The Labia Theatre, an institution among cinemagoers in Cape Town, is in trouble and is turning to the Internet for help.
Beginning this Thursday and running for 45 days, the four-auditorium Labia, which is an outlet for local and international art films, will run a crowd-funding campaign aimed at raising R2m that will allow it to buy urgently needed digital projector equipment and to refurbish its ageing facilities.
The crowd-funding project is being done through Thundafund, a local crowd-funding website. The Web page for the campaign explains the urgency of the project. “All film distributors globally have agreed to move to digital, and have stopped providing films on celluloid in one single swoop,” it says.
“While digital technology does make film distribution more accessible and ensures consistent quality of playback, this news has come as a blow to independent cinemas worldwide for one simply reason: cost. A new digital projector costs about half-a-million rand,” the crowd-funding campaign page says.
It says that the move to digital is forcing many independent cinemas to close. “Labia Theatre owner Ludi Kraus is finding ways and means to try cope with the transition, but it is by no means guaranteed it will make it,” it continues.
The campaign to save the theatre, called “Digital Gold”, has promised that those who pledge money will receive rewards in return. These rewards include free movie tickets right up to having naming rights to the screens, depending, of course, on the amount pledged.
“Money raised will not only be used for the necessary digital projectors and paying for the renovations required to ensure they fit — such as bashing bigger view holes in the wall — but also to refurbish and revitalize The Labia for an overall improved audience experience.” — © 2014 NewsCentral Media