CORRECTION: Film promoter clarifies how fund-raiser came out (details below) . . .
The District Weekly, the Long Beach alternative newsweekly started by former OC Weeklings, went up in smoke last month, so why not use Up in Smoke to help raise cash for the pub's starving freelance writers?
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That's what now former editor Ellen Griley figures.
Using her powerful powers of persuasion, Griles has convinced Mondo Celluloid, the Long Beach Film Society and the Art Theatre to donate all proceeds from the April 20 screening of Cheech and Chong's masterpinche to what she calls “The District's forlorned fugee freelancers.”
To re-iterate, the fund-raiser for former District writers is
April 20 at the Art Theatre in Long Beach.
(Yep, it's on 4/20 . . . heh-heh.)
CORRECTION: This just in from the founder of Mondo Celluloid (Facebook and Twitter):
Hi Matt!!
First off, thanks SO much for your coverage of our
upcoming Up in Smoke screening, as well as your continued support of
our events at Mondo Celluloid! Just saw your link. We really do appreciate the word-of-mouth, as we are all very motivated
to help Ellen [Griley, former District Weekly editor] out on her crusade–it is an impressive and humbling
endeavor, and we admire her greatly for taking this on.
We wanted to contact you to clarify an inaccuracy in this
coverage; normally we wouldn't feel the need, but I hope you understand
why in this case it's important to us:
As Ellen would gladly
confirm, I brought the Up in Smoke fundraiser idea to Ellen. I had
already booked Up in Smoke, and when I heard the District closed, I
was immediately motivated to do something to help Ellen and the writers
out. I decided the Up in Smoke screening might be a perfect
opportunity to provide assistance, so over Pub Trivia at the Basement
Lounge, I proposed the idea to her. The reason it is important that
this be clarified is because Mondo Celluloid has been working hard to
establish ourselves within the community as an organization dedicated to
support the arts as well as other independent organizations, and to
collaborate with them to help boost their turnout and impact. I'm sure
it wasn't your intent, but the wording in your article makes it sound
not only like this wasn't our idea, but that Ellen had to convince us to
do it. We want the community to know that, as we have previously with
local organizations such as the AMP Organization and Alive Theatre, we
are always happy to collaborate and to share in the success of an
event. I hope you understand that this isn't about “WE WANT THE
CREDIT!,” but that such credit really does help when trying to establish
yourself as an altruistic presence within the community.
Logan Crow
Executive Director/Founder
Mondo Celluloid
Griley is looking for sponsors–head shops, medical marijuana collectives, uptight cops with hairlips and plaid slacks–to help generate even more income at the event.
She's also organizing future music-based and art-based fund-raisers for her former crew in late April/early May. Griles has grand plans of raising $8,500 with the trifecta.
Want to help her achieve her dreams? Visit Ellen's Facebook page, facebook.com/beulahgirlie. Or, email her at eg*****@gm***.com.
Give early and give often.
And don't forget to thank Logan for his valuable assistance.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.