Hello Fabulous Film Faithful,

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’d have some news soon. Well, it’s soon now.

When the Covid lockdowns began in March 2020, we, like everyone, thought that things would probably be back to normal in a couple weeks. We were planning to resume a regular schedule at our temporary location on Rogers Street, downstairs from the Floating Lotus. Weeks turned into months, months into years, and here we are.

And where are we, the Cape Ann Community Cinema? Well, we opened our charity video store, HelpFlix, here at our new home base in Rockport this past fall, and while I’d certainly like more people to find us when we’re open on weekends (12pm-6pm), the online side of things has exploded. We’re shipping your donations of movies, books, music, and tech all over the world, for the benefit of 13 Cape Ann non-profits. Thank you to everyone who has brought us the DVDs you raised your kids on, your late father’s collection of John Wayne and World War II VHS tapes, or that 8mm rig that projected your mid-20th century memories onto a sheet hung over the clothesline in your back yard. We’re happy to adopt all your wayward wares and tech, so please keep them coming.

There’s a 500 sq. ft. space across the hall from the shop that was originally supposed to be one of two CACC screening spaces, this one seating up to 33 people. The first delay in opening it was safety-related, having to do with sprinklers, installation of which was cost-prohibitive. I am very happy to report that this is no longer an issue, and while the space is presently occupied by not-us, it will be available again on March 1, 2022. I am even happier to report that I have signed a lease on the space, and will get to work on bringing independent, foreign, and local films back to Cape Ann in the space just as soon as there is money to do so.

In that two years dark has hobbled CACC financially, we are asking – as we have in the past when there has been Big Important Work to do – for your help in this endeavor. By spring, we would like to be able to start offering private rentals of a 20-25 seat luxury screening room, initially as thank-yous to donors who will help us outfit it. The space would also be used as a classroom, with a summer filmmaking camp for middle-schoolers to begin in July (I went back to school in the fall to earn a teaching degree), and for meetings, parties, and all the other functions that a true community space performs.

A regular schedule – limited to 3-4 days a week to start – would return when the Pandemic is downgraded to endemic status, and we can return to something resembling normal. But in the meantime, we will build that vibrant and essential space, and look forward to welcoming you back to it.

And the second space we had planned, next door to it, for up to 49 more guests at a time? Let’s call that “Phase 2,” and we’ll tackle that after we make a go of this “Sandy Bay Screening Room.” However, it’s no secret that I would love to team up with Arnie Morton at Little Art Cinema to bring on a larger scale our particular brand of magic to his wonderful space. While I have nothing on that front to report at this time, discussions are ongoing, and I think we – me, Arnie, and the Cape Ann community – could really knock it out of the park with an additional curatorial option there on School Street here in Rockport.

A detailed breakdown of project expenses is below. Please consider making a donation to aid us in our quest to make your world right again, at whatever level works best for you? As usual, we are offering some nice thank-you gifts, including HelpFlix store credits, outdoor movie parties, and private luxury cinema rentals.

And away we go!

Warmest regards,

Rob Newton
Founder & Creative Director, CACC