New York · Nonprofit
CINEMA TROPICAL INC
CINEMA TROPICAL INC (New York) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,492,816 to it, the largest being PERSPECTIVE MEDIA INITIATIVES INC ($581,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $252k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.5M
- Net assets
- $113k
What Cinema Tropical Inc does
Mission
To promote latin american cinema through appropriate channels for exhibition.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Film programming: through its film programming, cinema tropical is aiming to create value to the films they present in the form of particularly themed film series. For the reporting period, cinema tropical presented a wide array of film series including "genmex: recent filma from mexico, part ii", "tropical tuesdays", "cinema tropical's music + film series",and "indocumantales/undocumentaries: the us/mexico interdependent film series".some of these series continue to travel around the country providing the opportunity to be seen in alternative film circuits. Cinema tropical has been recognized as a model non-profit organization and a pioneer in finding new ways for media arts organizations to adapt to the new contexts.cinema tropical's biggest asset, and what differenciates cinema tropical from any other organization, is that over the course of the past ten years cinema tropical has built a dedicated audience interested in latin american films. Cinema tropical's grassroots efforts have allowed it to find the population, gain the know-how to reach, and build a community interested in learning and experiencing the cinema from latin america. By focusing on releasing films in new…
$86,728 spent$19,700 earned by the program46% of program spendingMarketing & publicity: the main goal of cinema tropical's marketing and publicity program is to consolidate and expand the community of people interested in latin american cinema around the u.s. Cinema tropical uses its marketing and publicity services as an educational tool for the organization. Cinema tropical uses its own communication channels (mailing lists, e-mail blasts, website, postcards), grass-roots strategies (relationships with community-based organizations, cultural and educational institutions), and press relations (contact with general and latino media) as part of its continuous outreach campaign to educate a larger audience about the artistic and cultural value of the films produced in the region. In addition to promoting their own films in the cinema tropical series, and working on the new york theatrical release of feature films distributed by cinema tropical, in the past year, cinema tropical promoted 53 feature films released by renowned us distributors and 5 film series organized by prestigious new york and national cultural institutions, supporting the work of more than 112 filmmakers and reaching an estimated audience of 93,000 persons.as the leading…
$72,090 spent$59,328 earned by the program38% of program spendingFilm rentals: this program attempts to offer a library of films to further expand the exhibition of latin american films by promoting them in other parts of the united states, especially where latin american cinema does not reach commercial theaters. Cinephiles, students of film, and people interested in latin american culture have been able to attend universities, museums, and festivals, to see these films around the country. With an impressive library of fiction films and documentaries, cinema tropical offers films to u.s. Educational and cultural institutions that would not have reached the country had it not been for cinema tropical. The organization will continue to expand this aspect of its operation so that more educational institutions around the country can be reached.
$28,825 spent$7,067 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $187,643.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $58k to $447k (+673%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 38% · 2018 39% · 2019 26% · 2020 20% · 2021 35% · 2022 33% · 2023 35% · 2024 31% · 2025 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
66% of CINEMA TROPICAL INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Debra Zimmerman
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $54k → $143k.
2 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of CINEMA TROPICAL INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
CINEMA TROPICAL INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 91% · 2020 47% · 2021 67% · 2022 54% · 2023 60% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of CINEMA TROPICAL INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
88% of CINEMA TROPICAL INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $120k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
CINEMA TROPICAL INC has grown faster than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding CINEMA TROPICAL INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $110k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$110k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like CINEMA TROPICAL INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CINEMA TROPICAL INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds CINEMA TROPICAL INC?
- CINEMA TROPICAL INC (New York) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,492,816 to it, the largest being PERSPECTIVE MEDIA INITIATIVES INC ($581,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CINEMA TROPICAL INC have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,492,816 in grants to CINEMA TROPICAL INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CINEMA TROPICAL INC?
- PERSPECTIVE MEDIA INITIATIVES INC is the largest funder on record, with $581,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CINEMA TROPICAL INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Cinema Tropical →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 13 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing