The 25th annual Port Townsend Film Festival not only surpassed last year’s numbers, it at least equaled recorded pre-pandemic numbers.

That data comes from PTFF Executive Director Danni McClelland, who offered some apples-to-apples comparisons, not only between this year and last year, but also between this year and the last year before COVID hit.

McClelland reported the 2024 film festival sold 7,501 per-film tickets to generate roughly $81,600 in gross sales, while the 2023 film festival sold 6,543 tickets to generate $60,706 in gross sales.

“That’s a big jump,” McClelland said.

The data available from five years ago was measured by different metrics, which McClelland noted in explaining the earlier year comparison: A total of 1,103 passes were sold to the 2019 film festival, while a total of 1,114 passes were sold to the 2024 film festival.

“So we beat the festival’s pre-COVID numbers,” McClelland said.

McClelland accounted for this increased success in part by recounting how, around the middle of last year, the PTFF began revamping its website.

“We began more fully utilizing our online ticketing platform,” McClelland said. “We started communicating with our buyers, after last year’s festival, to keep in touch with them about upcoming events.”

Not only was the PTFF making what McClelland saw as more robust use of its newsletter and social media, to “reach further afield” with younger and other less-traditional audiences, but it’s also been collaborating with outside organizations from the surrounding community.

“That’s helped tremendously with our outreach to targeted communities, who might not have been aware or felt invited by previous festivals,” said McClelland. She touted the PTFF’s partnerships with groups including Color of Sound, Well-Organized, Black Lives Matter if Jefferson County, and various Native American and tribal organizations.

“We’ve been very integrated in our promotions.”

McClelland also credits the PTFF’s implementation of year-round programs with helping to keep the film festival “at the forefront of people’s minds.” It also supports nonprofits such as Dove House and Jefferson County Immigrant Rights Advocates, which widens the circle.

“What we’ve seen is that those efforts are resonating,” McClelland said. “Collaborating with others who are providing services is the right way to go, and it comes back to benefit us too.”

Looking ahead, McClelland said the Port Townsend Film Festival would remain committed to such collaborations with other organizations, as it broadens its content even further.

“This is a key, not only to continuing to recover from the pandemic, but also to moving toward an even brighter future for the festival,” McClelland said.