PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT THIS YEAR
As our annual March Donation Drive comes to a close, we want to remind you that it’s not too late to send in a contribution and show your appreciation for the efforts of our hardworking volunteers. This is the time of year when we ask Fairbanks fans and silent film enthusiasts around the world to assist us in keeping his legacy alive.
Let us pause for a moment to consider a world without “Doug”.
If it weren’t for Douglas Fairbanks, the history of cinema may have been written very differently indeed.
We have Mr. Fairbanks to thank for giving independent film producers power over the production and distribution of their own films with the creation of United Artists in 1919. We can give our thanks to him for ensuring long-term health care and housing for elderly members of the industry with the Motion Picture Relief Fund and Hospital in 1921. Thanks to Fairbanks’ efforts to found the nation’s first film school at USC in 1929, young and aspiring filmmakers can learn their craft in universities around the world today. We can also thank him for helping to found the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who have brought us the Oscars every year since 1927. And above all, we have to thank him for giving us all those wonderful films which continue to inspire and influence us.
Now, let us stop for a moment to consider a world without the Douglas Fairbanks Museum (perish the thought!):
Had it not been for the Douglas Fairbanks Museum over these past 11 years, Doug’s fans, cinema scholars, and silent film enthusiasts would have no other place on earth to learn about his immense contribution to movie history.
Anyone looking for biographical information, research materials, photographs, copies of his films, or answers to questions about Mr. Fairbanks have come here to find what they were looking for. Our educational programs, workshops, lectures, film screenings, free web resources and virtual online galleries, news blog, books and other publications all provide a valuable service to the community of movie lovers everywhere.
We hope to continue providing these services in the future, but we can’t do it without your financial support.
With the economy as it is, small museums like ours need your help now more than ever. Nonprofits, educational institutions, libraries and museums across America are seeing our annual donations plummet to record lows, and many of us are being forced to cut back on programs and staff, or face permanent closure.
The Douglas Fairbanks Museum has been particularly hard hit by the financial crisis, as we are still trying to recover from the flood damage which forced us to close our doors last year. Over the past quarter, the amount of financial contributions from individuals and businesses who have been our strongest supporters has dropped significantly due to the unstable economy, but we are hoping to get a much-needed boost from our spring donation drive this year.
Since the museum presently does not have a physical location for our annual film screening during the annual donation drive, we’ve decided to get a little bit creative and try doing the annual fundraiser online this year.
We very much hope you enjoyed our first annual Free Online Fairbanks Film Festival and this special month-long presentation of Douglas Fairbanks – The Great Swashbuckler, a full-length documentary on his life and work. Produced in 2005 by Delta Entertainment with assistance from the Douglas Fairbanks Museum, the film features rare artifacts from our archives and on-camera interviews with Hollywood Forever’s Annette Lloyd, film historian Sparrow Morgan, and Douglas Fairbanks Museum curator Keri Leigh.
DVD Cover for “Douglas Fairbanks – The Great Swashbuckler” documentary
This documentary film is now out of print commercially on DVD (although used copies can still be obtained through Amazon.com, Ebay, and in the Museum Gift Shop), so our March film festival offered Fairbanks fans and silent film enthusiasts a rare opportunity to learn more about his life and legacy online here — and it was all presented for free - no admission fee at the box office!
We hope you enjoyed this month-long tribute to Douglas Fairbanks, and please don’t forget that our dedicated staff and volunteers make it all possible. Without their efforts, we would not have been able to make it through the storm (and the subsequent damage to our building), nor would we be able to continue making our collections available to the public while our doors remain temporarily closed.
Without YOU, a new library and exhibit space may not be in our future. We really do need your help now as we continue to rebuild. So please show your support for silent film, as well as your appreciation for Douglas Fairbanks and the many dedicated individuals who keep his museum going with a financial contribution today!
Your financial support helps us achieve our mission, enables us to acquire new artifacts, and to provide the very best care and conservation for our existing collections. As these items are now approaching or over 100 years of age, they need increasing amounts of attention and preservation.
You can make a donation quickly, easily, and safely through PayPal using a credit card, debit card or bank account below. Every donation, small or large – even just dropping $5.00 in our Virtual Donation Box - brings us one step closer to accomplishing our mission. That goal is establishing a permanent place in history for Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., to ensure that film historians and fans have his work, his extraordinary life and legacy to study and enjoy for many generations to come.
Make a financial gift through safe, secure Pay Pal International below:
Thank You.
(*) – Donations may not be tax-deductible.
Read Full Post »
