Press Release:GUERILLA IN OUR MIDST
Date:1 January 2010
Details:Former radio executive Graeme Edwards-Kroot was cooling his heels in Casablanca when a casual surf on the internet revealed an opportunity he couldn't easily pass up.
The Manly Twin Cinema was on the market for the first time in its 18-year history.
After 11 years in the radio industry, most recently as program director for WS FM, the renamed Manly Cinemas' new owner was more than ready to return to his first love 'movies'.
'I came over and started researching the demographics and thought, 'Wow, this is an exciting place with a big future',' he said. 'The more I looked into it, the more it fitted with what I was wanting to do. I had this idea of trying to create a cinema experience for adults that didn't involve continual service of food, where the focus was on the movies and all the staff loved movies.'
He secured the deal and in April started putting his vision into practice for a niche cinema for a predominantly 40-plus audience.
He is happy to fly in the face of warnings about a cinema industry in decline as it struggles to compete with new entertainment options like DVDs and pay-TV. 'You know what, ever since the 1930s doom merchants have said the cinema is obsolete. Every house has a kitchen yet there are more than 70 restaurants within 1km of Manly Cinemas'.
Edwards also draws a distinction between his 'boutique' operation and the big multiplexes.
'When you are at the top end of the market, in big shopping centres, paying top rentals, you've got to get the people through - it's a numbers game. Mine is a small business. I call it the 'guerilla tactic' - we come in under the radar and find a niche in the market where we can control our overheads. 'I see a big niche in the market for the baby-boomers and active retirees who grew up with the movies - they remember the Saturday Matinees - they know the real movie experience, they have spare leisure time, disposable incomes and that's the part of the cinema market where the growth is but is sadly uncatered for'.
Edwards has the background to know what he's talking about. He owned a string of cinemas in his native New Zealand over 25 years after getting his first glimpse behind the scenes of the movie world at 13.
'I used to sneak into the old town hall in our little town of 1000 people and one day after rugby I saw this old man carrying the film cans up to the projection room, so I offered to carry them for him and when he opened the doors to the projection room I saw a whole new world,' he said. 'I'm the boy from Cinema Paradiso who fell in love with the movies'.
'I decided I wanted to know more about this industry, so every Saturday after rugby I used to go down and carry the films up for him.' At that stage it wasn't necessarily the movies that drew him in. 'I just think I liked being able to entertain people. Cinema is very much about sharing an experience with others. I like being able to stand at the back of the cinema during a performance to observe people enjoying the big screen experience.'
SUE HOBAN [Edited]
07jun06
