Date: Mar. 3, 2016
To: All media for immediate release Re: The Bijou's Membership Drive
From: The Bijou Film Center
With five successful pop-up events under its belt, the time for the Bijou Film Center to do more than serve up attractive one-offs has come. Thus, Phase One of the building of The Bijou has been completed.
Phase Two begins on Mar, 3, 2016, with the launching of our first membership drive.
The Video: The Bijou's first fund-raising video can be seen online here. With a running time of less than two minutes, it's a teaser-style little film that encourages viewers to visit our website, where they can join the membership roll with convenience.
The Goal: Through membership fees our goal is to raise $18,000 in 45 days: Mar. 3 – April 16. To reach that goal, it will take 360 memberships, at $50 apiece. Here's why we're aiming at $18,000.
We need $12,000 for “good faith” money to secure a lease for what we see as an ideal space to house the Bijou Film Center's operations. We need to move on this or lose the chance. This would put our 100-seat theater, our small café and our offices under one roof in Richmond's Arts District. At this time, to avoid jinxing the process, we can't be more specific about the location.
We need $6,000 for a kitty set aside for staging events and acquiring equipment, both for the cinema and the café. Further down the road we will need to raise quite a bit more money for the build-out, but this start will put us in the position to take advantage of attractive opportunities that could suddenly present themselves.
The Bijou's Mission: The ultimate goal is to establish the Bijou Film Center in Richmond, Virginia. Its centerpiece will be a small independent cinema. That art house theater will strive to present the best of first-run independent and imported films available. They will be sandwiched between short runs of selected classics. Beyond the exhibition of our gourmet film fare, we hope to be a friend to those interested in the preserving of old films and the making of new films.
The day The Bijou opens for business, its founders and staff will raise their glasses to wish their venture good luck. That informal ceremony will take place in The Bijou's small adjoining café/coffeehouse, which will regularly serve sandwiches, soups, salads, bagels, pastries, coffee, tea, beer, wine and so forth.
Background: For more information pertaining to the Bijou Film Center please go to The Bijou's website. The Bijou's Facebook page and its Bijou Backlight blogzine are also chock-full of posts and comments. For more background about our overall concept and our well received pop-up events check out the articles below:
Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Cinema Plan Taps Into Downtown's Potential" (Sept. 11, 2014).
Richmond Magazine: "A Gem of an Idea" (February, 2015)
Style Weekly: Best Pick: Music, Movies & Magic at Hardywood Craft Brewery"
Style Weekly: "Best Hope for an Art Theatre" (May 27, 2015)
Commonwealth Times: "'Entertainment' and Quenching Richmond's Thirst for Arthouse"
I Could Go On and On (Karen Newton's blog): What's the Difference?" (Nov. 9, 2015)
Time to Celebrate: The members' party to celebrate reaching our $18,000 fund-raising goal will take place on April 16, 2016, at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery. This will be our second springtime live music show at Hardywood. More details about that event will follow as soon as they are available.
