Proceeds to benefit Variety – the Children’s Charity of Southern California
LOS ANGELES, February 19, 2010 – Film fans and car aficionados will have the chance to own a unique piece of movie memorabilia from one of the Best Picture nominees when Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California next week begins hosting the online auction of the 1966 Dodge Coronet used in Focus Features and Working Title Films’ A Serious Man. The film is nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Original Screenplay (Joel & Ethan Coen).
The auction will be live at www.eBay.com/varietyskids, starting Monday, February 22, 2010 and end Thursday, March 4, 2010 – right before the Oscars. Proceeds from the auction will go to help inspire hope, enrich lives and build a better future for the children in need in Southern California.
The auction will give collectors the chance to bid on the vintage vehicle seen on-screen as the car owned and driven by lead character Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) in A Serious Man. The film takes place in the Midwest, in 1967. Weeks before the start of production, the production began scouring local antique car shows in search of the right vehicles for the characters to drive. The car that writer/directors Joel & Ethan Coen settled on for Larry Gopnik was a 1966 Dodge Coronet, a midsized car that Chrysler introduced in the ‘50s and then again in the mid-‘60s.
Minnesota’s famed destination point, the Mall of America, will be displaying the Dodge Coronet during the auction. The car’s estimated value is north of $20,000, though the opening bid platform will be lower.
Focus Features CEO James Schamus commented, “Joel & Ethan Coen’s Oscar-nominated A Serious Man has been embraced as an instant classic. We’re delighted that a serious collector will have the opportunity to buy one of the film’s classic cars and that children in need will benefit from the excitement of the Oscars and the online auction.â€
Alan Davy, President of Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California, said, “Our charity is once again excited to partner with Focus Features in a unique fund-raising event to benefit in need children.â€
Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California was founded in 1941 as a nonprofit organization with the express mission to provide life-saving and life-enriching assistance to children with special needs in the region. Last year, in addition to its commitment to the capital campaign fund for a new Variety Boys and Girls Club, Variety Tent 25 distributed 65 grants, totaling more than half a million dollars to local organizations who serve children in Southern California. These funds support a full range of services encompassing medical, health, recreational, and social services; and provide a wide array of therapeutic, literacy, and mental health programs not traditionally funded by other private or public sources.
In November 2005, the charity launched www.ebay.com/varietyskids and has since raised over $850,000 by auctioning off unique Hollywood items, including tickets to the premiere of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience; the iconic shirts worn by the stars of Focus’ Academy Award-winning Brokeback Mountain; and signed movie memorabilia. Most recently, in auctions with www.clothesoffourback.org, the charity benefitted from sales of the famed green dress worn by Keira Knightley in Focus and Working Title’s Atonement; and of the suit worn by Sean Penn in his Academy Award-winning portrayal of real-life hero Harvey Milk in Focus’ Milk. Proceeds from the auctions go directly to helping children in the Southern California community.