Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will be changing things up at his New Beverly Cinema. Tarantino has owned the theater for the past 7 years, but been a fan/patron of the place for a lot longer. And when the theater re-opens in October after a period of renovations, the New Beverly Cinema will make a statement in support of a film medium that is slowly going away – 35mm prints. All movies being shown at the New Beverly will be on film; no digital.
According to Wikipedia:
The ubiquity of 35 mm movie projectors in commercial movie theaters made it the only motion picture format, film or video, that could be played in almost any cinema in the world. However since 2008, the rapid conversion of the cinema exhibition industry to digital projection has seen 35 mm film projectors removed from many projection rooms as they are replaced by digital projectors. As of the end of 2012 only about 30% of cinemas worldwide were still screening current release movies from 35 mm film.
Tarantino is part of a group who are trying to save Kodak movie film. In June of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported that a group of directors, including Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, and J.J. Abrams pushed studio heads into negotiations with the Eastman Kodak Co. According to the WSJ, the plan is to get the studios to agree to purchase a set amount of film from the company for the foreseeable future – whether they plan to use it or not. [WSJ – Movie Film, at Death’s Door, Gets a Reprieve (Subscibers only)]
Fans of the New Beverly Cinemas will find the same double feature format and the same curated movie titles at the little theater on Beverly Boulevard. It’s just that Tarantino will be the one programming the film selection for at least the first three months after the re-opening…many of those coming from his private collection. QT hopes to make the New Beverly a showcase for new 35mm film productions – a place that new directors will aspire to appear.
That will mean that those young directors will have to make film prints a part of their deal with the studios.
Read more:
LA Weekly – Quentin Tarantino on the New Beverly: “After 7 Years as Owner, I Wanted to Make It Mine.”
New Beverly Cinema 7165 Beverly Boulevard Facebook Page Currently closed for remodeling – look for October re-opening
