Cine Las Americas and LatinWorks Are Laughing All the Way to the Bank

We know you've seen your fair share of standard Indiegogo and Kickstarter campaigns – in part because we showcase a new one each week. But how do organizations get pledgers' attention when everyone wants your money?

Cine Las Americas partnered with the team at local ad agency LatinWorks to produce a short film (appropriately shot in both English and Spanish) that ought to snag your eye.

As clients at a big, fancy bank go through their days – businesspeople, the elderly, the obligatory pregnant woman – one patron in particular is signing off on receipt of a briefcase full of $50,000 for Cine Las Americas' ongoing programming and operations costs. Just when he finishes crossing t's and dotting i's, a team of masked robbers breaks in and holds the bank hostage. With a gun to our hero's head, the narrative pauses and asks you to help donate to get that $50,000 back.

(Note: Cine Las Americas hasn't actually been robbed, as best we know, but it sure adds a level of pressure to crowdfunding that we haven't seen before.)

There are nine possible endings for the employees and customers at the bank, and how much you donate – or don't – determines how the story ends for our protagonist. Will you get menacing threats from the robber or a slow clap and a cheer from the rest of the gang?

There's only one way to find out. Play along at www.savecinelasamericas.org.