By Michael Balderston
“We started out with less than stellar optimism,” says University Mall Theatre owner Mark O’Meara about the theatre’s Kickstarter campaign to raise money for new seats. Setting their goal for $100,000 dollars before the end of August, the theatre’s “Save Our Butts” campaign eclipsed that mark in the early morning on Thursday, Aug. 21, leaving 10 days to spare.
“We’re numb, completely numb, we can’t believe it,” says O’Meara. “We are totally overwhelmed with how this went. I don’t know what to do next, it’s mind boggling… we didn’t know there was so much love out there.”
After serving Fairfax County with low prices for second-run movies and their world-famous popcorn for the past 23 years, O’Meara and his University Mall Theatre staff were faced with a brand new challenge as the shopping center they are housed in—the eponymous University Mall—has been undergoing renovation for the past year. As part of the renovation, the shopping center required the theatre to update its marquee and add a new wheelchair lift – which could run up to $40,000 by themselves – as part of the construction. Hoping to take this opportunity to improve the theatre with new seats, the question soon became where they would get the money to pay for everything?
They decided to try social media, using the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to help pay for the improvements. O’Meara initially wanted to set the bar low, knowing that if they didn’t raise their initial goal they would receive none of the money donated to them, which in turn would mean no new seats at all. But Theatre Manager Dan Collings convinced him to aim for the stars, setting their goal at $100,000 dollars, which would pay for all 500 of the new seats.
The community quickly came to the aid of University Theatres, with over 2,400 people supporting the campaign which currently sits at $118,170.
“I don’t even have Facebook or Twitter, I’m not very astute about its power,” says O’Meara, “but now I am a believer. It’s turned into a love fest of our 23 years of being part of the community.” The power of social media helped the campaign bring in $15,000 in a single day after an article in The Washington Post spread across Facebook.
O’Meara says that they hope to have the new seats in by Thanksgiving, but it’s not over yet. The push to make University Theatre Mall into a true movie palace continues. With three days remaining on their campaign, O’Meara and Collings are still hoping for the community’s support to make further improvements to the theatre, including refurbishing the floors, adding three new bathrooms, new tile and possibly new air conditioners. They have added new rewards for donors as well that include free movie passes, free refills on popcorn, as well as ad space for businesses prior to movie screenings.
“The last year and a half has been focused on survival,” says O’Meara, but thanks to Kickstarter and their community, University Mall is looking ahead to a bright future.
If you would like to contribute to University Mall Theatre’s Kickstarter campaign click here.
