A local theater’s crowdfunding campaign had a Hollywood ending.
The owners of Screenland Armour, a movie theater in North Kansas City, credit crowdfunding with helping save their business.
This spring, Adam Roberts and Brent Miller were able to raise $30,231 through a Kickstarter campaign, well over their goal of $20,000. The money has helped the theater buy new digital projectors and audio equipment.
Roberts and Miller offered donors an array of incentives, including free popcorn, season passes and even naming rights to the theater’s two auditoriums. Nearly 600 people gave to the cause, but the owners weren’t sure it was going to work.
“You get really nervous at first,” Roberts said. “Is anybody really going to care about us being a small theater?”
The new equipment was badly needed. Movie distributors have been phasing out the 35mm prints that had been shown at the two-screen Armour. To keep getting access to the newest movies, Roberts said, they needed to upgrade to digital projection—or risk going out of business. The upgrade actually cost about $110,000. Roberts and Miller were able to line up traditional financing for the bulk of that, but were still short nearly $20,000. Crowdfunding helped bridge the gap.
Star Power
There were several things working in Screenland Armour’s favor. “When we sat down and did our Kickstarter, we made sure we weren’t generic,” Roberts said.
Miller and Roberts got comedian and 30 Rock co-star Judah Friedlander, who was performing at the theater, to appear in the promotional video on their Kickstarter page. Scream actor Matthew Lillard, who showed his latest film at the Armour, helped promote the campaign online, too.
Appeals went out a few times each week via social networks, though the theater owners were careful not to overdo it. “You don’t want to become that person,” Roberts said.
Local Coverage
Local media played a big role, too. The owners sent press releases to TV and radio stations, along with The Star, which ran stories about the campaign. That coverage generated new energy when donations had started to trickle off.
Having an unusual story helped Screenland Armour attract attention, so it might be hard for another theater in Kansas City do the same thing. But Roberts thinks crowdfunding could be a useful tool for other innovative products and services that are looking for financial support.
“A good product is going to sell itself,” he said.
