Tuesday, September 8, 2020

We Make Events: Red Alert

I happened to come across this Los Angeles Times (Sep 1) article last week. There was some updated info on the situation over at the Bootleg Theater via an interview with Kyle Wilkerson who runs the promotion firm Sid the Cat. Here's a quote from the article: 

Wilkerson and his team are holding on as best they can. They’re lucky in some respects, as the club did receive some PPP funding and nonprofit grants for its theater programming. But Wilkerson estimates that it will take “into six figures” for the club to survive the year and much more if COVID-19 shutdowns continue into next spring and summer. 

These next few months will determine if there’s a future for the club or not. 

Six figures. That is a lot of money required if bills such as Save Our Stages doesn't pass Congress. And that Bootleg Theater estimate takes into account the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) funding and nonprofit grants they got. If they need six figures to survive until the end of 2020, just think how much money the other local venues in Los Angeles need to survive who didn't qualify for PPP and grants. Okay, probably not seven figures, but perhaps double what the Bootleg Theater needs to stay afloat for the rest of the year? Let's make up a number, $250,000? That's not exactly a sum that can be raised via a fundraiser.

The following also caught my attention.

On Tuesday, association-allied venues will light their exteriors red to show the spaces that are in critical danger. Across L.A., the Satellite is already done for as a music venue, and even the Troubadour is in rough seas. 

This event was put on by We Make Events and started at 9 p.m. on September 1st at participating venues across the nation. I learned that Zebulon was participating in the Red Alert so I drove over to take some photos. Below is one such photo that I took.


If you're interested in reading a little more about what is happening at Zebulon Cafe during this COVID-19 pandemic, read an interview that KCRW did with owner Jef Soubrian. 

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