Roger Ebert says ‘At the Movies’ is going on hiatus

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Roger Ebert has announced that he’s putting ‘Ebert Presents At the Movies’ on hiatus at the end of December.

The film critic made the announcement in a blog post Wednesday titled ‘So long for awhile.’ He wrote that the revamped movie review program that launched on public television in January of 2011 has been struggling to find financial support and will go dark for a period while Ebert and his wife (and executive producer) Chaz speak to ‘top executives of several channels and film distributors, charitable foundations, Web delivery services, potential corporate sponsors, and crowd-funding sources.’

Ebert said the program would go dark ‘to allow the public television stations that carry our show to plan their programs for the beginning of the new year.’

In early November Ebert revealed that he and Chaz had been essentially paying for the entire show themselves (minus a contribution from the Kanbar Charitable Trust) and that they could no longer afford to do so. While there have been many suggestions and options to explore, the end-of-the-year timing has forced the Eberts to take the show on hiatus.

‘The show has been a success,’ Ebert writes. ‘We will have produced 50 episodes. In Christy Lemire and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky we have co-hosts whose chemistry has ignited, and who provide two definitely different viewpoints, which is the idea. We have developed a cadre of contributors who have created video essays and festival reports.’

He said a number of viewers have offered to send money directly and the show could one day be funded through a Kickstarter campaign.

‘Please have faith in us as we sort through the possibilities,’ he wrote.

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-- Patrick Kevin Day