly involved in running the festival for some years now, but I agree, it’s difficult not to wonder whether there’s any connection.
Joey, that’s good, 3.5% is not nothing but JfL should not pull down that theatre company with it.