Coolidge Corner Theatre Thrives, Defying National Trend
Community and national support fund expansion for beloved local theatre while national chains confront major challenges
Movie buffs have an opportunity for fun and support of Brookline’s iconic Coolidge Corner Theatre this Thursday, May 12, when “the Coolidge” puts on its Film Trivia Night Fundraiser:
This fundraiser is part of a $12.5 million capital campaign that is supporting a massive expansion that will delight fans of the Coolidge, providing an unprecedented quality and quantity of entertainment possibilities.
Though based in Brookline, the Coolidge has members from surrounding communities including Boston, Newton, Cambridge, Somerville and others, according to Deputy Director Beth Gilligan, who has been with the Coolidge more than 13 years, after spending 9 years at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
The Coolidge has also received considerable support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which has provided the Coolidge with more than $4 million to support the theatre’s Science on Screen program and allowed the Coolidge to also provide grants, funded by Sloan, to more than 100 cinemas in states across the country including Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, New York, and Tennessee, according to Gilligan.
In a summary of its 2021 grant to the Coolidge, the Sloan Foundation wrote:
The Coolidge Corner Theatre is an independent cinema in Brookline, Massachusetts specializing in international, documentary, animated, and independent film selections.
The Coolidge is also the leader of Science on Screen, a nationwide network of independent cinemas that invite scientific experts to screenings of popular or cult classic films to discuss with audiences the scientific or technological themes or issues the film raises.
The series offers an unexpected, informative, and entirely fun entree into the relationship between science and film.
Previous events used the zombie classic Night of the Living Dead as a springboard to discuss the role of the amygdala in cognitive processes and a screening of Fight Club as the beginning of the discussion of the roots of aggression.
Grant funds will allow the Coolidge to make grants to 56 local theatres, bringing the total number of independent cinema houses that have participated in Science on Screen to well over 100.
In addition, the Coolidge will promote the series through a new digital newsletter, a video for the National Week of Science on Screen, partnerships and sponsorships, and online marketing efforts.
Tomorrow night’s auction items include wine, signed posters, tickets to the US Open, and a private movie party at the Coolidge, among many other prizes.
Interested bidders can register here:
Register to Bid for the Coolidge!
“The Campaign for the Coolidge is a once-in-a-generation project that will transform our beloved nonprofit moviehouse into a leading center for film and culture. Our fossil fuel free addition will allow us to show more films and increase our community offerings, including education classes,” Gilligan said.
According to the Coolidge:
Our new, third-floor Community Education and Engagement Center will provide something the Coolidge could never offer before: dedicated classroom and event space for theater and community use. This flexible space will allow the Coolidge to:
Dramatically expand our educational offerings to students and adult learners
Develop innovative film programs with partners in new communities
Provide meeting or reception space for community gatherings and post-screening discussions
The space, which will seat 60 in classroom mode, includes an adjacent catering kitchen and opens onto an outdoor roof deck.
Meanwhile, at the national level, the large movie theater chains face significant challenges.
In its latest annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. wrote:
We are the world’s largest theatrical exhibition company and an industry leader in innovation and operational excellence.
…The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted our business and will continue to adversely affect our business, theatres, results of operations and liquidity.
…Over the last decade, the average theatrical exclusive release window, which represents the time that elapses from the date of a film’s theatrical release to the date a film is available to consumers in-home, has decreased from approximately four months to approximately one and a half months.
Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, certain movie studios have adopted strategies that have eliminated the theatrical exclusive release window. Notably, Warner Bros. released its entire slate of films for 2021 simultaneously in theatres and on its home streaming service.
Other studios such as Disney have released (and have indicated an intention in certain cases to continue to release) movie titles directly to the in-home and streaming channels, avoiding a theatrical release. Other studios may adopt similar strategies, and these adjustments due to the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to permanent changes that shorten or eliminate the theatrical exclusive release window. These practices have significantly impacted our revenues and are expected to continue to have an adverse impact on our business and results of operations going forward.
And yet, the Coolidge continues to thrive, with more than 700 donations to the capital campaign, according to Gilligan, and a set of membership offerings that allow individuals to choose a level of support that is comfortable for them, ranging from a $45 student Film Buff membership that includes discounts on tickets and popcorn as well as invitations to free member events, to the Dual All-Access membership, which for $3,000 includes 2 tickets for the members plus 2 guests to all regular films, plus a free weeknight rental of the Gold Screen theater, which seats 27 and includes high definition (HD) digital projection.
Of course, no membership at all is required to simply walk up to the box office or go online to purchase tickets to a Coolidge film.
For those who simply want some swag, the Coolidge Corner Theatre Shop offers an array of items from t-shirts to caps to tote bags:
A November 2021 report by The Quorum, whose mission is to “reinvent the world of film tracking by diving deeper into the behaviors that drive consumer awareness and interest in upcoming releases, both theatrically and on streaming services,” concludes that:
“Just as the studios are re-evaluating their marketing and distribution strategies in the wake of the disruption caused by the pandemic, theaters need to do the same.
The good news is that 70% of all respondents, including those who aren’t currently going to the movies, would be upset if theaters went away. At the same time, it is clear from the data that going to the theater needs to provide greater value if exhibition hopes to win fans back.”
Through its comprehensive array of films, events and educational offerings, combined with creative fundraising strategies appealing to a wide range of supporters, the Coolidge is thriving in precisely the way The Quorum recommends, continuing its 89-year history as a cherished, non-profit, community organization:
To learn more about the Coolidge:
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