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Winter’s Dream coalition pauses Moment Factory contract; county DRI award could alter plans
Summary
The Winters Dream coalition told the Occupancy Tax Coordination Committee on May 21 that it exercised a contractual pause/termination of the Moment Factory production and that recent state DRI funding for Lake George may change future plans.
The Winters Dream coalition updated the Occupancy Tax Coordination Committee on May 21 about a pause in its Moment Factory immersive‑light production, costs incurred, and next steps following a Department of Regional Initiatives (DRI) award to Lake George that coalition members said could change plans.
Coalition representative Sam said the group exercised a contract provision (cited as clause 14.3) and terminated the Moment Factory agreement on April 2 after a pause between the second and third years of the project; Sam emphasized the coalition has maintained a “very strong relationship” with Moment Factory and continues planning conversations. Sam said the coalition did not accept the full $3 million offer that had been discussed and had chosen not to execute a $400,000 option last year while it awaited external grant funding.
On costs, the coalition reported approximately $2.95 million was spent on the Winters Dream effort overall. Sam said roughly $1.55 million went to Moment Factory for creative services and rights; additional expenditures included equipment rentals and marketing spending in the neighborhood of $500,000. Coalition members said several implementation expenses — including site accessibility work at the Fort — were absorbed to make venues ADA compliant; members characterized much of the coalition’s work as volunteer and nonprofit and said coalition members did not take payment.
Sam told the committee the coalition is exploring lower‑cost, year‑round programming options — for example, a Ghost Stories concept that could leverage existing assets — while keeping open the possibility of future collaboration with Moment Factory, particularly now that the village’s DRI award has been announced. The coalition said the DRI equipment funds (cited by staff at the meeting as about $600,000 for the village) “change everything” and warrant renewed discussion with Moment Factory and other vendors.
Committee members asked about the contract’s noncompete term; Sam said the coalition is in the first year of a three‑year noncompete period but did not expect it to prevent undertaking different, non‑competing projects. Sam also said Winters Dream sold roughly 28,000 tickets in the most recent run and stressed the downstream economic effects to hotels and restaurants during winter periods.
No formal committee action was taken; staff and coalition members said they will continue to plan and report back as outside funding decisions and vendor negotiations evolve.
