CINEMA CHAINED

It is every British film-makers dream! A West End release. But let's face the facts there is about as much chance of most film-makers achieving their goal as there is of them wrapping a film on budget.

The sad fact is that there are many movies, and few are chosen. Bad enough that there are only, when all is said and done, only a handful of cinemas in the West End. Even worse, they are largely occupied by foreigners with a lot more financial clout that the average indie dreamer from Manchester. Hence the frequent signs: No Vacancy.

What is one to do? Certainly despair is NOT an option. You don't go into film-making expecting it to be easy.

And increasingly there are a variety of independent cinemas which not only offer lush facilities but also discerning audiences.

Heard of the encouragingly named Genesis in London's other - East - End, for instance? If not, why not let owner / manager Tyrone Walker-Hebborn take you on a tour?

Walker-Hebborn says: "I’ve loved big screen cinema since I was a child, having grown up with mysteriously cavernous ABCs and Odeons where it was a blockbuster thrill just to get inside, let alone to see huge stories, like the first ‘Star Wars’ in Leicester Square.

(Oh, yes, it helped that my parent were devotees, naming me after Tyrone Power and my brother after Spencer Tracy. Thank goodness their idols weren't Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck!)

Yet when I went to America in my twenties, my first multiplex experience left me "wow'ed and kerpow'ed" - it was Batman. Cosseted by the gleaming foyer, massive kiosk, sprawling film choice and plush seats, I suddenly thought this was "The Ideal Cinema Experience" and that the UK's "palaces" were uncomfortable, cold fleapits. Even when I finally had the UK variation some 5 Years later in Slough, I was still a fan, especially warmed by the innovative - actually the re-introduction - of the double 'Love Seat'.

Indeed, I liked the modern multiplex so much that I bought a derelict cinema, the former ABC Empire in Whitechapel, east London (where my mum and dad had done their courting no less) and converted it into a five screener.

The wonderful Barbara Windsor came along on opening night to play hostess, as she had starred in 'Sparrows Can't Sing' which had had its Royal Premier at the Empire.

Trumpet fanfare, please.

Genesis ... a new beginning ... was born!

But by now multiplexes had become overly familiar and I wasn't the only one to doubt whether they could provide the ultimate in cinema, mainly because they lacked history and character.

Sparkle a plenty, yes, but a special feel? Not likely.

And for more and more people the atmosphere, the staff and the films selection - all of which add to the overall ambience - are crucial to their cinema enjoyment.

This is where independents can be more appealing than the majors. By responding more personally and quikcly to the needs of movie fans. Whether they are interested in a rare art film or more heating, we don’t have to hold board meetings and take months to decide, we can get on with it.

At times we have to fight to get hold of certain releases but since we have proved to distributors that our choices will deliver the required ‘bums on seats’ they have been surprisingly forthcoming.

So are independents now the ‘Ideal Cinema Experience’? Well, modern multiplexes still have a enviable lavishness. But the independents' eclectic programming of mainstream, arthouse, independent and foreign films as well as innovative film festivals and commitment to emerging film makers obviously strikes a note with a large and growing audience

www.genesiscinema.co.uk

Reprinted from the June 2005 Premiere issue of Britishfilm-magazine