J.K. Rowling to Attend Special Screening of “Fantastic Beasts” to Benefit Lumos Foundation
J.K. Rowling will attend a special screening of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them at Carnegie Hall in New York on Saturday, November 12 to benefit the Lumos Foundation. Eddie Redmayne, director David Yates, and additional cast members will also be present at the special screening in support of the author’s non-profit children’s organization.
Rowling will join Eddie Redmayne on stage at the Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage on Saturday, November 12, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. for a conversation, followed by a special advance screening of the film.
Starting today at 11:00 a.m. ET, tickets to this family event (age recommendation 10+) range from $25 to $500 and will be available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York City, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, and online at http://www.carnegiehall.org/.
This exclusive event to benefit Lumos Foundation USA, in partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures and publisher Scholastic Inc., will follow the film’s worldwide premiere, being held earlier that week in New York, and is prior to the UK premiere in London the following week. The film will open worldwide on November 18, 2016, and on November 19, Scholastic will publish the screenplay of the film in the United States and Canada.
The benefit screening at Carnegie Hall will be introduced by director David Yates together with members of the cast. All proceeds will go directly toward the work of Lumos to help the eight million children in orphanages around the world get back to family life.
Ticket revenues will support the We Are Lumos Worldwide campaign in the US, UK, and across the globe. The campaign will launch in September and help raise awareness and funds to end the harmful and unnecessary practice of placing children in orphanages.
Georgette Mulheir, CEO of Lumos, said,
Decades of research and evidence show us that all aspects of a child’s development suffer when they are raised in orphanages and institutions. These places can never replace what a child needs, which is love, care and attention from a dedicated parent or caregiver. Because most children in orphanages are not orphans, they can go home if we can put the right support in place for their families.
We are profoundly grateful to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros. and Scholastic for making this exciting film screening possible. Not only is it an opportunity to be among the first to see the film, but it will also help Lumos do the vital work needed to help the millions of vulnerable and voiceless children in orphanages get back to their families and family life, which is their right, and it is where they belong.
Meanwhile, Kevin Tsujihara, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros, said,
Warner Bros. is proud to support the important work done by Lumos. Jo has inspired millions with her amazing storytelling, and now Lumos is doing the same through their work on behalf of children everywhere. They are truly changing the world, one child at a time.
Thanks to the generosity of Warner Bros., Scholastic, and Lumos’s 100% Pledge, every cent donated and raised by the event will go directly to Lumos’s Families Not Orphanages Fund. The Fund will help children in the countries where Lumos works to leave orphanages and return to a family life. No portion of any donations will go to administration, fundraising, or overhead costs of the organization.
Visitors to the wearelumos.org/worldwide website are invited to sign up now to the We Are Lumos Worldwide campaign, which will launch in September. Those registering now will receive early notification of further exciting announcements.
Over the past decade, Lumos has helped thousands of children – from infants to older children – return to family life in Central and Eastern Europe and more recently, in Haiti. Now, in its second decade, Lumos is expanding its work in Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions around the world with the aim to end institutionalization of children globally by 2050.
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