Can’t Stop The Serenity is still flying in Raleigh, North Carolina where it looks to be a sold out event for the 5th year running, on Sunday July 27.
This is their 9th year so you know they are doing something right! Those lucky enough to have a ticket are urged to come early and have food and drink with your fellow Browncoats before the raffle and costume contest get underway. Yes, costumes! Dust off your duds and come dressed as an inhabitant of the ‘Verse. Following the raffle and contest will be a showing of the big damn movie, Serenity.
But before you head over, if you don’t have a ticket, be sure to check the website to see if any are left.
As temperatures rise in North America, cities in Canada and the United States are adding to the heat. (Luckily all events are air-conditioned!)
On Friday night Halifax, Nova Scotia is showing Seasons 1-3 of the Guild. Tickets are only $5.00 and attendees will have their names added to the door prize draw at the main event in September – bonus chances to win some great stuff! Concessions will be available.
Down the coast Can’t Stop the Serenity is returning to Washington, D.C. on Saturday with doors opening at 11:00 AM.
This year’s event includes Serenity & Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along-Blog, a costume contest for best dressed Firefly/Serenity character & a second costume contest for best dressed as any character from any Joss Whedon production. There will also be raffles, door prizes, and a silent auction!… Read more…
Denver’s Can’t Stop The Serenity has the weekend all to themselves and with everything they have planned – they need that time & space! This is their 9th year and they have planned a shiny night full of “good works”, to benefit Equality Now.
The SIE Film Center will play host on Saturday, July 12th. Event activities include a pre-screening shindig in the Henderson Lounge, Serenity and Dr. Horrible on the big screen, a costume contest, and huge raffle for shiny items donated by generous Sponsors.
Last year’s Jayne’s Hat Mob was big but they are hoping to beat that so remember to bring your “cunning hat!”
Denver’s special ticket packages “Big Damn Hero” and “The ‘Verse” have sold out already, so you might want to buy your ticket in advance as the event normally sells out before the day of the screening.… Read more…
The weekend of July 4-6 sees three shiny screenings in Canada, the United States and England.
First up chronologically is Toronto. The Royal Cinema once again plays host to an afternoon of Serenity, door prizes, and an auction full of unique items. Tickets are only $12.00 in advance and $15.00 at the door. The screening will be followed by a shindig at a nearby pub but RSVPs are neccessary for the shindig.
Albuquerque has a very full day planned on Saturday. Besides shiny shopping, raffles, an auction, a shindig, Serenity, catered dinner available for purchase at the theatre, there is also comedy and music! Comedians Drew Wayne and Genevieve Mueller will open the event and Mikey Mason will play right before the dinner break. Costume are encouraged and anyone who buys their ticket in advance gets a Fruity Oaty bar and other shiny swag!… Read more…
Continuing the celebration of Joss’s birthday, 3 U.S. cities are holding their events this weekend. Their names also all start with N but the similarities end there!
The Nashville/Murfreesboro event is a concert featuring The Secret Commonwealth and Kasey Lansdale. There will also be a raffle and auction and probably a few surprises. Tickets will be available at the door.
Norfolk, Virginia is putting on a big damn shindig, also on June 28th. It starts at the Naro Cinema with a showing of Serenity in Hi Def. Doesn’t matter how many times you have seen Serenity. You owe it to yourself to see it digitally. You’ll see & hear content you never knew existed.There’s a costume contest and rumours of a silent auction; a showing of Dr.… Read more…
This is a special day, even a special week for those of us who love Firefly/Serenity and all of Joss Whedon’s other creations. The Man himself turns 50 today, June 23. Ten years ago a select number of cities got to see Serenity for the first time on Joss’s birthday. It was a gift to us from him.
Then it became our turn.
Over the last 9 years Can’t Stop The Serenity has raised over $900,000 for charities especially for one near to Joss’s heart – Equality Now. But we aren’t the only ones marking this special occasion. With the hashtag #ThankJoss, Kiba Rika who runs the website JossisaHottie.com, is asking people to tell the world how Joss Whedon changed their life for the better. Check it out on twitter.… Read more…
Every year many CSTS cities hold their events around Joss’ birthday, June 23rd. This year we have 4 cities celebrating.
First up is Lawrence, Kansas. They always put on a good time and this year promises to be more of the same. They will show Serenity of course along with some of the other content we have been lucky enough to get permission to show. And then there is the Prize raffle. You’ll want to bring extra credits for that!
Boston is back for their 9th year holding a midnight showing at the historic Coolidge theatre. Their 2nd charity is Rosie’s Place and anyone who brings a non-perishable food item will entered into the raffle for some fun prizes. Their website has a list of what items are most in need so check it out!… Read more…
Morgan B, age 12 wrote this essay for school. We think you will be in awe at this young woman’s grasp of what is important.
We all know that sometimes terrible things happen in the world, but did you know that in many countries women have almost no rights? In places like Yemen, Sudan, and Pakistan, young girls may be beaten, married, or even sentenced to death by their own families with few or no legal consequences. However, human rights organizations like Equality Now are working to change that. Can’t Stop The Serenity is a series of movie screenings held annually to benefit Equality Now. Serenity is a Sci-fi movie created by Joss Whedon, so if you are a Whedon fan and care about women’s rights, you should definitely come to a CSTS event near you.… Read more…
Perth S-F fans are keen! Despite getting a venue that is twice the size as last year’s, the Perth CSTS Affiliate event for May 15 sold out well before it is scheduled to run.
Those lucky enough to get a ticket are in for a treat. It is a Sci-Fi quiz night with loads of great prizes from local sponsors and a heap of swag including an item signed by Jewel Staite.
There is an auction and raffles to add to the fun.
We’re looking forward to hearing some of the quiz questions!… Read more…
There are many ways to run a Can’t Stop The Serenity events and over the last 9 years, we’ve seen a lot of them.
But this one is new!
A new festival, honoring web series has started up in Toronto Canada.
Called Toronto Webfest, it is 3 days of screenings, panels and other events. And what better way to celebrate a new festival that by showing one of the first major webseries?
On Friday May 9th at 10:00 p.m. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along-Blog will be shown with all proceeds going to Equality Now.
Tickets are only $10.00 and available for purchase online.
Imagine being in a theatre full of people who have not seen Dr. Horrible before or don’t know the works of Joss Whedon!
In Sept, 2013, birdandbear wrote about the North Texas screening but she speaks for all of us. Thanks to her for giving us permission to reprint this from their website.
Wanna hear something as mind-blowing as it is inspirational as it is humbling?
2013 marked the eighth annual CSTS event season. In that time North Texas Browncoats have raised more than $41,000.00, and the global events have raised over $840,000.00 for Equality Now and other charities. If the global events don’t break $1,000,000 next year, they certainly will for the 10th anniversary in 2015.
The stunning thing is, those figures aren’t subsidized in any way. There are no grants, no paid employees, no PR machine. Just some generous sponsors, and folks across the world coming together once a year to watch a movie, have a good time, maybe don a cunning hat, and make a stand in the name of what’s right.
It is always a great moment when CSTS starts up for the year. This year it is doubly exciting because it is a new event.
The Valley Browncoats in Wales are having a screening on April 14th. It’s being held in Blackwood and it promises to be great.
It is, of course, Easter Break and so this is an event for the whole family to begin with. For kids of all ages there are activities like Mask painting while the older ones can try out the new Serenity Board Game.
Firefly themed food will be available including Fruity Oaty Bars and Mudders Milk. (Non-alcoholic for the young’ns).
Join a team to challenge your knowledge of all things Whedon and Sci-Fi related and buy some shiny merchandise including hand crafted keyrings and earrings.… Read more…
Last May Vancouver Organizer Samatwitch wrote about why Vancouver holds CSTS events each year. Thanks to her for giving us permission to reprint this from their website.
Why do we do this? Why do organisers spend so much time and money for each event? Why do people volunteer, paying for their own tickets to do so? Why do Browncoats – and others – keep coming out to CSTS events?
Partly of course, because the events are fun. Each city is different and has ideas and plans that work for them. A lot of people come out to see Serenity on the big screen or to sing along to Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Some people come to spend an afternoon or day with their friends at a fun event – or to bid on an auction item they can’t find anywhere else, especially handmade items.
We would love to have your feedback on the logo placement for CSTS 2014 Unisex and Womens shirts. There will be only one design available for the Unisex and one for the Women’s, and you can vote on both. The most popular option for each wins! This year’s shirts will be light grey with printing on one side only.
We are very pleased to announced that in 2013 Can’t Stop The Serenity raised $115,420.00 for Equality Now and 20 other charities. This is $5,000 more than in 2012 and brings our total to over $900,000 U.S. over the last 8 years. New cities joined with their events and we had screenings in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Thank you to all our sponsors, organizers, and participants, for contributing to this tremendous success! Whether you bought a Tshirt, donated to an event, bid on an auction, attended a screening or spread the word, we deeply appreciate your commitment and generosity in helping us to support the rights of women and girls worldwide.… Read more…
It’s not a new Can’t Stop the Serenity season without a fantastic new logo, and here it is! The above design was chosen by popular vote out of 14 great entries and is the creation of Jake Thompson from Orange, CA USA. Thank you to everyone who entered, and to everyone who cast their vote. And congratulations to Jake!
Over the next few days, you’ll start to see our new logo across the website and social media. We’ll have it available for download soon too, so you can dress up your social media account to help spread the word about this year’s events.
2014 is off to a great start already and we hope you’ll come along for the ride!… Read more…
2014 marks our 9th Annual CSTS season and we are looking forward to welcoming our fellow Browncoats, whether veterans of the cause or new organizers! We are grateful and excited that folks are interested in holding their own CSTS events to raise money for Equality Now.
Registration is open now, so you can start planning a Can’t Stop the Serenity event for 2014. All the information you need to get you started can be found in the Host An Event section on the menu above.
Most CSTS events are known as “Screening Events” where Joss Whedon’s “Serenity” is shown on the big screen in conjunction with auctions, raffles, contests, merchandise sales and other multimedia (pending licensing arrangements).
If you’re unable to organize a Screening Event (due to funds, location or proximity to other Browncoats), an Affiliate event may be the answer.… Read more…
We put out the call and then made the signal go further and it came back full of amazing art. We have 14 designs, all wonderfully created by madly talented Browncoats. Thank you to everyone who submitted an entry (or two!) to the 2014 CSTS Art Contest.
The deadline for submissions to the 2014 Art Contest has been further extended to 1 February 2014! We’ve realised that the earlier deadline was too short considering the holidays, and hope the extra time will allow more artists to give it a shot.
Over the years, we’ve raised almost a million dollars for Equality Now. We can do even more good works, but only if people show up! That’s where you come in.
The logo is a critical tool for raising interest and awareness about the events and charity, building excitement, and getting people into theaters around the world. To do this, the art needs to appeal to people who already know about CSTS, to Browncoats who haven’t heard of us and to non-fans, and draw their attention.… Read more…
As we ring in the new year and say farewell to 2013, it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the success of the 2013 Can’t Stop the Serenity season and thank those who have worked so hard to make it possible. Over $110,000 was raised for Equality Now and other charities by countless volunteers across the world, which brings to total raised since the begining of CSTS to over $900,000! This achievement could not have been realised without the tireless energy, enthusiasm and dedication of the volunteers on the Global Team and at each of the local events. On behalf of the Global Steering Committee (GSC), please accept our congratulations and our thanks.
The Global Team have given countless hours behind the scenes for over a year, and we would especially like to thank Dave Catoe, Stephanie Leisure, Liam Merrick, William Pace, Sheilah O’Connor, Phil Towle, and Julia Svaganovic (as well as their families for allowing them to give so much).… Read more…
Submissions will be accepted beginning 6 December 2013, and must be received no later than 12 January 2014 by 11:59 P.M. PST in order to be considered for this contest.
The Can’t Stop The Serenity promotional art contest is back for 2014! Do you think you’ve got what it takes to design our official promotional artwork?
In its eight-year history, Can’t Stop The Serenity has raised more than half a million dollars for Equality Now. We can do even more good works in 2014, but only if people show up! That’s where you can come in. Since we’ve been doing this for almost a decade now, the novelty factor has worn off, which means it’s more important than ever before to build excitement for CSTS. The annual logo is a critical tool for raising awareness about the event, building excitement, and getting people to get out to CSTS events around the world. And we’re know there are lots of creative Browncoats out there with the skills to make this happen!… Read more…
Do you want to help guide Can’t Stop the Serenity towards a bright future and make the 2014 season happen? Do you know someone who would like to be involved at a global level? Nominations are now open for roles on 2014 Global Team!
Can’t Stop the Serenity is organised entirely by volunteers who work side by side with local event organisers to make each year’s events a success. We’re looking for dedicated, passionate, talented folks to join us. It’s fun, rewarding and a great experience!
For the next 10 days, there will be great items up for auction on e-Bay with all proceeds going to Equality Now.
How about a copy of the Buffy script “Superstar” written by Jane Espenson, signed by Jane Espenson and donated by Jane Espenson?
A must have for those who collect action figures is the rare unpainted Jayne. It’s been signed by Adam Baldwin. You might want the Hero of Canton poster, the hat and the Mercenary Jayne action figure to go with it.
Perhaps you’d prefer a unique hand cross-stitched Jayne on a Tshirt which has been paired with a signed photo of Jayne on the mule. This one is shiny because you can still see the equipment used to make the Mule hover.
You’ll want to make room on your walls for these posters!… Read more…
Can’t Stop the Serenity (CSTS) is a unique opportunity to indulge your geeky side while doing some good! Since 2006, fans have organized screenings of Joss Whedon's Serenity to raise funds and awareness to support Equality Now in their work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world. Join us as we aim to misbehave for a good cause!
There are two ways to fight a battle like ours. One is to whisper in the ear of the masses, try subtlely and gradually to change the gender expectations and mythic structures of our culture. That’s me. The other is to step up and confront the thousands of atrocities that are taking place around the world on an immediate, one-by-one basis. That’s a great deal harder, and that’s Equality Now. It’s not about politics; it’s about basic human decency.
