An e-mail today from filmmaker Robert Rosenberg, who founded the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival:
Dear Friends:
I am writing to tell you about my good news – I have been hired to be the first Director of the non-profit Coral Gables Art Cinema, which will be opening this spring. It is a very exciting project, for the community and for me personally, as a filmmaker, film programmer and arts leader in South Florida. I want to invite you to support this project and join me in creating a pioneering cultural space, and to attend a “hard hat preview tour” with me of the Cinema next Wednesday, March 3.
The beautiful new, 144-seat cinema, with full 35mm and HD video projection, professional theater-quality sound and stadium seating, will be the best and most comfortable venue for appreciating alternative film in South Florida. It is located at 260 Aragon Avenue, directly across the street from Books & Books, in the heart of downtown Coral Gables. The Cinema will be a year-round, seven-days-a-week vehicle for the presentation of high quality American independent, foreign and classic films that will not generally be available at other venues in South Florida. Many of you already know me as the founder of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, or as a collaborator with many film and other arts groups and projects. You can be sure under my leadership that the programs at the Coral Gables Art Cinema will appeal to South Florida’s vibrant, diverse, multicultural and multilingual communities. In addition to film screenings, the Cinema will be a cultural hub for filmmakers, other artists and the public, with live performances, great food and drinks, sidebar events and educational activities. You can find out more about the Cinema at www.coralgablescinemateque.org.
The Cinema is the result of a partnership between the Coral Gables Cinemateque, Inc., the non-profit 501(3)c organization formed to run the venue, and the City of Coral Gables. This is the development of a serious institution, with cumulative funding to-date of more than $500,000 in cash and substantial in-kind contributions of professional cinema equipment, all of which have been invested in building out the state-of-the art theater. Construction is almost completed, but we need to still raise over $100,000 more in cash at this point to be able to finish some details, staff the theater, and have the means to begin operating the venue. I am asking you today to consider making a fully tax-deductible contribution to the Cinema’s Capital Campaign; to become a member; or for you or your business to become an annual sponsor. Here’s how:
• Our major current Capital Campaign is for Founders who contribute a minimum of $1,000 and receive acknowledgement of their gift with a permanent plaque in the theater’s lobby (this is separate from memberships and provides no other benefits, but is 100% tax-deductible). The $1,000 Founder contribution can be made by contacting me directly, online at www.coralgablescinemateque.org, by phone by calling the Cinema at (786) 385-9689, or downloading an order form from the website and mailing it in with a check or credit card information. Other, larger naming opportunities are of course available, as well as annual sponsorships at larger levels than the standard memberships that can be customized for both individual donors and businesses. You can contact me directly with questions at (305) 532-7256 or by email at robert@tropicalwavemiami.com.
• Annual memberships are currently available for purchase that range in cost from $1,200 down to $60 (a portion of which is tax-deductible). By purchasing a membership now, which will last for one full year from the actual day the Cinema opens this spring, you can help us complete our budget and the building out of the venue. You can purchase a membership from me, online, by phone or by email, as in with the donations above.
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