[Tonks01]

hey guys, this ones coming from left field i know but this being AVforums (my second home) i thought i would start by asking a few questions here!

im lucky enough to live in christchurch, dorset - where, on the high street we have a small cinema (recently refurbished) its really an old school cinema, two tiers, velvet curtains the lot. its as far as i can work out owned by the council, and is completely run by volunteers - iv kept my eye on it since moving here a year ago and i cant help but feel its not getting the most out of it, it shows films that are maybe 5-6 months old, kids films - no real appeal, if it were privately owned it would be closed.

now iv met with a few people to do with the cinema and put forward the idea that classic, or films with a large gathering behind them would work well (the adjacent town, bournemouth has a media/art college) like b movie horror month, tarintino season, classic comedies, star wars trilogy, back to the future.

now i assume these films would be hugely expensive to buy, but i hear there is a group that quite freely lends these films out - i was just wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction and just give me some feedback on my idea.

many thanks

P.S this is the cinema : http://www.regentcentre.co.uk/

[rd9124]

Is there a film club in your town or in a nearby town? It might be a good idea to meet up with them to get a few pointers from like-minded people. I guess thats what you're proposing to set up in which case I'd suggest getting some local support before you start.

I think your idea is great and I hope it works out for you but it definitely needs someone like yourself who's committed to get it up and running. I wish my local film club would show Tarintino season or Star Wars instead of the foreign and locally produced rubbish they show.

[Tonks01]

thanks for your reply! yes will look into local film clubs - im sure the college/uni will also have something.

i cam across this http://www.bfi.org.uk/ , which loans out film reels at a small cost - although i cant find out what they have in their collection.

yeh its something to concentrate on outside of work which is nice, also hoping to volunteer as a projectionist, which is something that iv always wanted to do.

[SeanT]

Originally Posted by rd9124

Star Wars

You can't hire Star Wars if you're a small cinema, unless you're very very lucky and blag it - we tried and tried.

Had some nice kit to play with though, especially the SDDS system!
http://www.filmsoc.warwick.ac.uk/ind...ch%2Ftechnical

[contraste]

Originally Posted by Tonks01

thanks for your reply! yes will look into local film clubs - im sure the college/uni will also have something.

i cam across this http://www.bfi.org.uk/ , which loans out film reels at a small cost - although i cant find out what they have in their collection.

yeh its something to concentrate on outside of work which is nice, also hoping to volunteer as a projectionist, which is something that iv always wanted to do.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/nftva/catalogues/index.php

[Jase Winter]

Originally Posted by SeanT

You can't hire Star Wars if you're a small cinema, unless you're very very lucky and blag it - we tried and tried.

Had some nice kit to play with though, especially the SDDS system!
http://www.filmsoc.warwick.ac.uk/ind...ch%2Ftechnical

Meh, dolby cp500, the bain of my life!

[bluesilver]

Hi, I actually work at Bmth Uni - I think we do have a film club or similar so maybe check out the Student Union as they probably know for sure.

[Canti1982]

I was talking about something similar with my friend, we waned to know if its possible for cinemas to get hold of films that have either not been shown here or that are simply classics.

We we actually hoping to see some of the Studio Ghibli classics like My Neighbour Totoro at the cinema. Classic such as this would bring in quite a lot of people and could really make a small cinema popular.

[pob]

Originally Posted by SeanT

You can't hire Star Wars if you're a small cinema, unless you're very very lucky and blag it - we tried and tried.

Had some nice kit to play with though, especially the SDDS system!
http://www.filmsoc.warwick.ac.uk/ind...ch%2Ftechnical

When I was cheif projectionist at Warwick filmsoc, we showed Star Wars Ep 4, 5 & 6 when they were re-released, but afterwards I heard that Fox were not happy that a student cinema had managed to get the prints.

As information for the OP - we used to get our film prints by booking through an agent (Troy Film Agency - don't know if it still exists). From memory I think a 35mm film print rental for 1 showing was £80-£100. Excluding Star Wars and certain Disney animations, getting hold of any film was really easy. There is a massive warehouse in Perivale, London that keeps a 35mm copy of pretty much every film released. The prints would get shipped to us a couple of days before our intended showing and expect them back a couple of days after. I remember showing 'Casablanca' and was amazed that we had a print dating back to 1942. The print was okay, but the metal cases were a bit rusty.

Cheers

Phil

[SeanT]

Originally Posted by pob

When I was cheif projectionist at Warwick filmsoc, we showed Star Wars Ep 4, 5 & 6 when they were re-released, but afterwards I heard that Fox were not happy that a student cinema had managed to get the prints.

I assume this was since 2004 when I left the soc? Fair play if so, was always told it was impossible! Alas, I've ended up back at Warwick again after a few years holiday (it's like I never left!)

[pob]

I was at Warwick between Sept 94 and July 98. We showed the Star Wars Special Editions, not long after they were released (97?).

[SeanT]

Ah, I see, well before my time - the consensus must have been that we weren't likely to be getting them again, around the time of the other three films coming out.

[Alien370mm]

I’m in your area not far from Christchurch, over at Kingson. I applied for volunteer at the Regent centre as I’ve worked for two cinema sites in the past UCI and Warner Village cinemas. Yet with two calls to the Regent and no answer says one thing they’re ether got a full tech crew, but tech crews come and go and I’m secularly located and yet no answer from them. How rude can one get in not calling back?

Remember the drive-in cinema in the area that started at Queens park I think then moved down to Boscombe seafront in the car park. I helped the guy down there for short brief last week if I recall, because he was going to pack it in after the season finished this was back around July or August 1998.

[norliss]

Originally Posted by rd9124

I wish my local film club would show Tarintino season or Star Wars instead of the foreign and locally produced rubbish they show.

Star Wars and Tarantino films made in Britain then, were they?

[fearlessturk]

You wouldn't be able to get a hold of Star Wars, unless it gets a nationwide re-release. You'd be better off buying the DVD and projecting that.