Above all, employees at each independent cinema are determined that their theater will not be left behind. The HFA currently has no plans to install digital projectors (given the size of their existing film collection, it is not a grave necessity), but the Somerville and the Coolidge have both undergone partial conversions and are now equipped for both digital and film projection.
The Brattle is currently fixing to follow in its peers’ footsteps. Hinkle described the roughly $80,000 required to install a digital projector as an “unmanageable” amount of money for the Brattle to come up with on its own. Consequently, the theater has turned to Kickstarter, a fundraising company that provides projects in need of capital a platform for collecting pledges. As of yesterday, the campaign has collected pledges amounting to 57,533. The goal is to raise $140,000 to pay for both a digital projector and a new heating and air-conditioning system by the time the campaign concludes on February 28. Due to Kickstarter’s all-or-nothing policy, pledges will only be brought to bear if this goal is met. But Hinkle is excited about the direction of the campaign so far. “The response has been very good…. Some Twitter celebrities have gotten behind us a little bit…. We’re very optimistic about being able to reach the number,” he says.
COME TOGETHER
Hinkle is also confident about the future of moviegoing in general. He may be on the fence about digital projection; he may bear no great love for Netflix. But on the whole, his is a fountain-drink-half-full philosophy.
“I used to be a real film purist; up until about two years ago [digital projection] really rubbed me the wrong way,” he says. “But what it comes down to for me is, properly projected, whether it’s film or digital, a movie is still magical, and seeing a movie in a theater is still a transporting experience…. It’s really seeing the movie on the big screen, in an audience, that makes the impact.”
Kasell is similarly sanguine. She believes firmly that “movie magic” is alive and well. What’s more, she is confident of its ability to endure as technology progresses. “While we can stream everything in our homes, and I watch at least one movie a night at home...sitting in your living room alone or with your family is not the same as gathering with 440 people or 240 people or even 40 people,” she says. The environment created by the theater itself, Kasell suggests, is what matters.
Digital, traditional—there is no mention of the mediums of projection in these theaters’ missions, because their goals have far more to do with their atmospheres and customer relations. Kasell suggests that the relationship between theater and audience is what will maintain the appeal of independent theaters. “Everybody knows that we’re not here to take your money; everything that we do stays within the community,” she says. “What I’m really talking about is the communal experience.”
—Staff writer Emma R. Adler can be reached at emmaadler@college.harvard.edu.