Help keep Rooftop Films alive in 2010

Like seeing movies on the roof of the American Can Factory in Gowanus and other unlikely places? Here's your chance to help out if you want to enjoy the view again next summer.

From Rooftop Films:

Dear Friends, Fans, Filmmakers— Rooftop Films needs your help. While you have already made the 2009 Summer Series our most successful ever – your attendance, your feedback, and your films have all been through the roof – that is sadly not enough in today’s economic climate. Successful programming is not enough for a community-based nonprofit arts group like Rooftop to survive. As the 2009 festival winds down, cutbacks by funders and sponsors have created a severe gap in our budget, which threatens to drastically shrink our future programming. We must raise $70,000 by October to ensure that Rooftop can continue without compromise in 2010. Your donation – whether it’s $1,000 or $100 or $10 – is crucial to that effort.

Bringing independent film to the diverse communities of New York City is central to our mission, which is why you've been able to enjoy the 2009 Summer Series as planned, despite major budget cuts behind the scenes. This year at Rooftop, you've gotten to see more premieres than ever before, had the opportunity to engage in groundbreaking partnerships with organizations like the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Reel 13, and forged record attendance numbers for independent outdoor screenings. By the end of the season, we will have presented more than 40 nights of incredible films in stunning locations to over 25,000 people.

Rooftop wants to be able to bring it all to you again in 2010, but it will be extraordinarily difficult without financial support from our audience.

We understand the economic crisis has affected you, too. Buying tickets to a Rooftop show probably seems harder than it did a year ago, and our heartiest thanks go to everyone who has bought screening tickets, raffle tickets, t-shirts, and made tax-deductible donations to Rooftop. At this critical moment, though, we must ask for additional contributions to ensure that we can continue with our programs in the coming years.

Whether you have donated to Rooftop before, have shown a film or attended a screening, or have only read about us, you are a part of the engine that keeps Rooftop going. So in the spirit of community that Rooftop holds at the center of its mission, we sincerely hope you will consider a financial contribution to Rooftop Films today.

The Impact of Your Support

Just as you rely on Rooftop to bring the best new independent films in the world right to your neighborhood, we rely on your support to maintain the quality and accessibility of our programs. Donations from the public help to ensure that:

+ Public school students learn valuable filmmaking and media literacy skills through our Rooftop Education program+ We can continue offering affordable tickets to our screenings

+ Our submission fees stay low, providing filmmakers of all kinds the chance to show their work

+ Projects by emerging filmmakers are supported by grants from the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund

+ Our staff can program insightful panel discussions and Q&As to supplement our screenings

+ Other artists and non-profits can take advantage of our low-cost equipment rentals

For more information about Rooftop Films and our 13th Anniversary season, please download our colorful newsletter. To make your tax-deductible donation now, click below

Donate

or mail a check, made out to Rooftop Films, to: Rooftop Films 232 3rd Street #D101Brooklyn, NY 11215