The BMD Black Lives Matter Fundraiser: Part Three
A few years ago, the BMD readership helped us raise over $10K for the good folks at the Texas Civil Rights Project. We launched that fundraiser in response to the horror we felt upon seeing immigrant families torn apart upon crossing the Texas border, and were both humbled and awed by the overwhelmingly generous response from BMD readers. Now, two years later, and in the midst of yet another horrific crisis, we're asking for your help again.
This week, BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH. is raising money for #BlackLivesMatter (via ActBlue Charities). For any readers who are unfamiliar with the BLM movement, here's how the foundation describes itself:
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives."
The fact of the matter is, our country is sick with racism. This sickness has been at the heart of things for as long as anyone reading this has been alive, and it's once again found itself at the forefront of our national conversation following the on-camera murder of George Floyd (along with a healthy reminder about police brutality, the unchecked militarization of our police forces, and the institutional corruption that continues to allow these elements to feed off one another). We know all too well that a fundraiser on a movie blog won't cure this country of what ails it, but we can help bring visibility to the issue, and we can leverage the platform we have to do a tangible good for an organization that works every day to combat the problem.
We're asking you to join us in that endeavor.
Much like the raffle/fundraiser we held for the Texas Civil Rights Project, this one features a number of giveaway prizes, each one donated by members of the BMD staff, colleagues from other websites, artists, collectors, screenwriters, authors, and various other friends who wished to help out. The sheer number of people who kicked something in has necessitated that we group these prizes into bundles, and each one is pretty goddamn cool. We've got signed memorabilia, limited edition vinyl, game bundles, screenprints, one-sheets, rare books - all kinds of stuff. By making a minimum $25 donation to #BlackLivesMatter between now and Wednesday, June 10th (cutoff: Noon, CDT), you will be entered to win one of these prize bundles.
We'll get to the prizes in a moment. First, here's how all this is gonna work:
- Go to BlackLivesMatter.com.
- Click "Donate" in the top-right corner of the homepage.
- Donate a minimum of $25.
- Make sure you enter your current shipping address when prompted to do so.
- Once your donation has been processed, you will receive an email containing a receipt that looks like this:
- Forward your donation receipt from ActBlue Charities (not a screencap) to [email protected].
- Next Wednesday (June 10th), we will randomly select 15 entries from that inbox as winners.
- Each winner will be randomly assigned a number between 1 and 15.
- If you are selected, you will hear from us on the morning of Thursday, June 11th.
- Winners will be contacted in the order of the numbers assigned to them. #1 will get first pick from the prize bundles, #2 will get second pick, and so on. All the way down the list, until all bundles have been claimed.
- Prizes will be shipped directly from those who donated them, which means bundles may arrive in separate shipments.
- This fundraiser is open to everyone. Worldwide.
You may be wondering what happens if you donate more than $25. Totally understandable! You can donate as much as you'd like: each forwarded $25+ donation receipt we receive will count as one entry in the giveaway. If you want to donate $100 across four separate donations, thus entering the giveaway four times - great! Want to donate $1,000 and enter yourself 40 times? Also fine. (Note: All winning entries will be cross-checked against all other entries to ensure that no duplicate entries have been made; anyone caught doing that will be immediately disqualified). As long as your entries are separate, you're good (this is to ensure that each entry has the same "weight"). The idea here - the most important thing here - is to raise as much money as possible, and we don't want to inhibit that. Furthermore, we want you to feel like you have some control over your odds of collecting the exact prize bundle you want.
Now. A word about these prize bundles. There are fifteen of them. Some of them contain only one prize; some of them contain a variety of prizes. The idea was to bring some balance to the thing, and to acknowledge that some of these prizes are, quite frankly, rarer than others. Why are they split across multiple pages? Well, the problem we ran into while initially building this fundraiser was: our back-end did not allow us to include every prize on one page. The BMD back-end is ancient and weak (feeble, even) and, as a result, we had to spread the damn thing across THREE SEPARATE PAGES. Believe us when we say this choice was not made voluntarily - it was made after our Managing Editor, Scott Wampler, spent 7 hours on Monday plugging everything into the system, only to have our back-end delete the whole thing. You've never seen someone so Mad Online.
Anyway, all of this is to say that what you're looking at on this page is only one-third of our fundraiser. The rest will appear on two separate pages: here's PART ONE and here's PART TWO. Your donations/entries will be going towards all fifteen of these prize bundles, not just the ones you see on this page. We know this is not ideal, but we gotta work with what we got, and do hope that you'll work with us in the same way.
Now. With all of that said, let's see what our friends donated.
PRIZE BUNDLE #11 Includes:
CRITERION'S EPIC GODZILLA BLU-RAY SET
"Get a head start for when the kaiju finally come with Criterion's most recent (and super shiny!) GODZILLA collection. Spanning from 1954-1975, this beaut is filled with all sorts of goodies. Not only does it include all of the films in stunning packaging, it also comes with a deluxe hardcover book featuring essays from film historians, notes on the films, and some gorgeous illustrations." - BMD contributor Amelia Emberwing
PRIVATELY-COMMISSIONED TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD PRINT BY GREG RUTH
"One signed, numbered 24x36 screenprint of Greg Ruth’s debut film poster (run of 36). When I originally commissioned this print from Greg back in 2015 - it was just my favorite movie. Now, to revisit Harper Lee’s book or Robert Mulligan’s film means realizing just how little has changed when it comes to white-on-black violence and the responsibilities of white allyship. “The only remedy for this is not to let it beat you.” - Atticus Finch." - screenwriter Dayan Ballweg
ONE OF THREE 2-DISC UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US SETS
"My partner, Aaron Aites, and I made this film about the early 90's Norwegian black metal uprising because we were fascinated by this group of young metal musicians who believed they could change the world. Right or wrong, whether you like their art and music, agree with the violence committed by many among their ranks, or even with the simple premise of our film - that those in power establish the dominant reality, which overrides any core truth that gets in its way - the fact that these guys did everything they could to reject co-option and set out to change that narrative was compelling. Aaron died in 2016, but he would absolutely join me in supporting the Black Lives Matter movement of today, just as he did while alive. I hope everyone stays as safe as possible while creating change, and does their best to take care of each other. Ram Dass said, "We are all just walking each other home." Thank you for doing what you can to walk our Black family home. And please wear masks!" - UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US director Audrey Ewell
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PRIZE BUNDLE #12 Includes:
THE OFFICIAL MACON BLAIR GIFT SET (MACON BLAIR NOT INCLUDED)
"The title is solid-gold bullshit but the original festival poster for I DON'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE is lovely to look at. The artwork by Adam Pinney (who also did the original posters for BLUE RUIN and GREEN ROOM) is based on classic pulp covers and “Girl Running with Wet Canvass” by Norman Rockwell. I’ll sign it, too, unless otherwise requested. (Approx. 26” x 39”). And as a Bonus Treat: THE BEST-SELLING MOST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED GRAPHIC NOVEL OF 2019 was not this one. This one is called LONG ROAD TO LIQUOR CITY, written by me and drawn by the art wizard Joe Flood. A fable of the road in which two dipstick hobos flee a revenge-obsessed railroad bull while searching for paradise. 100-proof comic book entertainment. Signed by me if ya like! (Mature readers.)" - actor Macon Blair
SIGNED COPY OF MAX BOOTH III'S TOUCH THE NIGHT
"TOUCH THE NIGHT is a reaction to police brutality. It's a novel about pigs in blue and it's a novel about motherhood. When two boys get abducted by cops in the middle of the night, their mothers are the only ones left to save them from a certainly dark future. It's also a horror novel that wouldn't exist without THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE. This copy will be signed by the author." - TOUCH THE NIGHT author Max Booth III
EXTREMELY RARE, SIGNED NIN PROMO POSTER
"I'm donating this 18" x 24" record company/NIN promo poster from 2000, which was never available for commercial sale. This one's from my personal collection, and personally signed by me." - former NIN art director Rob Sheridan
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PRIZE BUNDLE #13 Includes:
ONE OF ONLY 52 LEATHERBOUND COPIES OF SEA OF RUST
"Without the influence of my Black friends and the many Black artists whose work has so inspired me, I would not be the artist, or person, that I am today. The idea that my fellow Americans do not enjoy the same basic human dignities that I do, the same level of citizenship that I do, simply because of the color of their skin is abhorrent. Black Lives Matter isn't asking for anything more than us White Americans already enjoy and literally costs nothing to give them. My donation is a signed and lettered, leather-bound special edition of my Arthur C. Clarke shortlisted novel SEA OF RUST, one of only 52 in the world. At its heart, SEA OF RUST is a book about how man stupidly destroys itself while the creations we leave behind struggle with the awful legacy of the world they have made in the aftermath. So, you know, the message of the donation here isn't exactly subtle." - screenwriter and author C. Robert Cargill
HYPER-LIMITED VHS EDITION OF VICTOR CROWLEY
"BrokeHorrorFan.com and Witter Entertainment presents VICTOR CROWLEY on limited edition, fully-functional VHS! Horror icon Kane Hodder returns as the titular slasher in the fourth installment in the Hatchet franchise. This gory anniversary edition VHS features bloody-splattered variant artwork by Vasilis Zikos, limited to 25 copies. It includes a letter from writer-director Adam Green. For optimal VHS viewing, the film has been cropped from its original aspect ratio to 4:3 full frame. It is officially licensed from Dark Sky Films and has been approved by Adam Green." - Broke Horror Fan's Alex DiVincenzo
AUTOGRAPHED READY OR NOT SCRIPT AND POSTER
"This is a first run READY OR NOT theatrical poster signed by the movie's star, Samara Weaving. It also has the original release date, all subsequent prints were changed to August 21. There’s also a production draft of the script used by us during filming and signed by Samara (we signed it too, but only so you could have some fun figuring out which signature is Samara's and which two you wish weren't on it). Thanks for pitching in! Fuck racists. Fuck police brutality. Fuck Donald Trump." - READY OR NOT co-director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
ADDENDUM: "We found our wrap gifts for the READY OR NOT crew and would like to add 'em to the bundle. It's a set of four "Le Domas" tumblers and a pack of Le Domas playing cards including an exact replica of the Hide & Seek card."
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PRIZE BUNDLE #14 Includes:
SIX AUTOGRAPHED THOR: RAGNAROK CHARACTER POSTERS
"I am donating these six THOR: RAGNAROK character posters, each signed by its respective cast member (frames not included). I am in the process of moving so, yes, you can see my torn apart room in the reflection of each poster. It is what it is." - ET correspondent Ash Crossan
THE CAMGIRL PRIZE PACK (INCLUDING A ONE-HOUR CREATIVE MEETING WITH THE FILMMAKERS VIA ZOOM)
"Included in this prize pack: a signed poster of the movie CAM, an exclusive "Camgirl Clubhouse Fanny Pack" which was given as a wrap gift to the cast and crew of CAM, a signed copy of "Camgirl" the memoir from the writer of CAM, and a one-hour Zoom meeting with Daniel & Isa, the creators of CAM, to discuss your projects, career path, your burning questions about the movie, or anything else you want to chat about." - CAM filmmakers Isa Mazzei and Daniel Goldhaber
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PRIZE BUNDLE #15 Includes:
A PERSONALLY CUSTOMIZED PAIR OF MOVIE-THEMED SNEAKERS
"Pop culture and art have been major parts of my identity for a long time, both personally and professionally. As a Black man, an artist, and a member of the media, it’s impossible not to notice and hate the way Black and brown people are and always have been treated in America. I’m not big on chanting and marching, but I’ve been looking for ways to show my support for those who do. I’ve been customizing sneakers for close to 14 years, so when I saw that BMD was having a fundraiser for #BlackLivesMatter, I knew how I could contribute. My donation is a one-of-a-kind pair of handpainted Vans or Converse Chuck Taylors inspired by the film of your choosing (as long as it isn’t a 1915 silent film starring Lillian Gish). They will be fully wearable, but you’re also free to put them on a shelf next to your blu-ray collection." - artist Andrew LaSane
ORIGINAL ONE-SHEET FOR ALBERT PYUN'S VICIOUS LIPS
"This is an original theatrical one-sheet movie poster for Empire Pictures' 1987 VICIOUS LIPS, directed by Albert (CYBORG) Pyun. This poster is notable for its odd one-sheet size of 30X40; many Empire releases in the company's latter days were printed & shipped at this size. It has never been displayed & remains folded as issued." - Master one-sheet collector Tom Cody
AUTOGRAPHED ROOM 237 BLU-RAY & THE NIGHTMARE POSTER
"I'm donating a Blu-ray copy of ROOM 237 and a poster for THE NIGHTMARE, both signed by the director to "One of the best people” as anyone donating to the cause no doubt is." - ROOM 237 and THE NIGHTMARE director Rodney Ascher
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REMINDER: THIS IS ONLY ONE-THIRD OF OUR PRIZE BUNDLES!