Santa Barbara County is blessed with a diversity of vital nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving the health, well-being, growth, civic leadership and compassion of our community.
Charitable giving and philanthropy are part of our identity, which is why Noozhawk is proud to support the nonprofit community through sponsoring local community organizations and events.
To showcase our support as a sponsor of the event, The 6th Annual NatureTrack Film Festival, Noozhawk spoke with Gareth Kelly, Managing Director at NatureTrack to learn more about their fundraiser.
Question: What is the name and date of your event?
Answer: 6th NatureTrack Film Festival October 11-13th
Q: What is the mission, goal, and/or theme of this occasion?
A: NatureTrack Film Festival (NTFF) is a three-day celebration of nature and outdoor adventure through film. Started in Los Olivos in 2018, the festival has showcased hundreds of national and international filmmakers’ works to the thrill and delight of thousands of attendees.
In 2024, NTFF will celebrate its 6th anniversary and will be held in Goleta, CA, bringing the festival to a wide and inclusive community full of nature enthusiasts and film lovers, as well as a region famous for its world-class hospitality.
Q: Have you held this event before?
A: Yes, last year was our first time in Goleta, having previously held editions in Los Olivos. We are thrilled to be in Goleta again!
Q: Tell us some more details about your celebration?
A: This year’s festival will screen over 80 films across three days. The festival team is thrilled to feature seven World Premieres, six North American Premieres, and four United States Premieres throughout the weekend, supporting the outstanding full lineup of over 80 inspiring short and feature films with the mission: To Ignite a Passion for Nature through Film.
Tickets to the Opening Night Extravaganza are priced at just $65 each, and Opening Night guests will enjoy an entertaining evening that will set the tone for the unique and exciting Festival weekend ahead.
Opening Night will showcase the Central Coast Premiere of Jane Goodall – Reasons for Hope, plus two world premiere short films, Open Space and Otter Space followed by the official opening night reception with light bites and an open bar.
Having almost doubled in size since last year, other notable highlights for this year’s festival include the world premiere of the new PBS Documentary Animal Pride – Nature’s Coming Out Story, the world premiere of R.E.S.C.U.E – a heartwarming short documentary about elephants and empowering women and the world premiere of Tagliamento – King of The Alpine Rivers – a beautiful documentary about the last wild river in Europe from Austrian National Broadcaster ORF which will close out the festival on Sunday October 13th.
Q: How do people get involved with your event? (volunteer, attend, etc.) – If your event includes ticket sales, please note the price and include a link to purchase tickets.
A: All tickets are now on Sale!
Tickets to the Opening Night Extravaganza are priced at just $65 each, and Opening Night guests will enjoy an entertaining evening that will set the tone for the unique and exciting Festival weekend ahead.
The Intro Pack ($140) includes a four-pack to any film block of your choice, PLUS two tickets to all the opening night films and reception. For those festival eager beavers an all-access VIP Pass that includes a swag bag, priority access to all screenings, and entry to the VIP lounge is $200 or $375 for two. Individual film block tickets start at just $15.
To learn more and to buy tickets visit – https://www.naturetrackfilmfestival.org/tickets
Q: Is this a fundraising affair? If so, how will the funds raised help your organization?
A: NatureTrack Film Festival is a program of the NatureTrack Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Santa Barbara County that hosts outdoor field trips for students, transporting them from their indoor classrooms to “natural” classrooms, where learning comes alive as all their senses are engaged.
Since its founding in 2011, NatureTrack has provided thousands of outdoor experiences for K-12 students in Santa Barbara County. NatureTrack Foundation gives thousands of K-12 students from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds and circumstances the opportunity to engage with the outdoors in a way they may not have had the chance to in their everyday lives.
As an extension of NatureTrack’s mission to inspire passion for nature, the NatureTrack Film Festival was born, bringing education through art and the outdoors together by showcasing inspiring and thought-provoking films to the community.
Q: Who is sponsoring your event, and why is their support important?
A: We have some incredible sponsors this year including The Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli, Yardi, Santa Barbara Honda, the City of Goleta, The South Coast Chamber of Commerce, Visit Santa Barbara, The Leta Hotel, UCLA Health, Santa Barbara Zoo, Santa Barbara Independent, Noozhawk, Camino Real Marketplace and many more. We simply could not accomplish our festival without the incredible support of these and all our sponsors and partners.
Q: Do you work with an Event Planner? If not, who are the key people who make it all happen?
A: We did not work with an event planner. This year we have run a very lean operation. Much of what has been accomplished this year is down to the phenomenal hard work, and dedicated relationship building within the community by our Managing Director, Gareth Kelly, himself a local filmmaker who was our Development Director last year.
Gareth has been grateful for the support of the foundations Executive Director, Sue Eisagurre, our programming Director Bryce Thompson as well as the team at Harness who have helped with our website, digital comms and marketing strategies for the festival.
Q: Does your organization have any other upcoming events this year?
A: We do not have any upcoming events this year after the festival, but we did recently finish our first summer screening series program held at El Capitan State Park where we screened films from past filmmakers.
Q: What are you planning as a post-event follow up?
A: We will send out a recap video to all our attendees, sponsors, and partners, as well as a thank you to everyone who has helped make the festival a success.
To attend or learn more about the 6th NatureTrack Film Festival, click HERE.
If you would like to apply for Noozhawk’s 50/50 Match Sponsorship Program for your upcoming nonprofit event please click HERE to view our sponsorship application. The deadline for consideration is 30-45 days prior to the event. You can also contact our sales team at sales@noozhawk.com.