8 - News Enterprise
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July 28, 2012
Small movie theaters seek grants to enter digital age By Keith Lobdell
keith@denpubs.com ELIZABETHTOWN — Small, local movie theaters are seeking funds that will keep them from becoming extinct. During the July 16 meeting of the Essex County Finance, Tax Reduction and Mandate Relief Committee, board chairman Randy Douglas of Jay asked supervisors to support a consolidated funding application on behalf of the Adirondack Film Society. “It affects all the small movie theaters in all our small towns like Schroon Lake, Au Sable Forks, Queensbury and Lake Placid,” Douglas said. “All the big movie corporations have given the movie theaters 12 to 18 months to convert all to digital. There will be no movies at these theaters without the conversion, so they are applying as a group.” Along with the theaters Douglas mentioned, the grant also applies to the State Theater in Tupper Lake, the Indian Lake Theater and the Strand Theater in Plattsburgh. “It has a huge effect on Main Street America, on the small towns as we try and do things to improve our local downtowns,” Douglas added. “These are hubs in our communities throughout the North Country.” Douglas said that the group was receiving help from Naj Wikoff, who is doing the application for the consolidated grant. “It’s not just about changing the projectors
over to digital technology; you also have to modify the sound systems as well and really, you need to get better screens,” Wikoff said. “The point was really driven home during a discussion at the Lake Placid Film Festival when these local theaters came together.” Wikoff said that the goal of the Adirondack Film Society was not only to help small theaters convert, but to help them thrive. “What we want to do is not only raise the money to help them survive but help them own these projectors outright to get them into a position where they have a better chance to succeed,” he said. “These people often have another job, and they should be able to make a living off of these theaters.” Douglas later said that he has already been working with local representatives to push for funding for these local theaters to make the conversion. “I have been in contact with all of our local representatives and federal senators on the matter,” Douglas said. “There were some that did not even know that this was going on.”
Glen concerns
Glen Drive-In owner Brett Gardner said that it would cost even more money to convert two outdoor projection systems. “We are looking at about 170,000 or more to make the change,” Gardner said. “That is just for the projectors. You are not even talking about the renovations to the projector
rooms and air conditioning that will be needed, which will be another big cost.” Gardner said that he had also heard many concerns voiced about problems with the digital technology for drive-ins. “No drive-in wants to switch to digital,” he said. “This is being pushed down our throats.”
Strand-ed
The Strand Theater in Schroon Lake, which has one screen, is also part of the grant application. The theater is owned by Larry and Liz McNamara, and is the host of the annual Christmas celebration, playing a movie for children. “All of the film companies have been sending out letters about the changeover,” McNamara said. “It will cost us about $100,000 to do the one. We have talked about what we are going to do, should we be a little, independent theater or should we just go ahead and shut down.” McNamara said that the grant is key for the theater to continue to offer films. “If we do not get the grant, then I don’t know what to do,” he said. “Nobody is happy about this unless you are one of the giant multiplexes that have a ton of money.”
Troubled ‘State’
Sally Strasser of the State Theater in Tupper Lake said that the grant would be the main source of funding that would be needed to keep the theater open.
“The profit margin for a theater like ours is very narrow,” she said. “Most of us small theater owners do it more for the love of movies and not for the money. These are mom-and-pop operations that can’t make that kind of money back if we were to take out a loan.” Strasser also said that she was concerned that the new policies seem to hurt smalltown theaters. “A lot of these programs have been set up and have been done for the multiplexes,” she said.
Indian Lake Theater woes
Danielle Shaw, executive director of the Indian Lake Theater, said that getting the grant would ensure that a vein of the community can remain open. “We are a non-profit community theater and for us, we like to be seen as a community resource in general,” Shaw said. “We have a lot of activities here other than movies and if we were forced to close, it is not just closing the theater for movies but as a community gathering space.” Shaw added that she wanted to make sure that people knew what was happening with the small local theaters. “We need to band together and give people the idea of how these communities will be affected if the theaters close,” she said. “That is what this group is doing and we saw this grant application as an opportunity to get some help with the digital conversion.”
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