Bughouse

Busy Here

2010-08-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened I last posted. Sorry for the delay, but things have really been moving. Here's the short version:

We got a business plan.

Filed articles of incorporation. (pictured with Josh)

Filed tax exemption paperwork for non-profit status.

We found a space that we are hoping to move into soon.

We need to raise money. (help)

The tax exempt status is pending. It is not really a matter of if, but when that will go through. If it goes through before December 31st, everything donated this year will be tax deductible. If it goes through after December 31st, then only donations made in 2011 and onward will be tax deductible.

We really like the space that we found. It is in a great neighborhood and is very reasonably priced. The only thing holding us back is the cash reserve. We have raised just about half of our goal, and could move in and pay the first few months rent. The tricky part is the renovation. We wouldn't necessarily be able to start putting up shows and doing the little fix-ups needed for the licensing. You must have an address before you can apply for a license.

That is why we need to raise more money. If you are reading this and want to support us you can. We have a Kickstarter Project running with a goal of $25,000 and only 60 days to meet it. If you don't know about Kickstarter go to their website, then go to our page. They are a great resources for artists. If you do know about them, go straight to our page. There you can find out all about our project.

Basically, I will be creating a portrait of all of our supporters that donate through Kickstarter. Email a digital photo and I will make it into a portrait that you get to keep. Donate a little extra and a copy of the portrait will remain on display in our gallery. Size and scope of the portrait also vary with the size of the donation. So, donate for your own portrait or in honor of someone else for their portrait. Donate as a family for a family portrait.

Chances are if you are reading this you will be performing in or enjoying a show at Bughouse in the near future. The sooner we get funded the nearer that future gets.

Benefit for Haiti

2010-01-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

As we all know, the recent earthquake in Haiti has taken a massive toll. Shelby and I were talking about how awful the situation in Haiti is and wishing there was something we could do. So, we decided to change the theme of our Bughouse fundraiser. Our February 11th, Movie Night proceeds will go to a reputable aid organization working on the ground in Haiti. We are asking people to pay what they can and any donation of $10 or more will get you a free beer. So come out and support our efforts to help the Haitian recovery.

February 11th, 8:30pm
Mullen's Bar and Grill
3527 N. Clark St.
pay what you can.

PS: GRANTS NOT LOANS...If you want to do something immediately, my Haitian friend recommends that you write your members of Congress and let them know you want the US, IMF, and World Bank to give money in the form of grants instead of loans that will take funds away from redevelopment.

2010-01-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

"Trust Us This is All Made Up" was great. It is the only example I have ever seen of an improv show being successfully captured on film. In the film, a TJ and Dave show is presented in its entirety front-loaded with interview and preshow footage. The interviews are interesting and the show is awesome. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in improvisation, theater, or creativity in general. We may be screening it again soon so keep an eye out for that.

Our next scheduled Movie night however is Feb 11th. The night and a majority of the film will have a Valentine Day theme. We will be screening among other short films "Dating Rubik's Cube" by Saya April Hillman. So, bring your sweetheart or your bitter despair, because both will be celebrated.

Business Hoops

2009-12-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

We're meeting tonight with a lawyer friend to try and finalize our business structure discussions. Right now, we're still juggling non-profit vs. for-profit and LLC vs L3C vs S-Corp. Oh, Mr. Business Entities, why are you so difficult sometimes. I just want to open a theater attended, run and supported by a community of artists. What's so hard about that, Ms. Legal Structures?

Once we're done with this step all that's left is funding, finding a building, writing, producing and promoting our shows. No big deal.

Joe

Back from Holland

2009-12-07T00:22:00.000-08:00

It's been busy sense I last wrote, but I will try to be brief.

Over Thanksgiving, Shelby and I went to The Netherlands to teach improv at the college where our friends teach. It was a lot of fun and we made a Thanksgiving dinner for our Dutch friends. We are trying to establish a consistent gig over there and maybe work out an exchange program to bring some of there students over here for an internship.

This past Thursday was Movie Night was really fun. We showed a bunch of great shorts. Next month's Movie Night will be Jan.7th and we will be screening "Trust Us This is All Made Up", the documentary about TJ and Dave. Because "Trust Us..." is a feature, we will be resuming short film screenings on Feb.4th.

And finaly, in Bughouse News, Marc Ovies and Odette Cann are now husband and wife! Hurray!

Back Home

2009-11-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Last week, Shelby and I experienced two deaths in our family. Both of our maternal grandmothers died on the same day, both after having suffered strokes. I know that my grandmother was in a lot of pain from the stroke and ready to go, so there was a sad feeling of relief when I got the news.
Why do I mention this? Just to thank those who took the reigns of Hogwash and Kevin (our dog) while we were away. It is wonderful to know that we have friends who are as committed to us as they are to this theater. The whole idea of Bughouse is to organize the community of artists that we all belong to. We have a vast wealth of talent both artistic and logistic. You know who you are and I can't thank you enough.
Also, I have to thank my family for their support as well. In a family with seemingly unlimited cousins, all of which are very successful, some of which carry degrees and titles and such, I never feel judged or diminished for being creative or idealistic or uninterested in wealth. Quite the opposite, I am celebrated, as are all my family members for our unique gifts. My ideas about family come straight from this lifetime of support. This is what we envision for the Bughouse family.

Ballot Box Heroes

2009-11-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

Last night was a blast! We had a huge turn out for our second Movie Night. Thanks to all the filmmakers and guests.

!st Place: The Life and Death of Stephen Sirridge - M.S. Duffey
2nd Place: Vampires: The Movie Trailer - Longpork
3rd Place: Naked - Joe Avella

Honable Mentions:
Good Ol Butterfly Board - Short Vision
The Pinata - Monique Madrid, Corey Rittmaster and Nick Wagner
March Madness - Joe Burton

Matty Robinson for Filmspotting was there so maybe you'll hear us mentioned on this week's broadcast. Who knows?

Next month Movie Night will feature: "Boogieman Picnic", "The Sun", "Rosa Parks Can Sit Wherever She Wants" and INSERT YOUR FILM HERE!!! Please submit your film via our website.
(The tentative date for the next movie night is Dec. 3rd)

Thanks to your support we are steadily growing our Building Fund. Our goal is 20,000 to provide a cushion of 4 months rent and the estimated cost of basic renovations. This morning I had a meeting at the Alderman's office and we are getting closer to finding a space. Bughouse is poised to be something really special and we appreciate all of your support and enthusiasm.

We are also in discussions with our lawyer about the benefits of structuring Bughouse as an L3C. This is a new designation of company that is a hybrid of an LLC (Limited Liability Corp) and a non-profit. Basically, we would get many of the perks of a non-profit, but still be able to make a profit. As an L3C we will be much like a traditional corporation but, those who donate to us will be able to take a tax deduction as if they were contributing to a traditional charity. But at this point LLC and L3C are both on the table. With either of those options Bughouse (as a corporation) will be able to sell shares of the company to its artists. This is generally how we foresee the ownership of the theater extending to the community of contributing artists.

I have always been disconcerted with the "owner vs. minion vs. peon" hierarchy of most for-profit theaters (and corporations in general). Selling shares to the artists is a way of giving them a voice in the operation and a stake in the success of the Theater.

Click here for instructions on how to donate

Birthday, Happy

2009-11-02T12:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Hogwash played a really fun birthday party at Family Grounds Cafe, a great coffee shop and kid's indoor play area. The theme was dinosaurs and the birthday twins' mom went all out. All of the guests got paper-mache dinosaur eggs with their party favors inside.
Two of the main character's in the Hogwash show were dinosaurs as well.
This week Hogwash starts its run at the DeMaat Theater in Piper's Alley. If you are a kid or know any kids bring them down.

On the broader Bughouse front:
- We're gearing up for Movie Night on Thursday Nov. 5th and are really excited that Matty Robinson of Filmspotting will be there.
- We are in shopping mode for a space to house our gallery/theater/rehearsals.
- As a result, we are stepping up fundraising efforts for our building fund

Hope to see you all on Nov. 5th. (Upstairs at Mullen's, 8:30.)

Budget, Housing

2009-10-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

This week we have been looking for spaces. There are a few really great options we could go with, but the trick will be making them work with our budget. We are hoping to pay about $1/sq ft, but that's probably wishful thinking. What we've run into is about double that. We are looking for a space to put an art gallery by day and theater/rehearsal space by night. Hopefully, this model would keep the space open and productive for most of the day. In the meantime, we're having another fundraiser.

Building Hogwash

2009-10-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Bughouse is currently signing people up for Hogwash audtions.

Hogwash is an improvised children's show that involves art, music and storytelling.

To sign up, visit:
http://www.hogwash.bughousetheater.com/auditions2009.html

In other news, as we narrow down a date, we are still accepting submissions for Movie Night.

To submit a film, visit:
http://www.bughousetheater.com/video.html

Breaking Habits

2009-10-01T23:36:00.000-07:00

I owe a lot to Matt and Karl and everyone else at Mullen's for letting us put stuff up there. The dates aren't set yet, but we're definitely doing more Movie Nights at Mullen's. I spent a good bit of time this week (not enough to avoid the typo) designing the poster for Movie Night and updating the websites for Bughouse and Hogwash. A lot of that time was spent teaching myself more about html, trying to streamline the process for video submissions. Now on the website is a form that filmmakers can fill out to submit there videos. I'll know for sure that it works when I receive a submission. The time that I didn't spent on the website was spent making "to do" lists. It's a habit I have. I swear I can make "to do" lists all day. Once I have a "to do" list I usually rewrite and categorize it. Category headings this week were: Bughouse, Hogwash, ASM, Grad School, Student Teaching, Supplies to Buy, Checks to Write.

I heard a professor at Duke Business School say that he stopped making to do lists, because he never got all of it done, the list just grew and he felt bad about not getting it done. I don't think it helps me. Maybe writing it down feels like getting it done to me. When I remember that something needs doing, I'm going to try and do it then and there rather than right down that it needs to be done.

a Big Hand

2009-09-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

We had a great time last night. The Bughouse Fundraiser was a huge success. Thanks to everyone who made it out last night. Thanks to the filmmakers who contributed short films. Thanks to the prizemakers who contributed raffle prizes. If you didn't make it out that's OK, because we are going to be doing this monthly. Though Visioneers was funn we probably won't do another feature. The next one will probably be 30min to and hour of shorts, a raffle, and dance party. Being October next month we will probably do a secret Russian submarine theme...either that or Halloween. So be ready for either.

Here are more of the details from the last night.
Short Films:
Wheelchair Werewolf from Joe Avella
photo booth from OTIS
Alone at Last from Logan Hall
Their Song from Joe Burton
and Best Friends from OTIS.

Prizes included hand made jewelery, original artwork, sports equipment, a gift certificate for a free massage, hand made soap and a TV amoung other things.

Here is the trailer for Visioneers. It is out on DVD if you are interested in seeing it.

Bullhorn

2009-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hey! Bughouse is having its first fundraiser next week!

Sept.24th at Mullen's. 10pm, $10. We're showing a few short films and one feature called "Visioneers" with Zach Galifianakis. There is also a Secret Raffle and you get a beer with your admission ticket.

So, as I get going with the nuts and bolts of organizing Bughouse and such I thought I'd create a blog to document the process, because I don't have enough to do trying to establish a new theater. Blog entries will be short, weekly and hopefully regular. I know. Famous last words. If I had a nickel for every unfinished or abandon blog out there... Wait a minute...That's brilliant. If you have an unfinished or abandon blog send me a nickel. Great. Fundraising done. Check. Now we wait...