Brattle Theatre Avoids a Final Curtain Call

The Brattle Theatre has avoided the fate of other Harvard Square landmarks—such as Tasty Diner and WordsWorth Books—that have shuttered their doors in recent years.

But while this latest installment of the Brattle’s fight for life has reached a happy ending, the sequel could be more ominous. The Brattle has until the end of this year to raise an additional $200,000.

On Feb. 1, the Brattle Film Foundation (BFF), which maintains the storied cinema, signed a one-year extension to its current lease terms with landlord Brattle Square Associates.

That gives the foundation time to complete its Preserve the Brattle Legacy fundraising campaign.

The Brattle Theatre opened as a moviehouse in 1953, and it has entertained students and Cantabridgians alike for generations.

But despite its illustrious past, the Brattle faces an uncertain future.

Plagued by financial problems, the foundation launched a campaign this past October to raise $500,000 by the end of 2006.

The curtain didn’t close on the theater, though. The foundation raised over $250,000 in just a few months, according to the creative director of the BFF, Ned Hinkle.

The new lease that was signed at the beginning of February will reduce the foundation’s monthly rent by 20 percent. In addition, Brattle Square Associates will excuse any past unpaid rent until the end of the fundraising campaign. “Basically our landlord saw that there was a big community response,” said Hinkle. “He is very committed to the theater staying a cultural place and he wants to help us in any way he can.”

Meanwhile, directors of the foundation will continue to fundraise and open communication with other businesses around Harvard Square, including Harvard University, in the hopes of raising about $200,000 more by the end of the year.

“We need to be able to invest money in staff and marketing,” Hinkle said. “We have not been able to do that because we have been operating by the skin of the teeth.”

The foundation’s ultimate goal is financial stability.

“We don’t want to have the situation where in a year or two years we need to make the same plea,” said Hinkle. He is optimistic about the film group’s future because of the broad support he has seen for the foundation since the start of the campaign.

He mentioned that most of the money raised so far has been from people writing checks worth $25 to $500.

“We have been extremely pleased by the response from regular people in the community,” he said. “In response to that kind of commitment we decided that we needed to continue to put effort into it.”

While Harvard didn’t come to Brattle’s aid, some of its students did.

The undergraduate ediors of The Cinematic: The Harvard Annual Film Review, have granted free advertising space in their magazine to the foundation.

In turn, The Cinematic uses the theater once per semester for screenings that help to raise money for the publication.

“It’s been great to have them on our team,” said Hinkle.

While many of the films screened at the Brattle are also available on video and DVD, the editor-in-chief of The Cinematic, Sara M. Watson ’07, said the theater is an important site for film-lovers precisley because it is so different from watching a movie at home.

The theater is a “chance for us all to have access to a wide range of interesting movies that aren’t just blockbuster-type films,” she said. “Instead of watching it on DVD you can watch in the theater, which is a totally different experience.”

—Staff writer Shifra B. Mincer can be reached at smincer@fas.harvard.edu.