Comments from Sterlingmine5

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Sterlingmine5
Sterlingmine5 commented about Lafayette Theatre on Aug 2, 2016 at 8:05 am

Big Screen Classics Update 1. From 2003 to 2010 the Town of Ramapo helped fund and Promote the Big Screen Classics movie festival working with Nelson and Pete. 2 In 2010 Nelson asked me if the Town could purchase a digital projector for Lafayette use…After much discussion, I was able to convince the Town Bd that it was a worthwhile investment…We purchased the equipment in return for our Classic movie series being fully funded by Nelson’s company, a five year agreement memorialized this. 3 In 2013 Nelson left the business, and the Town was asked by the owner to act as the exhibitor of films at the theater…To keep the theater operational we agreed to do this in return for a small administrative fee.. I quickly found out what being an Exhibitor entailed ….filling out comprehensive credit applications (20 in total), scheduling movies working w our buyer and the draconian studios, coordinating all of the advertising and promotion, developing a social media presence – website, weekly email blast, signing up with groupon etc etc…In total we booked 65 first run movies and all of the Classics.in sum, we kept the ship sailing sans the expertise of Nelson and Pete, I tried my best to keep the theater viable… 3. Shortly before the opening of Star Wars we were informed by the theater ownership that our services wee no longer needed..and that more flexibility in programming was desired and therefore the agreement to screen the Big Screen Classic series would not be renewed. Subsequently as per our initial agreement w Nelson we reclaimed our projector last week. Needless to say I was disappointed after working w the theater for 14 years, but as Willy Loman once said “there are no more long term relationships anymore” This is sad but true. The decision to end the the Town/theater partnership had nothing to do with politics, as most of you who attended the films know the film series was my passion… 4 To date the films for our 15th annual film series have been booked…the venue has not been finalized as of yet…will advise on both soon… Thanks for you ongoing support of our endeavors…please send me an email if you have any questions or suggestions Best Phil Tisi

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