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The latest movie theater news and updates
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October 2, 2008
ABBA Movie Musical saves theater
MONMOUTH, WALES — The hit movie musical “Mamma Mia!” has saved the oldest theater in Wales from closing.
Record audiences have packed the 400-seat, 150-year old Savoy Theatre during the film’s two-week run bringing in enough money to keep the theater open well in 2009.
Previously, the Savoy Theatre Development Trust had announced that the theater would have to close due to a lack of revenue. On some nights, there were not even enough people to cover the electricity bills.
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Police Patrol closing theater
SAN BERNARDINO, CA — The San Bernardino Police Department enhanced patrols around the CinemaStar movie theater this weekend as the mayor’s office received reports the theater was on the verge of shutting down.
None of the theater employees had been told about the pending closure and a woman identified as the manager told the reporter he would have to leave if he continued talking to employees.
The operator has been in bankruptcy and the city had been negotiating for months to get a new operator for the theater.
You can read more in the San Bernardino Sun.
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Nepal Theaters protest cinema tax
NEPAL — Movie theaters across the country were closed last Monday to protest a tax the Chinese-backed government plans to placed on the film industry.
In the past, the tax had only been placed on foreign films being brought into Nepal for screening. But now the government wants to expand the tax to the entire community.
In addition, film producers and actors staged a one-hour sit-in protest in front of the Nepal Film Development Board. They warned of further protests if the decision is not rescinded.
You can read more at NepalNews.com.
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Wanted equipment
We need the folowing items for a theater, used, not in use, donation/buy. It does NOT have to be the brand listed, and does NOT have to match perfectly.
Send an email and thanks. Need asap.
Projector Room
1 – 3 Level Platter
1- Make Up Table
1 – ORC 4500 watt console with power supply9Rebuilt)
1 – Simplex XL
1 – Simplex Sound Head with Comp Eng. Reader
1 – Smart Power Amp
1- CD Player
1 – Sky Master 2 FM transmitter
4 – 3 way outdoor speakers -
October 1, 2008
Indian multiplexes bringing diversity to film business
Indian single-screen theaters are being replaced by Amercan-style multiplexes. The Hindu has an article detailing how this move has brought diversity to the Indian film industry, crowding out local films.
The closing of all those grand old single-screen talkies marked the end of a certain kind of movie-going culture in India that existed up to the ‘90s. Going to a movie was a thrilling, singular experience then. Those were the days when you had to stand in a long queue to get a ticket. You came an hour and half before the show. Standing in the queue, you came across regulars. That was what was so cool about the whole thing: you stood there talking to a total stranger about a movie that both of you saw the last time you were here.
However, multiplexes have also allowed American films to gain a foothold.
Did you notice how all the English movies that play in these multiplexes now are only Hollywood? And the drama as a genre is mostly missing — what plays now is only action, romance, comedy, and horror.
You can read more at theHindu.
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Lights! Camera! Northern Brooklyn!
WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN, NY — A new theatre is sprouting up in the Williamsburg-Greenport area with a unique setup. It will be built beneath condos in a retrofitted warehouse.
Since 2002, Williamsburg-Greenpoint has lived without a movie theater. The absence is especially surprising given the area’s history of film exhibition: At one point, the neighborhoods boasted six movie theaters in less than five square miles. But since the 1950s, the theaters have been slowly disappearing, converted to other uses or demolished.
“If you’re making some amount of money showing movies there,” said Patrick Crowley, the co-founder of cinematreasures.org, a Wikipedia-like site devoted to cinema preservation, “and a developer says, ‘I can give you a ton of money to have development on top of the theater,’ then it’s hard to say no to that.”
Read more in the Observer.
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Strand 100th Birthday Party!
BROCKPORT, NY — Brockport is celebrating the centennial of the second oldest motion picture venue in America. The Strand Theater and its predecessor, the Lyric, in downtown Brockport’s Winslow Block have been projecting movies continuously since August 15, 1908.
To celebrate this event, the Greater Brockport Development Corp. has organized a two-day vintage movie festival, Friday and Saturday, October 17-18. Films from 1910-1916 and 1946 will be projected with leading experts as hosts and commentators. A Champagne Gala will conclude the festivities Saturday evening. All activities will take place in the Strand, 89 Main Street.
Patrick Loughney, head motion picture curator at the George Eastman House, will host the Friday session, 7-9 pm, showing selected films and discussing the early movie industry. The 10-12 am session Saturday will be devoted to the history of movie theaters in upstate New York. Norman O. Keim, co-author of “Our Movie Houses: A History of Film and Cinematic Innovation in Central New York”, will host the first hour and Karen Colizzi Noonan, President of the Theater Historical Society of America, the second half.
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The 25th Anniversary of “Brainstorm”
Twenty-five years ago today, “Brainstorm” was released. The film starred Christopher Walken, Cliff Robertson and Natalie Wood in her final role, and at the time was the industry’s largest exclusive 70-millimeter format launch of a motion picture.
Twenty-five years ago, “Brainstorm”, Douglas Trumbull’s “Ultimate Experience”, was released to movie theatres. Though the film was not a box-office success, it is remembered for its effective large-frame cinematography and sound design, and for its interesting take on futuristic technology.
Read the full story at in70mm.com.
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September 30, 2008
Independent Films on life support
A recent article in The Australian pointed out that there have not been any breakout independent films this year. They claim that the major studios quickly getting into the indie film business and subsequently closing their indie divisions, has harmed the market.
The festival circuit this year has yet to identify an art-house or independent break-out hit. David Stratton describes last week’s Venice film festival as “the most disappointing program in many years”.
The upcoming Academy Award season seems bereft of “little films that could”, and studio specialty arms are closing: Time Warner has closed Picturehouse, Warner Independent and Paramount Vantage have been absorbed into their parents, and boutique distributor ThinkFilm is fending off creditors and lawyers.
You can read more at The Australian.
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Controversy swirls around plans to reopen Jumbo Theatre
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Neigbhorhood residents are concerned about plans to restore and reopen Philadelphia’s Jumbo Theatre.
“The community hasn’t been given enough say in all of this,” the legislator said later. “They’ve got some serious concerns that need addressing.”
Among those concerns, residents say, are issues of parking, noise, capacity and late-night drunkenness.
“The venue could become a virtual nightclub, with people staying and drinking after the shows and then spilling out at 2 a.m. when they’re drunk and rowdy,” said Manny Citron, director of the neighborhood advisory committee of the New Kensington Community Development Corp.
Read the full article in the Philadelphia Daily News.