Cortex Connections

Our Official Sponsors

Their love keeps us in the air.

This site, formerly Geek Pittsburgh, is run by PA Browncoat Anthony Letizia.  It is meant to keep you up to date on anything and everything a geek would want to know about in the Steel City and beyond.  CSTS Pittsburgh has been honored to have them as a sponsor since 2013. 

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont was the host of Can't Stop the Serenity Pittsburgh's charity screening of "Serenity" from 2014-2017, and the Friends of the Hollywood Theater always donated free movie passes and one of their famous t-shirts as a prize for our Big Damn Screenings.  The theater as we knew it is gone now, but the organization still exists as Jump Cut Theater in the hopes of bringing eclectic cinematic programming to the Pittsburgh area.  Jump Cut Theater has been an official sponsor of our charity screening of "Serenity" since 2018, and they also handle ticket sales for our events. 

Jump Cut Theater president Susan Mazur owns and operates this company, which is our newest sponsor.  They specialize in nonprofit consulting and financial accounting.  Their clients have been diverse, from budding nonprofits to thriving small businesses, and they care deeply about providing Pittsburgh nonprofits with the support they need to fulfill their missions. 

Local Big Damn Heroes

A Big Damn Supporter since 2018, this shop on Brookline Boulevard is a great place for any lover of comics or gaming.  The owner is a true Browncoat, and the staff is very knowledgeable about comics, games, TV, movies or just about anything else a geek would love.  Don't believe us? Stop in and see for yourself. 

This local comic book store has been a CSTS Pittsburgh supporter since 2011.  The shop is one of the best kept secrets in the Pittsburgh comics community, and is owned and operated by a true Browncoat.  You can always count on them to make unique donations to Pittsburgh's CSTS events.  The shop is located at 523 Washington Avenue in Bridgeville, PA, and you can reach them by phone at (412) 221-3640. 

One of the best comics shops in the 'Burgh, they've donated gift certificates to CSTS Pittsburgh for many years.  Their selection of graphic novels and statues has to be seen to be believed, and they produce a pretty shiny weekly podcast too. 

This professional baseball team plays in the Frontier League at Wild Things Park in Washington, PA.  They've supported our efforts since 2013, and have been known to donate tickets to a home game during their current season as well as other prizes for CSTS Pittsburgh events. 

Other Big Damn Heroes

The California Browncoats are an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to charitable works promoting the fandom of Firefly/Serenity as well as the various projects of their cast and crew.  They can be found at conventions, screenings, shindigs, and other events throughout the state of California.  Since 2007, the California Browncoats have donated over $260,000 to various charities, and they regularly donate items to our charity screenings for use as prizes. 

You've seen her work on the gone-in-a-day t-shirt sites like Teefury.  Her style is gorgeous, and so is the artwork she's donated to CSTS Pittsburgh for many years.  

Jeff McClelland is a talented PA comic book writer (and PA Browncoat) who has worked on titles like "FUBAR" and "The Tick" and has collaborated with the likes of Angel/Firefly producer Ben Edlund (writer of the Firefly episodes "Jaynestown" and "Trash" and creator of the Tick).  He and his wife Sara have donated numerous prizes to CSTS Pittsburgh for many years, including several exclusive items from San Diego Comic-Con.  This is his blog, where you can find out about some of his own creations, like his comic "Teddy and the Yeti." 

CSTS Pittsburgh Supporters Emeritus

These fine folk lent us audio-visual equipment that made our 2020 "Serenity Under the Stars" screening possible.  Academy Pittsburgh’s Developer Bootcamp is a diploma-based program that prepares students to enter the technology workforce in a variety of entry level positions, including front end developers, user interface/user experience (UI/UX) developers, full stack developers, UX designers, application (app) developers, data scientists, and web developers.  At Academy, you can learn the skills you need to teach yourself to code and work collaboratively with like-minded individuals and top-tier instructors.  ISA options allow students to pursue instruction with no upfront tuition costs in a diverse classroom setting. 

Back in 2013 our fellow Browncoats from the Big Apple donated various prizes and decorations to help keep CSTS Pittsburgh flying and make it a success.  We're still using some of them, and we will never forget their generosity.  Special thanks to Rich and Leslie Maynard. 

This New Jersey singer/songwriter is an avid Browncoat who has appeared at CSTS and Browncoat Ball events all over the United States.  He is also the mastermind behind the effort to set the world record for the most people singing "The Hero of Canton" on stage at one time.  His rendition of "The Ballad of Serenity" rivals Sonny Rhodes himself.  We were thrilled to have Sean perform at our 2014, 2015 and 2016 events.  He has also been known to donate a bundle of his music as a raffle prize from time to time, and he’s always willing to sign the CD's for the lucky winner if he's in town for a shindig.  He's a great performer, so don't pass up a chance to hear him play live.  You can also check out his podcast "What Does It Matter?" (WDIM) on iTunes.  Sean donates a portion of the proceeds from his song "Signal" (available on iTunes), which is inspired by the movie "Serenity," to Equality Now. 

LFG is Pittsburgh's premiere gaming lounge and community, and they lent us audio-visual equipment to help make our 2020 "Serenity Under the Stars" event a success.  If you're looking for games, you can play games with them on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch or join them for board games and D&D at their tables.  You can play or run tournaments, or play against other local people and win prizes in their tournaments.  They host board game events with a variety of games, and can help you stream the latest games on Twitch or YouTube or even stream older games on older consoles.  If you're into games, LFG is what you're looking for, so be sure to check them out. 

Karen is an expatriate Pittsburgher who is originally from the South Hills but now lives in Ontario, Canada.  For many years she was the proprietor of "Firefly Cargo Bay," which was an online store that was one of the best places for Browncoats to go if they were looking for a source of Firefly- and Serenity-themed merchandise back in the early days when numerous larger vendors hadn't yet seen the wisdom in obtaining a license to sell sundries from the 'verse.  Her store is gone now, but Karen never forgot the Browncoats in her hometown.  She has donated all manner of items to CSTS Pittsburgh over the years (most recently in 2023), and as far as we're concerned, she'll always be a member of our brigade.

This organization receives surplus and donated goods and redistributes them to neighbors in need.  What began as a Braddock project grew to serve residents of all of Allegheny County.  These folk want to change individual relationships with material goods while combating poverty through empowerment.  They dream of a community built on relationships based on mutual aid and cooperation, and use the distribution of free items as a catalyst for change.  They encourage recycling and reuse as a means to counteract excessive waste and consumption, and aim to eradicate food and clothing insecurity.  They donated a whole passel of action figures for us to use as prizes for our events.  You can check out this unique group and their work on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X too. 

A Big Damn Supporter since 2016, this group organizes Pittsburgh's modern horror convention and self-proclaimed "Zombie Capital of the World," which returned in 2020 after a brief hiatus.  They have been known to donate two weekend passes to their upcoming convention as a prize for our events. 

PA Browncoats Sites

This is an annual gathering of Browncoats that was hosted by a different city every year until 2020, when the event was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  In 2021 the Browncoat Ball rose again in Salem, MA, and this year it will be held October 25-27 in Bethlehem, PA. 

This is the official Facebook page for The Rivers and Bridges Brigade.  Be sure to "Like" us for updates and news in the Steel City. 

The official Facebook page of the Pennsylvania Browncoats, where you'll find all the latest information about Browncoats events and activities statewide. 

This is the official website of the PA Browncoats.  It includes a page with information about events organized by CSTS Philadelphia. 

This site, founded by PA Browncoats Jeff Cunningham and Christopher Tobias, was originally a site dedicated to convincing SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk to name the first SpaceX Crew Dragon after "Serenity."  Even though that didn’t happen, the site is still in operation and currently features news about private spaceflight and articles and information that are of interest to Browncoats throughout the 'verse. 

Our Hosts

This is the global site for Can't Stop the Serenity, the worldwide charity screening of Joss Whedon's motion picture "Serenity" for the benefit of Equality Now (from 2006 through 2022) and various other charities around the world.  Pittsburgh is proud to be the only city that has held a live charity screening in association with Can't Stop the Serenity every year since its inception in 2006. 

Our host since 2023 is the Grand Theatre in Elizabeth, PA, which has been entertaining folk for over 100 years (and is even rumored to be haunted).  It was built in 1902 as a Vaudeville Playhouse, and was eventually converted to a silent movie house.  In its heyday it was the place to be in downtown Elizabeth, and people lined the sidewalk to get into the latest motion picture.  Unable to compete with the cinema plex construction boom, the Grand Theatre closed its doors in the late 70's. Abandoned and left dark for nearly 20 years, it was purchased by the Kolodziej family, who spent three years restoring it before reopening it as a venue for live entertainment, movies, and community events.  Like the theatre in the movie "The Majestic," the Grand Theatre got a second chance at life when the Kolodziejs reopened it in 2000.  Folk who are lucky enough to come through its doors will realize almost immediately what a shiny place it is.  In 2011, the Grand Theatre was named one of the Top Ten Preservation Opportunities in Pittsburgh by the Young Preservationists Association, and we are all manner of proud to hold Pittsburgh's CSTS charity screenings in such an historic venue.

Shiny Art

Anna is the artist that drew the characters that we are using on the home page under Meet the Crew.

She is a New York Native that graduated from Syracuse University’s Illustration program in 2012. She has worked on a wide range of projects professionally and is currently lead character artist at Molly Rocket, a Seattle-based game developer.

The creators of our new "River Over Pittsburgh" logo, SJH Design offers exceptional designs with over 20 years of experience. Upcoming event? New venture? Branding from scratch? A vibrant refresh? Projects with many moving parts? Whether your need is large, small or in between, they can help. Tell 'em we sent you!

Charities for Whom We’ve Done Good Works

Our secondary charity in 2012, Habitat for Humanity works in more than 70 countries — they have helped more than 59 million people improve their living conditions since 1976 by working together with families, local communities, volunteers and partners from around the world so that more people are able to live in affordable and safe homes. Their advocacy efforts focus on policy reform to remove systemic barriers preventing low-income and historically underserved families from accessing adequate, affordable shelter.

In 2017 we chose the Al Wooten, Jr. Youth Center as our secondary charity in memory of Ron Glass, who passed away in November of the previous year. The Wooten Center was always Ron's charity of choice, so we donated some of the proceeds from our event to the Wooten Center in his memory.

At the heart of their mission for "good citizenship and academic excellence" is a desire to ensure that every student avoids the kind of lifestyle and overcomes the kinds of challenges that led to the murder of Al Wooten, Jr.

Not only is Jump Cut Theater one of our sponsors, but as a non-profit, they were also our secondary charity in 2018. We donated a portion of the proceeds from our ancillary event (a screening of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog") to Jump Cut Theater that year.

During the pandemic-related shutdown of 2020, a lot of folk were struggling just to put food on the table. As the only CSTS group in the 'verse that was able to hold a charity screening that year, we wanted to make sure that some of the proceeds from our event went to a local group that could help folk get the food they need. At Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, they work to ensure that anyone who needs a healthy meal can get one. That's why we chose them as our secondary charity in 2020.

Our secondary charity in 2021, WC&S is a comprehensive domestic violence program annually serving over 7,500 adult and child survivors of domestic violence in the Greater Pittsburgh area, as well as providing psychoeducational and intervention services for those who experience abuse.

Their mission is to meet the individual and evolving needs of those affected by domestic violence by investing in the growth of our people, deepening community engagement and amplifying the voices of all survivors. They are advocates grounded in fostering a community of safety, healing, and empowerment for anyone affected by domestic violence.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, we were deeply moved by the struggle of the Ukrainian people against the Russian invaders, which is not all that unlike the struggle of the Browncoats against the forces of the Alliance. We wanted to help. So in 2022, we chose the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council as our secondary charity. In order to help civilian Ukrainians bravely fight for their independence and freedom, the UACC responded quickly by obtaining a special license for regulated, military-grade items, and some of the proceeds from our event were donated to help them purchase body armor for Ukrainian soldiers. Slava Ukraini!

One of our two charities in 2023, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania (BGCWPA) was established in 1888 to activate the potential of youth. Providing safe places, mentors, and programs has always been their core model, but how it is delivered has evolved over time as needs and conditions have changed. BGCWPA prides itself on the ability to respond and adapt to ensure they remain resilient, sustainable, and innovative, so that they are always prepared to make good on their commitment to children and families throughout Greater Pittsburgh.

One of our chosen charities in 2023, The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) is the leading authority on homeless veterans’ issues and the only national organization solely focused on ending veteran homelessness. They work to achieve their mission by promoting collaboration, shaping policy, building service capacity, ensuring accountability, and managing a referral helpline for veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness. They are the resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide housing, employment services, case management, legal aid and other supportive services to thousands of veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness each year.

Joni and Friends was a charity of choice of Firefly costume designer Shawna Trpcic, whom we lost in October of 2023. In her memory, we chose them as one of the charities that would benefit from the proceeds of our 2024 event.

Since 1979, Joni and Friends has committed to reaching and serving people with disabilities with practical help and the saving love of Jesus. The Joni and Friends International Disability Center in Agoura Hills, California serves as the administrative hub for ministry programs around the world. With every wheelchair and Bible delivered, every retreat and respite event held, and every church mobilized to integrate and honor people with disabilities, Joni and Friends follows the call of Jesus as found in the Gospel of Luke.

One of our two chosen charities for 2024, the vision of Veterans Leadership Program is that all veterans of the United States military reach their fullest potential as citizens of the nation that they have so proudly served. They are proud to serve all who served, regardless of VA eligibility, discharge status or length of service. They have successfully made an impact for over 8,300 Veterans annually in 30 counties across Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.

From 2006 through 2022, Equality Now was the flagship charity of all global Can't Stop the Serenity events, and it was mandated that at least 75% of proceeds from all CSTS charity events (including ours) were donated to this organization during those years. Equality Now was chosen as the official charity of CSTS because it was the charity of choice of Joss Whedon, the creator of Firefly and Serenity.

The organization campaigns for legal and systemic change to address violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. They are a feminist organization using the law to protect and promote the human rights of all women and girls by creating, reforming, challenging and applying the law to establish enduring equality for women and girls everywhere. Since 1992, their international network of lawyers, activists, and supporters has held governments responsible for ending legal inequality, sexual exploitation, sexual violence, and harmful practices.