KEEPING SILVER SCREEN ALIVE

"The Council needs to understand Management and Business planning if The Regal is not to become a beautifully restored white elephant,”

THE REGAL Cinema in Tenbury is hoping to put its recent problems behind it and is looking ahead to the challenge of reaching out to a new generation of film fans.

Hopes are high for a box officebusting New Year as statistics show that people are going to the pictures more often to help lift the recession blues.

But looking further ahead, new technology will be a real challenge for the future of the cinema.

David Hambleton, one of the volunteers who runs the cinema, which is owned by Tenbury Town Council, said that information from local and national research is being used to help plan for the future.

The cinema has recently started showing films again after being shut down for two months whilst a problem with the heating system has been resolved.

Mr Hambelton defended the closure because he says a previous survey had shown that inadequate heating at The Regal has been a problem in the past.

“It is important that we make sure it is right because if people come along and have a bad experience, it will be doubly hard to get them back.”

He said that statistics show that the majority of people who use the cinema are from an older age group.

“We recently did our own survey at The Regal that showed that 21 per cent of our audience is under the age of 30 with 73 per cent between 40 and 80 years,” he said.

“This leaves just six per cent in the 30 to 40 age group, probably the group with the responsibility for young children.”

Mr Hambleton said the picture across the country is of growing cinema attendance.

“In the past year, 32.3 million people went to the cinema at least once, up from 31m in 2008 and 30.5m in 2007,” he said.

“I have been researching The Regal and the industry over the years and I remain optimistic about the future. These things go in cycles and people have been predicting the demise of the cinema since the 1930s.”

But he said one of the biggest challenges in the years ahead for The Regal and other small cinemas is the switch to digital.

“Digital films are the future and, as time goes by, fewer movies will be distributed on an old-style film format.

“It is not a worry for the immediate future but looking longer term is an issue as there will be a need to fund new technology.”

He said a top quality digital projection system could cost up to £80,000.

“It is not an issue for the big cinema groups where it is an investment but a real challenge for places like the Regal,” said Mr Hambleton.

He has already had talks with a trade association for small cinemas in a bid to see how a move to digital projection could be funded.

“As a successful voluntary organisation providing cinema in Tenbury for the benefit of the community we hope to be able to seek funding to meet the digital age,” added Mr Hambelton.

“Tenbury Town Council has recently endorsed the appointment by Neville Topping of a heritage access officer to make the case for National Lottery money to restore the murals in the cinema and carry out essential maintenance work.

“The Heritage Lottery Fund committee awarded the town council a first round pass of £675,100 which included a development grant of £58,200 which the Town Council is in the process of spending.

“But the council needs to understand management and business planning, essential if The Regal is not to become a beautifully restored white elephant,” warned Mr Hambelton The Cinema Exhibitors’ Association has established the UK Digital Funding Group to help secure finance to allow small and medium-sized UK cinema operators to purchase digital equipment.

Mr Hambleton attended a meeting early in December to discuss funding for digital technology.

By Adrian Kibbler  Ludlow & Tenbury Wells  Advertiser