Art House Movie Theaters Near Me Portland Me Movie Theater
At that place are exploratory rumblings around boondocks about filling a glaring gap in Portland's art earth – a dedicated, indie picture business firm, which is good news for picture enthusiasts. Since "The Movies on Exchange" vacated its Substitution Street digs in 2009 and evolved (with very limited screenings) into "PMA Movies," Portland has been without a true, independent picture show theater.
But is it viable? How do you launch a successful motion-picture show theater in 2013?
Discussions with a couple of local film stewards offer some interesting possibilities, which include a not-profit model or a restaurant/bar/theater model – such as Brunswick's Borderland Cinema. (Whatever the case, at that place's trivial talk about a standalone, film-only, for-profit art theater. That model has gone the way of 35-millimeter prints and ushers.)
Information technology's encouraging to learn that SPACE Gallery co-founder Jon Courtney has met with "a handful" of people virtually a stand-lone theater, and SPACE has had some early discussions most getting behind a dedicated theater.
What might work
I recently spoke with Courtney and Steve Halpert, two of Portland's about qualified experts on indie movie house, about what might work here.
Courtney programs films for SPACE, and Halpert and his wife, Judy, ran the much-missed "Movies" from 1980-2009. Halpert continues to program "PMA Movies," a scaled back effort that has three screenings a week at Portland Museum of Art.
In a perfect globe, both men envision a theater with two (or more) screens. Courtney sees i screening room with 120-150 seats, the other with 75. The 120-seater would feature more-pop films, helping to subsidize the screening of edgier fare in the smaller venue.
By necessity the theater would exist equally some sort of mixed-use facility – for case, with food and booze subsidizing the films. (Hither's hoping a new theater wouldn't mimic the erstwhile, downtown Keystone theater, which featured giant, swiveling, "pleather" recliners, bad nutrient and wait service DURING films.)
Additionally, Courtney envisions that the theater would exist a non-profit, with tax savings and the opportunity to secure grants. Halpert's Movies were a for-profit venture. Only he agrees that a non-profit model might now make sense, since whatsoever fiscal edge would assistance.
There might also exist an opportunity for partnering with local educational organizations. For case, Tyler Johnston, executive director of the Portland Maine Moving picture Festival, wonders if there might exist an opportunity for a theater to function as part of a Portland-based resource eye for an organization such every bit Rockport's Maine Media Workshops.
What it would have
In short, coin, a infinite and experience are the necessary components of sustainable success.
About $1 million for startup costs – roughly estimated by Courtney, who has plenty of art infinite build-out experience.
When talking to locals almost venues, I assumed the need for existing space, with raked flooring, site lines, etc. Interestingly, Courtney said that a new cinema needn't slide into an existing theater and that there are examples of successful theaters (Models Elsewhere) in converted power plants, mills and other repurposed spaces. Without getting into specifics he indicated Portland does have some appropriate spaces.
"Experience" speaks for itself. Running any venue is hard work. Throw a medium in transition into the mix and someone really needs to know what he or she is doing. In full general, the jury is out on the future of indie theaters, which are coming off a menstruum of transition in which they converted from picture show to digital projection.
Finally, it's not a matter of pouring money into a project; it'due south knowing where and how to pour. (For the tape, Steve Halpert says he would exist happy to share this considerable knowledge virtually Portland cinema.)
A picayune history
The rising and fall of Halpert's "Movies" is a function of the development of Portland's cultural life.
When the "Movies" launched in 1976 there wasn't a lot going on in Portland's entertainment landscape. "The Movies" screened films vii days a week – afternoons and evenings. The theater showed a drove of fine art house and classics. Information technology's worth recalling a flick globe before video rentals. The adventure to actually SEE the "Maltese Falcon" or a Woods Allen retrospective was a big deal. "The Movies" was the only game in boondocks.
Somewhen, Portland's entertainment options multiplied, cut into audience; the downtown Nickelodeon Theatre, a Patriot concatenation venue, took note of Halpert's success and programmed artier films, farther cutting into audition. Add in loftier rent, the birth of VCRs, DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming . . . you get the motion picture.
So, today in Portland we are down to three imperfect flick choices:
- Space Gallery, which features a flat flooring and a pole. Courtney says omnipresence averages around 50-90;
- thrice weekly screenings at the "PMA Movies" are a rather sterile experience; buttered Popcorn and Junior Mints don't mesh well with an art museum environment, and security concerns limit screening times to hours the museum is open. In 2012, attendance at PMA was 7,566, upwardly from 7,163 in 2011; and
- the Nick, which features some indie films among standard fair. However, the Nick is never TOO edgy. Yous won't exist seeing a Kenneth Acrimony retrospective whatever time before long.
Thanking those who have kept the flame alive
It is important to note the efforts of a few dedicated people such as Courtney, the Halperts and others responsible for bringing a thoughtful mix of quality films to Portland.
Thank you.
Time will tell if the current rumblings plough into reality. At that place are many moving parts in birthing a new theater, only here'due south to a happy catastrophe.
Models elsewhere
Courtney offered the following examples of intriguing models for a theater. While the calibration of Winston/Salem, Northward.C., and the "other" Portland are much different from our urban center, it is still worth taking a look a what's working elsewhere.
A two-screen model that Courtney likes is the a/perture theater in Winston/Salem, North.C., which features evening screenings seven days a calendar week with additional matinees on Fri, Saturday and Dominicus.
When I asked about a dearth of available downtown theater spaces, Courtney explained that it's not necessary to motion into an existing space. He pointed to the McMenamins theaters in the other Portland as examples of converting intriguing existing spaces into theaters. McMenamins has theaters in a former school, power plant, poor farm. The theaters features an eclectic mix, with Fast & Furious half-dozen playing aslope "Roman Vacation."
Courtney points to Columbia, Missouri'due south Ragtag Picture palace as a non-profit model. Ragtag, epicenter of the thriving True/Simulated Festival, features a bakery and 9th Street Video (Columbia's answer to our own VideoPort.)
While in Portland'southward population ballpark, Columbia is the quintessential Midwest college boondocks with 34,000 students downtown at the Academy of Missouri. Throw in the profs and y'all have, a short walk abroad, a fix-made audience with a bit of free time and a thirst for amusement.
Source: https://www.creativeportland.com/blog/search-new-indie-film-theater-how-it-might-work-here