Harry Potter and friends are coming to IMAX in 3D on July 29th. If you saw the last film in IMAX 3D, you know that the experience is well worth the extra price of the ticket. Being absorbed into a film is now quite literal and a lot of fun. There is just one problem.
We’re all used to the IMAX brand meaning an extremely large screen. For those of you in New York, anyone that has gone to the Loews Lincoln Square on 68th and Broadway to see an IMAX film knows what an IMAX screen is meant to be. However, recently the IMAX corporation has decided to label much, much smaller screens as IMAX theaters. It is deceitful since you don’t actually get a real IMAX experience — but you will pay the extra price regardless.
Information on what is being called LIEMAX can be found in quite a few places. For example, here is a great comparison of the screen sizes: real IMAX is 76×97-feet while the LIEMAX is only a third the size at 28×58-feet. Most useful is the map below, setup by James Peach. Find out where the real IMAX screens are before you spend the extra cash. If you find this information useful, please return to this site and contribute to the Children’s Miracle Network in the name of your Harry Potter fandom.
View IMAX or LIEMAX? in a larger map
We’ve watched an absolutely brilliant social media marketing campaign unfold over the last several weeks. #Dumbledore was trending on Twitter because of the HP Alliance and the intensity of the Harry Potter fan-base. With their What Would Dumbledore Do campaign, they have done what the Harry Potter Movie Fundraiser should have. In just a few weeks, the members of the HP Alliance organized fans worldwide to reflect on Dumbledore, his teachings, and to show it by taking part in something collectively. The idea was timely and very appropriate for the latest film. Being true fans – I mean truly true fans – they got the essence of the sixth book/film. They got that the fan-base isn’t only attached to Harry and that Harry isn’t the only main character. Well done!
However, the HP Alliance didn’t go far enough. While the Harry Potter Fundraiser failed to capture the interest of fans, the HP Alliance didn’t use the interest generated for a collective good. It seems they have every intention to, and it also seems that a lot of partners and community members are already doing it in some way, but I feel the WWDD campaign was a missed opportunity — however, one they can still salvage. I’m requesting the HP Alliance to help the Children’s Miracle Network. The Harry Potter Movie Fundraiser is willing to do whatever it takes to align itself with the HP Alliance, or even hand over the campaign entirely, because the end goal is to help the Children’s Miracle Network. If visitors to this site think the HP Alliance should help the Children’s Miracle Network, please tell them by sharing this post!
What Would Dumbledore Do? I think he would use his power to help people. And the HP Alliance can do it, now!
I have an “extra” pair of tickets to a 7:30pm screening of Harry Potter for tomorrow, Wednesday, 15 July 2009, at the Regal Union Square 14. To win, donate to the Harry Potter Fundraiser, an amount that you feel shows what the Harry Potter stories have meant to you, then tell us in the comments to this post. The winner will be randomly chosen around noon, eastern time.
I’ll hand them to you tomorrow around lunch time. Make sure you include your contact information during the donation so I can call you. (Also, please email when you make the donation because the report generator has been iffy today. Donations are being accepted by the Children’s Miracle Network, just not being reported to me right now.)
Good luck all!
Could it be? While the Harry Potter Movie Fundraiser has only be online for a little over a week, it seems fans aren’t really interested in contributing. Star Trek fans raised over $2700 for Doctor Without Borders during the Star Trek Movie Fundraiser, Harry Potter Fans haven’t been able to raise even 1% of that, totaling a mere $21 so far.
When I started this second fundraiser, I thought that Harry Potter fans would end up being more generous. I’m surprised but the effort continues and we’ll see how it goes.
You can help by making sure your friends know that the fundraiser exists and that the Children’s Miracle Network needs your support. As little as $1 per ticket, or what Harry Potter has meant to you, will make a tremendous difference in the efforts of the Children’s Miracle Network.
Please don’t be shy about giving and telling your friends about the fundraiser. And a great, big thanks to those that have already donated.
Why should Harry Potter fans feel a connection with the Children’s Miracle Network? How do the two share a message? It’s not just the obvious. Sure they are both about children but more-so, it’s really about the magic, the insurmountable odds, the possibility that miracles can happen and that happy endings can be real.
While all those elements are common themes in fantasy, Harry Potter has the additional benefit of being in an environment of caring people watching out for him as he watches out for others. It’s a cycle and this is where the connection is. There are real world organizations that use the support of people like us to care for people in impossible circumstances. It’s the same cycle of support and caring. And one such organization is The Children’s Miracle Network, which makes a difference in the lives of thousands of children every year – children facing difficult or uncommon ailments. Look at these figures in just the U.S. The Children’s Miracle Network…
- treats 88% of all children with cancer.
- treats 76% of all children with cystic fibrosis.
- treats 90% of all children with sickle cell anemia.
- treats 72% of children with pediatric AIDS.
- devotes 60% of their services to children under age six and 25% to newborns.
- trains 60% of pediatricians and 80% of all pediatric specialists.
- educates families about issues like child safety seats, helmet safety and bicycle safety.
- devotes nearly a quarter of their care to newborns, who require the most intensive nursing and medical care of all patients.
- provides $2.5 billion in charity (uncompensated) care each year.
Health care access can be difficult or complicated but organizations like Children’s Miracle Network make the most difficult times in children and families’ lives easier with aid and assistance. Your contributions give the CMN the power to help more and more people. And that’s really where the connection is; that’s where the magic is. Think about this equation:
Millions of Harry Potter fans + contributing what Harry Potter means to us = nothing short of miraculous.
Most amazingly, it can be done!
If you’re buying a ticket to the Harry Potter movie, consider donating at least $1 per ticket, or what Harry Potter means to you. It WILL make a world of difference.
During the successful Star Trek Movie Fundraiser back in May, I was contacted by several people connected to non-profits. They admired the idea of a fan-based effort tying the similar messages of a movie and a non-profit around fan enthusiasm. I liked it too. 
After Star Trek I had every intention of pursuing the Harry Potter movie. Conor contacted me representing (on his own) the Children’s Miracle Network. I had never heard of the organization but read up on them and their involvement with children’s hospitals around the world, coming to the conclusion that this was the best marriage to Harry Potter. (Aside: Conor works out of the Ireland offices and it’s exciting to me that in this ever-smaller world, the campaign could have worldwide appeal.)
The fanraisers came to be because I found little merit in being a fan. Franchise-holders did everything they could to drive up fan energy but I could not accept that my only outlet and worth for being a fan was buying tickets and merchandise. Shouldn’t something come of all this excitement?
Franchises like Harry Potter, with a large fan-base, have the ability to redirect the energies of large numbers of people to perform a collective good. We should enjoy ourselves but an opportunity should always be given to enjoy ourselves while responsibly helping others. It really isn’t hard. So the fanraisers were born.
I urge every Harry Potter fan to give something to the Children’s Miracle Network for every ticket they buy. Give $1 or, better yet, give what you feel Harry Potter means to you. It will make a world of difference and you’ll enjoy a great movie while you’re at it.
The Harry Potter Movie Fundraiser was established with a simple idea in mind: if every one of Harry Potter’s millions of fans donates just $1 extra to charity when buying their movie ticket, fans become empowered to do miraculous things.
The Children’s Miracle Network was established with two noble goals in mind:
- Help as many children as possible by raising funds for children’s hospitals.
- Keep funds in the community in which they were raised to help local children.
As a Harry Potter fan, I feel that our enthusiasm should be used to do some good in the world. The Children’s Miracle Network helps kids fight for their one shot at life – fight cancer, fight rare diseases, fight genetic ailments, fight when their families cannot fund the fight, fight to become the people they can be, armed with the best possible medical attention. They deserve it and Harry Potter fans can make it happen.
We want to believe in magic but sometimes we forget we can make miracles with a just a little effort. Support the Children’s Miracle Network through this fan-based effort and show the world what Harry Potter fans can accomplish together.
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Raised so far —> $26! Some movement but fans can surely do better! Please help the Children's Miracle Network!
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