The End of the Retros at Willow Creek

On August 25th at 10:51am, 9 minutes before my booth shift started, I received word via e-mail that Poltergeist was going to be the last retro film at Willow Creek. This news devastated me beyond words, more than anyone can imagine. I became a bit lightheaded, fiercely mad as hell and needless to say, my fourteen hour work day was about to be entirely ruined. Moments after this news I had contacted Greg. We had a brief phone meeting about how to handle unloading this abrupt information to our fans on facebook. This was a conversation Greg and I thought we wouldn’t have for a very long time, but suddenly it was real.

After the phone meeting, I had to go about my day as if nothing happened. How was I going to do this? The last time I felt this little motivation to work was, well, I can’t remember. That’s telling. But I needed to get work done, so I went ahead. Generally when I set-up film I have a film playing in front of me on my laptop. There’s no irony in my choice for the afternoon, Sidney Lumet’s Network. I felt like Howard Beale in spirit. He expressed my “mad as hell” frustrations -- albeit different specific topic -- so I didn’t get charged up with insane rage and destroy something up in the projection booth. 

In April 2010, there was a chance the Retros would be cancelled; at that time we knew well in advance. I proposed a series of video ideas to Greg, and then started with them. It became known as the "Save the Retros Campaign" You can see all five here: Chapter 1: Action 8 Special Report, Chapter 2: The Fan Support, Chapter 3: The Current Life of Mr. Retro, Chapter 4: Now Playing, and Chapter 5: The Head Projectionist.

So the Question: Why are the beloved Retros being cancelled? There is a digital conversion happening at Willow Creek this fall [and at several other theatres across the nation], and all the focus will be spent on making sure that job is done right. But there’s more to it than that, I presume. As I wrote in e-mails sent out to all the contacts I ever made to help promote the Retros over the last (almost) two years, “While the they [the retros] never did tremendous business in terms of audience, we still had a lot people show up. There was a very strong group of dedicated retro fans. For a lot of us it wasn't about the money earned, but about giving people the chance to see these great (and sometimes not so great) films on the big screen on beautiful 35mm film.” 

For me it wasn’t about money; but I am not a businessman nor the Willow Creek owner, so that’s no-doubt a powerful aspect of the operation. It’s a fact that the Retros made money. I know how much they’ve made since October 2009, but I’m not at liberty to discuss that. The money part is a sore subject with me, as I’ve been the person to promote the Retros in and out of the theatre with absolutely no budget to work with and very little help. 

However, I’m a glass half-full type of guy, so through all the anger and negativity I have toward the Retros ending and the promotional side of business, people always saw the films. When the Retro fans are happy, I am happy. There’s no experience like it. For some they’ll get to see a movie they’ve never seen, for others it’s a chance to witness their favorite movie for the first time on the big screen. 

Is there hope the Retros will ever return? Perhaps. It’s too early to tell. If we can, we’ll experiment with Blu-ray once our digital projectors are up. Films are being archived and converted and transferred to hard-drives, so in theory we could upload that and play it. But there is a feeling missing going digital. The thing is too, keeping at least one 35mm film projector here at Willow would be easy. Very easy. But that’s a whole different topic I’m sure I will discuss at a later point. The thing to remember is that there is always hope, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Positive energy, positive thoughts. That’s what we need.

Please invite your friends and come out for our very last retro show. Poltergeist. Saturday, September 3rd at 11:59pm. We’re placing all our emphasis on this night, as it's series ending presentation of the Retros at Willow Creek.