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She eventually moved to America to pursue a professional golfing career, met her husband Charlie and had three children. She returned to New Zealand in 2020. During Covid, the couple scratched their heads about what to do professionally. Why not buy the cinema, Prince thought. And so they did in 2022.
The old cinema building was condemned because of earthquake risk two years after they took over the business. Leaving the building behind was a bitter moment for Prince.
They found a former veterinary clinic with high ceilings that was perfect for a cinema. Starlight opened in its new location in March. Most of the sessions across the three cinema rooms are sold out.
“I tell everyone, ‘You’ve got to book. You’ve got to book. You can’t just roll up.’”
The opening of the new location of the Starlight Cinema.
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Dark clouds have swirled around the cinema industry for years. First, it was the wide adoption of TV and movie streaming services in the 2010s. Covid put a few more nails in the coffin of cinema, as did the apparent isolation of young people into their phones. But someone is yet to inform dozens of independently owned cinemas in rural and regional New Zealand that business is bad. Many are thriving.
This story started out as a tip from actor Sam Neill when he mentioned to RNZ that rural cinema is having a revival. Ant Timpson, a film programmer and director, agrees. He is seeing a wave of new owners taking a risk with fresh ideas across the country.
Inside the Geraldine Cinema with its vintage couches.
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“It feels like we’re slowly crawling back to a really good place and that it’s not like, you know, it’s not all home runs, but it’s a lot healthier than it was a while ago.”
There’s the Wall and Basement Cinema in Rotorua with a unique business model that combines rock climbing and film. The NBS Theatre in Westport is helped along by community working bees and indoor sports as well as film screenings. On an island that is a 40-minute boat ride from Auckland, Waiheke Cinema patrons sit on a collection of vintage sofas and enjoy French film festivals.
Inside one of Starlight’s new screening rooms.
Geraldine Gawith Photography & W
The cinemas that are doing well, rural or otherwise, tend to be independently owned, where the owner-operator is using creativity with offerings that go beyond film, says Timpson. This includes food and drink themed to the movie that is showing. There’s also that personal interaction with customers when the owner is also the person selling you a ticket and handing out popcorn, he says.
The cinema industry was also desperate not to lose that younger audience, and chatter about seeing films the old way on social media had helped, says Timpson, whose brother owns the Hollywood, a heritage-listed cinema in Auckland. They’re interested in rescreening cult classics as well as the new films, he added.
Here’s how three other regional and rural cinemas are making it work:
Isaac Jones, 40, doesn’t remember the films he saw at Geraldine Cinema when he was a teenager. However, he does remember critiquing what the cinema could improve. So, he finds it ironic that he can now make those changes as the new owner of the business. A cinema has operated almost continuously for 100 years in Geraldine’s town hall.
Jones took over the business last year with the plan to mix it up with live music, DJ sets and seminars. He is in talks to bring a local cafe and record store into the building.
“If it doesn’t work out the way I’d like it for what I was putting into that, I would be happy enough to satisfy my curiosity rather than it being ‘what if? ” says Jones.
Isaac Jones DJing a set at the Geraldine Cinema.
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Within an hour of the previous operator handing over the keys, Jones had a line out the door for a screening of Tina, the acclaimed local film about a high school choir conductor. The Bats, a cult indie rock band, played at the cinema August with fans coming from around the country. It is open Saturday and Sunday each week, with committed regulars and tourists filling the vintage couch seating.
“I’m now considering that cinema as a bit of a hobby business, or secondary income,” says Jones.
Inside Apollo Lincoln, a 15-seat cinema.
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In Lincoln, a quaint but growing town on the Canterbury plains, you will find a rustic brewpub called the Laboratory. In the Laboratory, you will find Apollo, a 15-seat boutique cinema.
The cinema was added to the business in 2019. It took some convincing for film distributors to greenlight screenings of the biggest and latest releases in such a small space, wrote current owner Leigh Drewitt, in an email to RNZ. The film and the pub had a strong bounce back after Covid, he added.
The Laboratory is a brew pub that has a 15-seat cinema called Apollo Lincoln.
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“The cinema has grown in popularity every year since its inception, proving that cinema is a much desired form of entertainment, socialising and connection amongst the community.”
The small size means it has been popular for private events, including children’s birthday parties, according to Drewitt, calling the venue “a vibrant and quirky community hub”.
Cineverse in Hastings.
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The cinema in Hastings was a big part of Prabhi Dugh’s childhood, so when the struggling business came up for sale, he bought it last year,
“I figured I could help revive it”
It reopened in August after a renovation, and momentum has been strong with blockbusters such as Marvel’s Fantastic Four: The First Steps and Avatar , as well as Bollywood showings selling out sessions. Momentum has continued with this year’s surprise success of Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling, among other big movies.
There are cheap Tuesdays for those who join the Cineverse VIP club with $14 tickets. There are special senior mornings with coffee and scone deals. Private events make use of the Art Deco building’s grand foyer. The cafe brings in more people with toasted sandwiches, salt and pepper squid and breakfast sandwiches, which can be eaten in the cafe or in the cinema.
“You can have all these things without having to watch a movie, which is why I think it’s done a lot better because it’s not just a movie hub.”
Prabhi Dugh, the owner of Cineverse in Hastings.
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