Because of your support, The Grand Cinema is more than a movie theater. Together at The Grand we engage with art and connect through a shared love of film and community.
On behalf of the staff, volunteers, and board, it is an honor to partner with you as your nonprofit art house theater and film center. Thank you for being a part of our 21 year history and of our future.
Take a moment, read about our favorite 2018 moments, and give to keep The Grand Cinema thriving, accessible, and a vital haven for arts and expression in our community.
GIVE TO THE GRAND
This year, you filled the theaters: we broke our all time single-month attendance record in January, and thousands enjoyed films throughout 2018.
Independent film showed its visionary spirit this year.
Patrons loved Won’t You Be My Neighbor, The Post, and The Shape of Water (our current top three films so far this year), and audiences supported brave new perspectives like Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, Debra Granik’s Leave No Trace, Chloé Zhao’s The Rider, and brilliant documentaries like RBG, Three Identical Strangers, and Free Solo.
Hundreds of volunteers kept popcorn popping and theaters clean, and more than 6,000 members joined or renewed.
We welcomed David Dinnell as the new Tacoma Film Festival Director and Tanya Tran as our Marketing Manager.
This was a thrilling year of partnerships and community building.
Staff and volunteers presented free screenings, discussions, and learning opportunities at The Grand, University of Washington Tacoma, King’s Books, and local schools to more than 2,000 students and community members.
We invested in filmmakers: this spring we supported 31 local film crews as they competed in our annual 253 Film Competition, speeding to complete short films in 72 hours.
The Grand screened their hard work to an enthusiastic audience of nearly 700.
We partnered with the University of Washington Tacoma Film Club in hosting the first ever 253 Film Summit on the UWT campus, providing free workshops for students, entrepreneurs, and artists.
This fall, in partnership with South Sound Together, we awarded 17 grants, investing $15,000 in Pierce County film projects.
Filmmaker mentors and volunteers worked with over 80 youth through our summer film camps, and we hosted our first ever film camp for grown-ups.
The Tacoma Film Festival was the highest attended ever, and over 100 visiting filmmakers—local and from around the world—shared their works with our community.
For the first time ever, we made TFF films free for students; 80 students signed up and enjoyed the festival.
These are a few of our favorite things that happened in 2018—there are hundreds more, and we hope something wonderful happened to you at The Grand this year too.
Because of you, The Grand Cinema is a community resource where you can meet and learn from leaders, artists, activists, and teachers.
At the close of every year, we ask for your help so we can do the essential work of connecting communities through film, building supportive partnerships, and working together to learn, empower, and inspire.
GIVE TO THE GRAND
Please give today, and consider setting up an automatic monthly donation! Our goal is to raise $45,000 by January 31, 2019 to ensure The Grand Cinema meets its annual operational needs. Your donation is 100% tax-deductible.
Want to make sure you can deduct this donation in 2018? Just make your donation by December 31, 2018. Please also consider The Grand for those mandatory payouts from your 401(k) accounts.
Thank you for your support! We look forward to 2019, inspired by our mission to enrich lives and enhance the cultural vitality of the Greater Tacoma community through the art of film.
