Happy 2019!

To My Dearest Cinema Faithful,

As we embark on our 12th year in business, I look back at the incredible work we have done since starting this beautiful thing of ours:

In 2007, I took a $7,500 nut (which was all of my savings) and established Cape Ann’s first and only community cinema. You braved the icy winter roads to Rocky Neck to make our first season – a delightful combination of films that we loved and ones that you asked for – a success.

By 2009, your support had given us the impetus to move downtown, to our current West End home. Business doubled.

By 2011, we were able to hire a staff — albeit a skeleton crew — so we could offer more shows daily. By this time, business had tripled over our first year, and our offerings went from 1-2 daily to 4-5 daily.

In 2013, your donations allowed us to upgrade our projector to an industry-standard DCP model, giving us the capability of presenting first-run films for the first time. We affectionately named the projector “Sol” (after the power of the Sun). It went online (and became self-aware, methinks) in 2014.

In 2015, your donations saved the Cinema from closing after 7 consecutive blizzard weekends wiped out a whole season of revenue.

In 2017, we opened The Magic Lantern Community Screening Room, a wickedly quaint 15-seat space across the hall from our Main Theater, at our 8th Annual DoctoberFest Documentary Film Festival. The new room features the kinds of “smaller” movies we started with all those years ago. This room will bring much-needed additional revenue, through daily programming and ultra-affordable rentals. It is a wonderful and essential addition to the Cinema mix.

Our 2017-18 campaign was a success, as well, netting $75,480 in donations for staffing, upgrades, and expansion. Now, we are changing our approach a little, making fundraising a year-round endeavor, rather than a bi-annual event. So if you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation, please click below to visit our project page.

Here’s to us all!

With love and sincere thanks,

Robert Newton
Creative Director
The Cape Ann Cinema & Stage

CHECKS CAN BE MADE PAYABLE TO:

OurTown Cinemas
c/o The Cape Ann Cinema & Stage
21 Main Street – 2nd Floor
Gloucester, MA 01930