What we know
- Ana described about $40,000 currently available for Garen and Erin.
- The source, restrictions, timing, and finality are still unclear.
- No title, split, authority, classification, hours, or scope was approved.
“This is a provisional envelope, not yet a usable budget.”
What $20K each means
- About 267 hours each at a $75/hour floor.
- About 6–7 hours a week from now through spring.
- Less working time if $20,000 includes payroll costs or benefits.
Enough for fractional leadership and bounded sprints. Not enough for leadership plus routine execution plus festival-week rescue work.
A workable model — per person
| Lane | Budget | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership continuity + decisions | $8,000 | 107 |
| Four bounded working sprints | $8,000 | 107 |
| Final readiness + closeout reserve | $4,000 | 53 |
| Total | $20,000 | 267 |
The four sprints
- Budget truth + role charter: money, restrictions, authority, dates, portfolio boundaries, and event cap.
- Season operating plan: calendar, ownership, funding strategy, sources of truth, and staffing needs.
- Portfolio commitment: decide what can proceed and assign funded program and delivery owners.
- Readiness + handoff: test host, filmmaker, production, accessibility, and escalation systems.
The support test
- Separate support exists: $20K each can fund leadership.
- $40K is the whole people budget: consider $16K each plus $8K of coordination support.
- No support and $20K each: cut festival scale and exclude routine execution.
“What can we responsibly lead for $40,000?” — not “How do we make the whole festival fit inside $40,000?”
Erin debrief
- Compare what each person heard.
- Separate confirmed facts from floated possibilities.
- Name what neither person will absorb.
- Sketch separate portfolios and shared decisions.
- Build one question list for Ana.
Ask Ana in writing
- Is the $40K approved, committed, and cash-backed?
- Is it unrestricted or dependent on moving restricted funds?
- Is it compensation or total employer cost?
- When would payments begin and end?
- Is it a floor, ceiling, or current placeholder?
- What separate budget exists for seasonal coordination, production, accessibility, vendors, and festival-week labor?
- Can the roles expand through a written change if more funding arrives?
The immediate sequence
- Garen + Erin debrief.
- Written budget verification from Ana.
- Bounded $40K pilot proposal.
- Stabilization-scale festival timeline.
- Then resume readiness and funder-evidence sprints.