Thanks to the generosity of several movers and shakers in the entertainment industry, seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders in New York City will be able to see the movie Selma for free.
According to Variety, people including BET Networks Chairman Debra Lee, American Express Chairman Ken Chenault, power broker Vernon Jordan and former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons teamed up to offer free tickets to the students. A fund was created to allow 27,000 students to see the movie from Jan. 8 through Jan. 19 at select theaters in New York City.
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The film, which is also being shown for free in Selma, Ala., is directed by Ava DuVernay and centers on voting-rights marches in 1965.
“Martin Luther King, Jr.’s momentous journey in Alabama is an important piece of American history,” said Bill Lewis, co-chairman of investment banking at Lazard and one of the fund’s contributors, in a statement. “We are passionate about bringing this story to New York City’s students, and we encourage business leaders in other cities to organize similar programs so that more students around the country have the chance to see this powerful film about an epic chapter in American history.”
The following people are contributing to the fund:
Amsale Aberra and Neil Brown, owners of the Amsale Group Gerald Adolph, senior partner at Booz & Co., and Gwen Adolph Ursula Burns, chairman and CEO of Xerox, and Lloyd Bean Valentino D. Carlotti, partner at Goldman Sachs Group Ken Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express, and Kathryn Chenault Tony Coles, former CEO of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, and Robyn Coles Edith Cooper, executive vice president and global head of human-capital management at Goldman Sachs Group, and Roger Taylor Roger W. Ferguson Jr., president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, and Annette L. Nazareth Bruce Gordon, chairman of ADT and former CEO of the NAACP, and Tawana Tibbs Charles J. Hamilton Jr., senior counsel at Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP, and Pamela G. Carlton, president of Springboard Vernon Jordan, senior managing director at Lazard, and Ann Dibble Jordan Debra Lee, chairman and CEO of BET Networks Bill Lewis, co-chairman of investment banking at Lazard, and Carol Sutton Lewis Ed Lewis, founder of Essence magazine, and Carolyn Lewis Tracy Maitland, CEO and founder of Advent Capital Management, and Kimberly Hatchett Ray McGuire, head of global banking at Citigroup, and Crystal McCrary Scott Mills, executive vice president of human resources and administration at Viacom, and Iva Mills Adebayo Ogunlesi, CEO of Global Infrastructure Partners and lead director at Goldman Sachs, and Dr. Amelia Quist-Ogunlesi Richard Parsons, senior adviser at Providence Equity Partners, and Laura Parsons Charles Phillips, CEO of Infor and director at Viacom, and Karen Phillips Jonelle Procope, president of the Apollo Theater, and Fred Terrell, vice chairman of investment banking at Credit Suisse Tamara Harris Robinson, CEO of Haramat Advisory Services Marva Smalls, executive vice president of global inclusion strategy at Viacom Frank Thomas, the Study Group John Utendahl, vice chairman of Deustche Bank Americas Reginald Van Lee, executive vice president at Booz Allen Ted Wells, partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Nina Wells
The participating New York City theaters are the following:
UA Kaufman Astoria Cinemas 14, Astoria, Queens AMC Bay Plaza Cinema 13, the Bronx Concourse Plaza Multiplex 10, the Bronx Alpine Cinemas 8, Brooklyn Bam Harvey Theater, Brooklyn Cobble Hill Cinemas 5, Brooklyn Linden Boulevard Multiplex Cinemas 14, Brooklyn The Pavilion Theater, Brooklyn UA Court Street 12, Brooklyn UA Sheepshead Bay Stadium 14, Brooklyn Williamsburg Cinemas 7, Brooklyn Movieworld Cinemas 7, Douglaston, Queens AMC Fresh Meadows 7, Fresh Meadows, Queens UA Midway Stadium 9, Forest Hills, Queens Regal Atlas Park Stadium 8, Glendale, Queens Jamaica Multiplex Cinemas 15, Jamaica, Queens AMC Loews 34th Street 14, Manhattan AMC Loews Kips Bay 15, Manhattan AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13, Manhattan AMC Empire 25, Manhattan AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9, Manhattan Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas 9, Manhattan City Cinemas East 86th Street Cinema, Manhattan Regal Battery Park Stadium 11, Manhattan Regal Union Square Stadium 14, Manhattan UA Staten Island Stadium 16, Staten Island College Point Multiplex Cinemas 12, Whitestone, Queens
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