YOU can bring The Last Class to a movie theater near you

A way to build hope and community

Dear Friends,

I continue to be gobsmacked by how many of you are going to theaters to see The Last Class film about my final semester of teaching. When Elliot Kirschner, the director, and Heather Lofthouse, the producer, suggested they were going to make a feature-length documentary and were scheming up how to play in theaters across the country, I was skeptical about whether people still go to the movies.

I keep getting emails and running into people in the street who say they went to their local theater and were thrilled to find a sense of hope and community they hadn’t expected — and were desperate for. Several people said they stayed in the lobby afterward to speak with people they had just met to talk about the importance of education and democracy, and even to plan political protests and other forms of community engagement.

While the film is still playing in hundreds of theaters, many of you have asked why can’t it play in my local theater? Well it can! YOU can bring The Last Class to a movie theater near you.

We’re working with a service called GATHR that supports one-off community-generated screenings of The Last Class. Using their “theatrical on demand” model, anyone can bring the film to their local theater once enough tickets are sold to cross a “tipping” threshold. Community screenings are close to “tipping” when they need just a few more ticket sales to ensure the screening happens, with ticket purchasers only charged if the screening actually occurs.

If you schedule it now, it can be in your local theater starting in early November, which allows for plenty of time to sell tickets. We can’t wait to see where you all are going to bring the film.

You can invite your book clubs, bowling leagues, and PTAs. You can host it as part of an Indivisible group, or focus on all of your friends and family. It requires selling an average of about 60 tickets, plus some organizational oomph.

Here’s a video of Heather and me describing how it all works, in case it’s helpful:

Thank you for working to ensure education triumphs over cynicism.

Feel free to put any questions about the film or this process in the comments section below, and the film team will respond.

See you at the movies,

RR