Still Doin’ the Impossible
I want to express my most sincere thanks to everyone who supported our 19th annual Can’t Stop the Serenity charity screening on August 10 at the Grand Theatre in Elizabeth, PA. Barring any late online donations on the Jump Cut Theater website, we raised a total of $635.00 at this year’s event, which will be split evenly between Joni & Friends (in honor of Firefly’s costume designer, the late Shawna Trpcic) and the Veterans Leadership Program of Western PA. That was made possible entirely through the generosity of the Browncoats in attendance, as well as those who donated online from as far away as New York City.
This year we also learned that even if you can’t stop the signal, you can muck it up a bit. I want to take the opportunity to apologize once again to all who were in attendance for the technical difficulties that resulted in a less-than-ideal movie experience, especially those few attendees who were watching the movie for the first time. I still feel awful about the fact that the cinematic experience wasn’t up to our usual standards, and I can promise you we’re already conjuring ways to make sure that will not happen again next year.
But even if the movie didn’t go smooth, it was still a pretty fine shindig, and it was shiny to see a lot of familiar faces at the Grand Theatre last Saturday, including one or two who have been coming to Pittsburgh’s CSTS events even longer than I have. Pittsburgh is the only city that has held a live, in-person CSTS screening every year since the event’s inception in 2006, and even after nearly two decades, folk in the ‘Burgh are still coming out to watch Serenity together and help them as might need it. As of this year, CSTS Pittsburgh has raised over $18,000 for local and global charities. There really is no fandom quite like the Browncoats.
It's time for me to express our thankfulness to the many businesses and individuals who made this year’s CSTS Pittsburgh possible. Thanks to our hosts at the Grand Theatre, who showed us not only hospitality, but also patience and understanding when technical difficulties forced our screening to run long. Thanks to our sponsors, Geek Frontiers, Jump Cut Theater and MazurPGH, LLC, without whom our charity screening simply would not be possible. Thanks also to the California Browncoats, Geekadrome Cards and Comics, Karen Hallion, Impossible Dreams Comics, Pittsburgh Comics and the Washington Wild Things for their prize donations. We’re also grateful to those individual Browncoats who donated prizes: Christine Anderson, Bob Averell, Roland Cyr, Brian Diederich, Audrey Hackett, Jeff McClelland, Karen Paddison, Ed Sauerland, Chris Tobias, Karen Tobias, Kelly & Michael Tobias and Randy Tobias.
Special thanks to my crew: Ed Sauerland, Randy Tobias, Michael Tobias, Brian Diederich, Anthony Letizia (who along with Geek Frontiers financed the licensing), Bob Averell and Julia Angotti (who came all the way from State College, PA to work at the event). Thanks also to Kelly Tobias and Valerie Tobias, who volunteered at the event, as well as Sabrina Tobias, who helped put together the raffle boxes, and Emily Kohnke, who helped fold all those t-shirts that were at the t-shirt table. Last but not least, thanks to Susan Mazur of Jump Cut Theater and MazurPGH, LLC, who arranged for the rental and the online ticket sales.
Congratulations to this year’s raffle basket winners: Christine Anderson, Rachel Baacke, Jennifer Badger, Blaine Christian, Jill Lykins, Betty Thomas and Al Chernov, as well as our door prize winners, Christine Anderson and Richard Franklin, and Fran Samber, who won our first-time viewers’ raffle.
This year’s CSTS Pittsburgh event was dedicated to the loving memory of costume designer Shawna Trpcic, whose many film credits include the Mutant Enemy productions Firefly, Angel, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Dollhouse and The Cabin in the Woods as well as several Star Wars series.
I hope everyone had a shiny time, and I can tell you that there are already some really exciting ideas being discussed for next year’s Can’t Stop the Serenity, which will mark not only the 20th anniversary of the movie Serenity, but also two decades of CSTS as a worldwide charity event. I can also promise you that if you keep showing us the love to keep us in the air, CSTS will continue in the Steel City.
Keep flyin’,
Chris