Fast Company has leaned into the Christmas season with an article on three financial lessons from the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life.

In general the tips are oriented toward investing your time and energy locally just as George Bailey’s Building and Loan had poured its members money into the local housing market.

Translated to 2025 this manifests as shopping locally, participating in local concerts, sports events, fairs, volunteering, helping your neighbor, etc.

Part of the general message aligns with the Greek proverb that a society thrives when old men plant trees under whose shade they will never sit.

The author cites the fact that It’s A Wonderful Life didn’t do well in the box office when it was released in 1946 but exploded into popularity after the copyright protection was mistakenly not renewed in 1974 and TV stations began to air it as an example of delayed recognition.

I am not sure this is the greatest example since it something of an example of broadcast companies exploiting a mistake. Unlike Mr. Potter who doesn’t get away with exploiting Uncle Billy’s lapse in the movie, the happy result of the movie becoming famous depends on the ubiquity of airings by entities who didn’t have to pay for rights.

This being said, the appeal of the movie is the celebration of the social bonds in a community. This message apparently continues to have a strong appeal as the screening we are hosting on Thursday has been sold out since last week–all 425 seats. You can see the movie in the comfort of your own home, on demand probably as well as on broadcast stations, but a lot of people are choosing to watch it in public and many are calling to ask if there are any secret unsold tickets.

Right now we are counting on people to be of enough good cheer to slide down and fill the empty seats between them and the next group so we can fit them all.

h/t Artjournal.com which linked to a story about Lectures On Tap, a program of academic lectures being held in bars around LA, San Francisco, Boston, NYC, and Chicago. There are other similar programs operating in other cities under different names.

Academics lecture on a wild variety of topics including films,

The sessions tend to sell out very quickly. I suspect it is partially due to the fact that the relaxed context of the setting offers a degree of freedom to both the attendees and lecturers.

I am always on the look out for programming ideas that create new metaphorical doors through which audiences can enter and this definitely fits the bill.

Back in January 2020 I met with a group hosting a storytelling series in bars about putting together a more curated version to host in the newly renovated reception space in our theater. When the pandemic hit, we ended up moving it into our main space so we could socially distance seating. Because audiences were literally able to see their stories being told on stage by people who looked like them and lived in their neighborhoods, the series ended up changing the narrative and perception about who was welcomed at the theater.