Like a good neighbor...

by Rebecca Collins, MNDialog • August 15, 2008 • Any Corey Hart fans out there? Yeah, I’m not one of them. And yet, when John Koch’s e-mail came in this morning about dire straits for his Minneapolis video store, Cinema Revolution, the lyrics to “Never Surrender” started running through my brain.

Just a little more time is all we’re asking for
Cause just a little more time could open closing doors
Just a little uncertainty can bring you down
And nobody wants to know you now
And nobody wants to show you how

Arts Orbit is a multisource blog about the local arts scene, featuring both original contributions by Daily Planet writers and entries reprinted from partner blogs and online publications.

In his e-mail, John had this to say:

“Cinema Revolution is facing a crisis – a serious and rapid decline in revenue that contradicts all past performance, precedents and expectations. Up until now, the business has performed steadily enough to sustain itself and carry on, due largely in part to our dedicated volunteer staff. To counter our current sales decrease we are seeking ways to help make the business better, and one consensus priority is that the store needs a more viable location with better visibility, access and parking. We are also open to the idea of partnering with other compatible businesses and/or sharing space.

We believe that a local store run by live local people is something of value – a store that curates film as a gallery would curate any other form of art, a store that actively promotes film in the community, a store with a real, tangible personality. Cinema Revolution creates an artistic context for your DVD rental experience; we help guide you through innumerable choices, and celebrate films that otherwise are marginalized or ignored.

We are active in the community as well. Through the nearly five years of our existence, we have shot a feature film using all local talent, we have held dozens of film screenings through Cinema des Artistes and our Film Society, commissioned new original short films from local artists, held weekly live film discussion groups, started a local record label, and have helped actively promote countless festivals, performances and screenings by local producers. It is a major part of our mission to connect, support and inspire our local artistic community. If you value what we do for the community, we ask you to please help us continue in these endeavors.

We are seeking to raise $5,000 by September 15th to help make our move to a new location a reality, as it cannot be done without this additional support. The suggested donation is $20 (and if 250 people can do this, we will make our goal), but please feel free to give at any level you can afford. With your collective help we can make this happen.

We are also seeking volunteers to help in this fundraising effort. If you are interested in helping out, contact john@cinemarevolution.com.

In just the past two years we have lost legendary video stores Discount Video and Box Office Video. We have seen the Oak Street and Bell Auditorium film programs vanish, we have watched the entire film editorial staff at the City Pages lose their jobs, and Hollywood fare is now seeping into our beloved Lagoon Cinema. Please help keep an active, inspiring film culture alive in the Twin Cities and donate securely via PayPal today.

Please note that if for any reason we do not achieve our financial goal, your generous donations will be refunded directly through PayPal. If we should raise more than our goal, the extra money will be applied to growing our movie collection to help fill our new space. Also be aware that we are not organized as a non-profit organization for tax purposes, so your donation is not tax deductible.

Thank you all so much for your support through the years, and may there be many more to follow!”

Even if you aren’t a regular Cinema Revolution customer or member, please consider donating to help the cause. We don’t all have to use a service to recognize its worth in our community and to lend a hand to keep it from going away. And clearly Cinema Revolution has made community involvement a big priority.

DONATE TODAY

Now we fade out to some more Corey Hart:

So if you’re lost and on your own
You can never surrender
And if your path won’t lead you home
You can never surrender
And when the night is cold and dark
You can see, you can see light
Cause no-one can take away your right
To fight and never surrender