Filma Tuesday – Quarantine Update 3/31/20
Hey Filma community – welcome to another Tuesday… you know Filma Tuesday? It’s this thing we used to do way back in the day. These days we can’t really get together on Tuesdays so instead you get a fucking blog post. How do you like that? Text for you… to read – and for once you’ve got no excuse not to read it (unless you haven’t seen Tiger King yet, omg).
There’s really no end in sight for the COVID 19 pandemic. Presently the local schools are set to be closed until May 1st and just about everywhere but here (which is the SF Bay Area) COVID 19 is spreading like crazy. That whole thing about the curve? Yea, that’s some real shit; we hope you’re taking care of yourself, we sure are because we can’t wait to see you.
Arts is getting hit pretty hard, not that we’re the only ones. Today I thought we’d take a moment to talk about SF Bay Area arts communities and the impact left by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Effects of COVID-19 on SF Bay Area Arts
The effects of COVID 19 on the Bay Area arts community are particularly devastating; no one is really sure how we’re going to survive it. It’s the sad reality that the bulk of revenue generation for arts organizations has completely dried up during COVID-19… though we’re all certainly still being charged rent and tons of of other operating costs (despite not being able to operate.) The complexity of the financial situation is probably less useful than the fact that it exists and is severe. You’re going to be seeing a lot of groups reaching out over the coming months as they re-establish themselves; you’ll likely see FILMA reaching out all the same.
Many organizations are already organizing online fund raising to survive the financial implications of the pandemic. Here are some links to our favorite arts organizations, you should support them if you can:
Take note, some of the wording in these posts is particularly dire; there’s tremendous concern about the sustained viability of the arts, even with the stimulus package (which will help some artists and non-profits, though it won’t help FILMA or many other groups of people).
In limited cases these organizations are offering online classes and seminars that you can take over zoom. If you’re looking to pick up some new skills considering taking one of these classes as that will also help these organizations stay in business until things mellow out (Grey Area has classes particularly suitable for online learning, should you wanna make some tech art).
These organizations shape a lot of the arts that happen in the bay area. We want to help support them, we don’t want to live in a bay area without them – so please consider helping them out or taking an online class, it will make all the difference in the world.
Filma During, and After, COVID-19
Filma is suffering a similar fate to the other arts organizations though we have one advantage that they don’t – we’re tremendously smaller. We have long banked on the advantages of our size and even during a pandemic like COVID-19, our size allows us different coping strategies relative to the art mainstays of the bay area. While we’re still very much going to need your participation to survive this, FILMA has the luxury of taking a different approach when it comes to surviving this pandemic.
What we’re trying to say is – if you’re going to donate money or take an online class, consider one of the organizations listed above. While we’re also happy to take your donations, we won’t be offering classes or doing traditional fund raising. So please, help one of those groups out, they make all the difference for our community and for FILMA too.
But wait, didn’t I just say FILMA is in the same dire straights? Yes, we are, though our approach to post-pandemic survival lies within our community. We’re not looking for donations, we’re looking for people to become actively engaged in membership with FILMA; a symbiotic relationship where you not only sustain the collective you love… you get to be a part of it.
Of course we’re in the middle of a pandemic, it will likely be some time before our community can enjoy our community space. Until then, there are a few options for you to join and support FILMA. Each option benefits you as well as us, so check them out.
Please don’t wait to sign up or reach out, we need your help now. Here’s how you can support FILMA:
- Sign up for our Newsletter — after this whole pandemic thing is over you can bet we’ll start hosting events. You know… Bob-con 2020, lights out art shows, Wormhole 2.0’s unveiling ceremony, synthesizer meetups… and about a billion other things. Our newsletter is how we can tell you, well… the news.
- Become a community member — memberships are 10 dollars a month and come with all kinds of perks. We’ll be adding more perks too. So yea, just join our community, easy as that. We don’t have an online sign up for (yet), so send an email to carl@filmacollective.org if you’d like to sign up.
- Become an artist member — these are the standard artist memberships that grant you 24/7 access to the space at $100/mo. There are no open or closed hours or anything like that, just access to our private community makerspace amongst other membership perks. We realize you might want to wait until after COVID-19 wraps up to sign up for this membership, but we sincerely hope you’ll sign up to be an artist with us. Again, if you’re interested, just send an email to carl@filmacollective.org – we’re happy to wait to together after this whole things blows over.
Even though we can’t physically get converge with you, we’re still here and we’re still going to do everything we can to survive this and subsequently thrive. There are so many ways you can get involved, just pick one of them yea?
And while you’re at it, why don’t you send one of those big organizations some love, they’ve done a lot for you over the years; we hope they’ll continue doing so.
FILMA Tuesday Signing Off
Alright well, that’s it for this edition of FILMA Tuesday. We hope you’re safe wherever you are and that you’re doing something creative and intellectually stimulating with your time. Please join our community – it’s how we will survive the COVID-19 pandemic.
Love and Light,
-Carl