Zeitgeist One Of Many Theaters Hoping to Receive Funding From The “Save Our Stages” Relief Package

The relief package that Congress passed on Monday night might show promise for theaters across the country, if President Trump does not veto it and send everything back to the drawing board. We have all heard about the second round of stimulus checks for individuals and families but part of the package includes funding for small businesses as well.

Theaters and venues are hoping for a boost of $15 billion as part of the near $900 billion COVID-19 relief package.  Senator Amy Klobuchar first introduced the plan who  called "Save our Stages" for places like Zeitgeist who closed the café portion in September. Save Our Stages was set up to support members of The National Independent Venue Association which has over 3,000 members in 50 states.

Zeitgeist Executive Director Tony Cuneo said:

It's a big help to us as an organization, but it's also important for us to be able to get back to employment levels similar to pre pandemic. I think the PPP support will really help us through some planning and look at how we relaunch some of those programs as soon as it's safe to do so.

The Zeitgeist has had to adapt through the pandemic offering virtual concerts, which have been great but are not the same, and for many performers not only has this been a huge loss of income but put their careers on hold as well.

Even the famous First Avenue in Minneapolis is in the same boat with no live performances since the pandemic and has had fundraisers and also selling merchandise to try and raise some money to keep the venue afloat.

Everyone in the community has been asked since the pandemic started to shop local but for venues like this it is not that easy to show support since it is so specialized. For now you can help out by renting movies on their website and all proceeds will go directly to the venue. Zeitgeist is vey unique in that they not only show movies, but have a café and live theater as well. They are a huge part of our community so hopefully they will get the funding they need along with other theaters and venues in the area.