Summary

Hi – I’m Will Mason, and I’ve dedicated my career to enriching the Birmingham community through music education, performance, recording, live entertainment, and most recently, by opening a music venue in Woodlawn.

In our first full year of operating the Woodlawn Theatre, we’ve laid a strong foundation and learned invaluable lessons that will guide our steady and sustainable growth moving forward. We are proud of the track record we’ve established in year one, hosting over 150 concerts and private events – featuring artists like David Wilcox, Bo Rinehart of NeedToBreathe, Carver Commodore and many more.  We have also hosted many meaningful community and private events, weddings, birthday gatherings, movie screenings, graduation ceremonies for employment readiness programs and non-profit fundraisers. 

Despite some initial financial hurdles, including the unexpected withdrawal of a major investment just before our opening, our commitment to serving the music scene and our Woodlawn neighborhood has never been stronger. However, our monthly shortfalls during the first year of operating have left us in a financial position where we need some help from the community to keep moving forward. 

We’re excited about the potential of this place and are seeking support for the long road ahead. With your help, we can ensure that the Woodlawn Theatre continues to be a thriving space where the next generation of musicians and music lovers can connect, create, and celebrate together.

What We Need

We have a 3 part plan to achieve our growth goals and need your help to put it into action. We aim to raise $50,000 by the end of 2024 in order to be on track for fulfilling our potential in this space. Here is our plan:

1. Expand our staff to support booking and marketing efforts. We are currently a very small team (1 full time employee and several part-timers) and limited bandwidth. 
2. Build on our existing – and establish new – relationships with agents and promoters to bring more great shows to the room in 2025.
3. Work nose to the grindstone on booking private events in the space (these events generate much more revenue than most shows and can balance our financial equation).

The funds raised through this campaign will go to support current operating capital shortfalls (we estimate that we need between 9-12 more months to reach breakeven and our cash reserves on hand will not cover those losses) while we continue growing our business to a self sustaining place.

This plan will be implemented by myself and the General Manager of Woodlawn Theatre, Bekah Fox. For those of you who don’t know Bekah, she is hands down the most qualified person to run this venue in the city of Birmingham. Her experience in live music, touring, promotion, record label management, bar management and community development has positioned her to be uniquely suited for this endeavor. Bekah and I share a commitment and passion for serving the Woodlawn community and the Birmingham music scene and would be honored to have your support at this time. 

If we do not reach our goal, we may have to scale back our operations and potentially restructure the space to be less active in the music scene. 

The Impact

Every city needs small music venues to create a thriving local music scene – a place for up and coming artists to build their audience and for smaller touring bands to develop their fanbase in each market on their way to the bigger stages. Birmingham is no different. Cue memories of Bottletree and Syndicate Lounge – this is the type of space we have worked so hard to create. My own touring days are long gone, but I’ll never forget the venues my band played all around the country in the early 2000’s. Woodlawn Theatre was intentionally designed to fill the need of a high quality small cap room in Birmingham.  The feedback we hear consistently from bands is “whoa – this is a really nice venue for being so small.” They also don’t mind the easy load in or the green room with a private bathroom, shower and laundry 🙂

What You Get

We’ve put together a list of perks and swag items that we think you’ll love – take a look and see what level you would like to invest in, and we’ll get to work fulfilling orders.  We can’t wait to see you in your new Woodlawn Theatre t shirt or beanie, or see cars around town with our bumper sticker on them – showing your support for our work. Of course, if you don’t want any swag and just want to give, you can do that too!

Other Ways You Can Help

I know this is a tight time for a lot of Birminghamians. If you can’t give to this, or you have other priorities, I get it. But if you care deeply about the music scene and the work we’re doing in Woodlawn, here are some other ways to help:

• Get the word out about this campaign and help us make some noise. (Indiegogo has tons of sharing tools you can use)
• Get out to a show soon and invite your friends to come with. 
• Keep us in mind for any upcoming events you’ll be renting space for (weddings, parties, etc)

Clarifications and Disclosures:

Woodlawn Theatre is a for-profit business and I (Will Mason) am the sole owner.

This is completely separate from Mason Music Foundation, which is a non-profit entity.

I don’t want anyone getting confused and think they are donating to music lessons through this indiegogo. This is strictly for keeping the lights on at Woodlawn Theatre. If you’re interested in donating to Mason Music Foundation, please visit masonmusicfoundation.org.