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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

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

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.)