We've been hearing a lot about the effects of the spiraling economy on Wall Street and Main Street. In the Variety article "Financial Crisis Hurts Film Festivals," Nick Vivarelli, Ali Jaafar and Michael Jones take a look at the consequences of the crisis on festivals, including some sad news about a doc favorite:

One casualty so far is the Jackson Hole Film Festival. The 5-year-old event hit a high point when U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon inaugurated the fest's Global Insight Summit at this year's June 5-9 edition. But the fest's ambitious reach may have been ill-timed. Jackson Hole relied on local patrons more than it did national sponsors. As the market nosedived, pocketbooks shut. Having only raised a fraction of its $1.5 million budget this year, the board chose to cut its losses and shutter.

It's not a big surprise that in times of cost-cutting, event sponsorships are one of the first things to get nixed by a company, but festivals are also feeling the squeeze in other ways. AFI Fest opens next week on October 30th, and artistic director Rose Kuo pointed out some of the hidden costs of doing business this year.

Problems popped up ahead of the current crises, when the cost of gas skyrocketed.

"Airfares and print shipping got more expensive and support from our transportation sponsor dropped," says Kuo, who is also cutting back on the parties.