BIG TALES FROM THE
Small Screen
By Andrew Dixon Photos: Jarryd Bravo
I
f you haven’t been to the Mornington cinema yet, you have never really finished your maiden tour. With 3 screens and fully digital technology, Ian McCann will be happy to have you almost any night of the week. It doesn’t take long before you are on a first name basis with the small business owner on Main Street, Mornington. “Honestly, I think a lot of people have been coming here for a very long time. You’ll learn their names sooner or later... it’s an intimate little town.” But Ian wasn’t always so heavily invested with the day-to-day of the business. He held a management position at Channel Ten while his father got the place started… which, by the sound of it, took some effort.
and not stopped, was the grungy Mornington one. It was only four years old yet looked unloved, uninviting, and rather unattractive in general!” So he bought the place, spruced it up a little and, with a little help from his folks, turned a failed Main Street business into a unique and still-successful viewing experience. It proved affirming of Mornington’s hold over Ian and his family’s life. While his mother was born in the former “Bush Hospital,” he and his brethren were raised up in Bentleigh. Wherever he was, Ian has always had a passion for film. Walking through the hallways behind and between his three
“The only time in my life where I’ve ever driven past a theatre
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Spring 2015
E ssence | 65
PENINSULA