National GoFundMe drive to benefit 3 SF movie theaters during coronavirus shutdown

At a time when arts organizations are shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, GoFundMe has become the digital version of tape and string: anything to hold it all together until this crisis has passed.

In the latest effort to stay afloat, two San Francisco independent movie theater groups have joined a national GoFundMe drive for struggling cinemas launched by the Criterion Collection and Janus Films in partnership with Art House Convergence, an organization based in Michigan dedicated to the survival of independent cinemas nationwide. The goal of the monthlong campaign, which runs through April 30, is to raise $500,000. As of midday Monday, April 13, $387,713 has been raised.

The Roxie Theater and CinemaSF, which operates the Balboa and Vogue theaters, are two of the more than 70 organizations across the country that have completed applications for aid from the fund, called the Art-House America Campaign. The aid so far has amounted to $2,500 for each the Roxie and CinemaSF, a drop in the bucket for the deficit these theaters are looking to make up but welcome just the same.

“The Art House Convergence — it’s such an amazing organization,” CinemaSF owner and operator Adam Bergeron said by phone. “I’m consistently impressed by the work that they do. It feels like independent movie theaters have a voice now and a place in America that just didn’t exist before this organization came about and got strong. It’s fantastic.”

Roxie Executive Director Lex Sloan told The Chronicle via email that she begins each morning looking at the comments on the GoFundMe page left by people who donate, and they “brighten my day.”

“We are deeply appreciative of Criterion, Janus and Art House Convergence for launching the Art House America GoFundMe campaign,” Sloan said. “Not only for their donation to the Roxie but to all the other cinemas they are sending needed support to. … We have been saving all the wonderful messages people leave when they donate. They are a compelling reminder of the importance of arthouse cinemas like the Roxie, to so many people.”

Film luminaries such as Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, Atom Egoyan, Edward Norton, Wes Anderson, Lulu Wang, Barry Jenkins, Alexander Payne, Ari Aster, Bill Hader, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, and John Waters have provided support, according to the GoFundMe page.

The Criterion Collection and Janus Films jump-started the drive with the initial $50,000. “Grants will be made on a rolling basis as soon as funds are available and applications are approved,” according to a statement by the Criterion Collection and Janus Films.

The Roxie has already received a direct deposit of $2,500, which Sloan said would be used to keep core staff on payroll. CinemaSF has been notified that a direct deposit of $2,500 is imminent, which Bergeron said would be put directly to paying bills.

“We were able to pay all our April utilities, but May is another hurdle, because we haven’t taken in any money in a while,” said Bergeron, who noted that most of his staff is on unemployment under a forced closure provision, but their jobs will be waiting for them when the theater reopens.

The Roxie, which has operated in the Mission District since 1912, and CinemaSF (the Richmond District’s Balboa opened in 1926; the Presidio Heights’ Vogue in 1912) are among the Bay Area theaters trying to generate revenue by selling e-tickets to current films through their websites, www.roxie.com and www.cinemasf.com. It’s part of a national effort by distribution companies to stream current movies in a way that provides revenue to struggling local theaters.

Among the movies currently available for streaming: “The Best of Cat Video Fest” and the democracy documentary “Slay the Dragon” at the Roxie; and “The Times of Bill Cunningham” (about the famed New York fashion photographer) and “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band” at CinemaSF.

Other ways theaters are attempting to survive are through low-interest loans through various government programs and merchandising. Online sales of Vogue and Balboa T-shirts, reusable shopping bags and posters have been steady, Bergeron said. And at the Roxie, they’ve been able to negotiate a rent reduction of 50% for May and June from landlords “who want to see the Roxie survive through this … which is a major relief,” Sloan said.

Both organizations had GoFundMe accounts, since concluded, that went directly to their employees. The Roxie raised more then $15,000, while CinemaSF raised more than $14,000.

“I am trying to stay optimistic,” Bergeron said. “There’s no one to blame here. This is just a crazy thing that happened. Everybody else is in the same boat just personally. I think we’re all looking at the change in our pockets at this point, right?”

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