What I Would Do With Anderson's State Theater (part 2), 7-28-2010

 [Continued from What I Would Do With Anderson's State Theater (part 1), 7-28-2010. sch 2/18/23.]

Here is more of what I think can be done with The State Theater:

1. During Anderson's International Festival (if Anderson has not killed the festival) do a Bollywood movie, do a Mexican movie. What about La Dolce Vita or John Woo's The Killer? Start on Friday, price it for individual films or for the whole weekend's run. Tie in with the hotels and the festival.
2. On July 4th: Yankee Doodle Dandy. Okay, I am a Cagney fan, but this is an obvious revival for the 4th. Pair it with another movie along the same lines.
3. Black History Month (or any other History Month) – run documentaries and feature films. Spike Lee and Lee Daniels and just fill in the blanks.
4. Family nights – an explicit tie in with local restaurants. Go to the restaurants and get a family meal, and then come to the theater and get a reduced price on the ticket. Put it up to the Facebook and Twitter followers what the movie should be from a set of possible selections.
5. Halloween! This depends on whether it falls on a weeknight or a weekend. If a weeknight: a movie for teenagers, but even more so for the adults (Carpenter's Halloween and a current second-run might be a good pairing). If a weekend, an early show for the younger kids and their parents (like an old Universal horror movie); later on, shows for the adults (thinking here of Near Dark, the Japanese Grudge, The Howling, something by Hammer; or do it by themes – Friday, ghost; Saturday, vampires; but end with The Rocky Horror Picture Show).
6. Animation. I truly hate most modern animation. Set up for a weekend festival kind of thing, or one day a week. Bugs Bunny to Pixar's stuff. Even anime.
   
7. Christmas. I think there is only one great Christmas movie – the original Miracle on 34th Street – but as we all know, there are too many out there. Or do counter-programming for us who want to escape what is on TV.
8. Have a festival of different actors'films (Eastwood, George Clooney, Elvis).
   

Another category of specialty film might involve traveling over to Muncie, to Ball State's film school. Have a weekend of student films from BSU. Expand and have a festival for Indiana filmmakers.

Outside, I would like a mural on the est side of the building, so the people have something to catch their eye from Jackson Street.

The big idea would be to have fun and give customers that sense of fun.

Having written down this fantasy, I got to say it could work elsewhere. My idea depends on creating a symbiotic relationship between neighboring restaurants and the theater. Going only to the movies and home is not the goal.

The forensic psychiatrist asked what I could see myself doing in 12 years, and I truly could not see a future for myself. I truly do not see myself owning an old movie theater. It is a harmless fantasy for me, but maybe someone else can run with my ideas and do some good.

sch

[While writing this, I did some googling. The International Festival appears to have vanished. Anderson University held a film festival, Anderson University Black Bird Film Festival to Be in Person This Year, which appears to have persisted into last year, Black Bird Film Festival 2022. As for the State Theater, this is from 2019 the latest news I found: City of Anderson buys State Theatre.]