Cinema fans
lamented the loss of the art house multiplex Carlton Cinema when it closed last November, and rejoiced when Edmonton-based Magic lantern cinemas announced
they'd reopen it.
Those fans will be
treated to a weekend of free movies June 30 and July 1, as the promised reopening finally occurs. According to Magic Lantern President Tom Hutchinson, the renovation cost in the neighbourhood of $1.5 million, an update on a multiplex that many said was too cramped for current moviegoing trends. But that's par for the course for his company in Toronto. "We've been kind of dealing with other people's castoffs, which is a little more fun for me," he says. He doesn't much care for "the big-screen experience" that gets so much of the emphasis in the cinemas built today by major chains -- large big-box outlets usually in the suburbs. "When I go to the movies, I like to see a story. At the Carlton, the screens are small -- its not 50-foot screens, but its a different experience, an art house."
Since quietly arriving in the GTA in 2001 under the banner
Rainbow Cinemas, the chain has converted four former mall multiplexes in the GTA into first-run neighbourhood movie houses that offer prices that are often less than half what the major chains charge. According to Hutchinson, its been a successful business strategy so far.
Hutchinson says the newly reopened Carlton will employ four full-time staff and is in the process of hiring 20 part-timers.
Writer: Edward Keenan
Source: Tom Hutchinson, President, Magic Lantern Theatres
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