FilmScene hopes to make a scene

IOWA CITY - FilmScene needs to reel in a crowd long before the movies roll in October.

An ambitious "Make a Scene" campaign is underway to raise $75,000 by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 8 via online crowdfunding tool Indiegogo.com The site accepts donations of any size, from $1 to $5,000 or more. The nonprofit FilmScene only receives the money if that deadline is met.

Donations will go toward the immediate goal of opening FilmScene 1 this fall -- an 80-seat cinema, cafe and rooftop patio at 118 E. College St., in the Ped Mall downtown. The online campaign is part of a larger $200,000 goal, and will pay for cinema and cafe equipment, including digital and 3D projection systems and Dolby surround sound. Seats were salvaged from Hancher Auditorium.

The fundraising word is spreading via Twitter and Facebook, but to celebrate the endeavor and answer any questions, FilmScene's board and supporters invite the public to gather at The Mill from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday (8/8) for a launch party featuring free pizza (while it lasts) and drink specials.

"FilmScene was founded in 2011 in response to some very vocal demands from Iowa Citians who shared our view that we really needed a downtown movie theater," co-founder Andrew Sherburne, 34, of Iowa City, told a social media-outreach gathering at the cinema site Monday night. "In two surveys in 2007 and 2011, they named it their number one choice for new downtown entertainment. ...

"With that in mind, we formed a community cinema association. And now tonight, we're turning that around and asking the community to support what they asked for."

Iowa City has been without a full-time downtown cinema since the Campus 3 Theatres in Old Capitol Town Center closed in 2007. The University of Iowa's student-run Bijou Cinema is partnering with FilmScene to bring its fare to the new theater space. Programming will feature first-run American independent films, documentaries and foreign films, classics, resources for film and media artists, lectures with film professionals and partnerships with other nonprofits and community groups on film-based events.

Construction is underway on the new space, and organizers are planning to offer a sneak peek with the horror classic "Friday the 13th" on Friday, Sept. 13. The official kickoff event Oct. 3 will feature an intimate show with Alloy Orchestra. FilmScene also plans to have a presence with the Iowa City Book Festival in October and possibly screen a horror-fest in the Halloween season, as well as other special events.

"October will be a busy month," Sherburne says.

More info:

--- FilmScene's "Make a Scene" launch party

--- 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday (8/8)

--- The Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., Iowa City

--- Information:

Icfilmscene.org