OLDS — Blitz, the Mountain View Film Group’s (MVFG) last film of the season, will be shown April 27 as originally scheduled after all.
The organization shows films each season at Mayfair Cinema in Olds via the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF). However, in early April Mayfair Cinema owner Tish Cassidy informed the group that she was closing her business after a projector broke down.
The business has been up for sale for a couple of months now.
After an emergency meeting, the MVFG decided to cancel the showing of Blitz.
On April 9 though, during an interview with the Albertan, Cassidy announced that the projector was being repaired with the help of a technician.
“They also have another projector similar to ours that they are willing to let me (have). That is really fantastic, she said. “I want to cry.”
That led members of the group to change their minds and look at showing the film after all.
In an April 14 email, Jo Anne Goyette, who coordinates MVFG showings, announced that all the hurdles had been overcome and the film is a go.
“We have the movie, Blitz, rebooked for our original date and times,” Goyette wrote.
In an earlier email, Goyette was not so certain the film could indeed be shown because that was dependent on the projector specs. That information had to be sent to and approved by the TIFF Film Circuit.
Goyette said she's hopeful they'll still get a good crowd despite all the uncertainty about whether the film would be shown or not.
"I hope we don't lose viewers. Hopefully they understand that this was beyond our control. We were told one thing, acted upon that and then things unexpectedly changed,"she wrote..
Cassidy told the Albertan that “some absolutely amazing, wonderful fellow independent cinema owners” saved the day by arranging for a technician, who was already scheduled to work in other Alberta locations check out the projector issue in Olds.
However, during the interview with the Albertan, Cassidy said fixing the projector wouldn’t change her overall plan to sell Mayfair Cinema.
“Unfortunately, I have to with my husband's passing. I just can't run it myself,” Cassidy said. Dean Cassidy passed away last November.
In December, 2022, Louise Craig, who owned the cinema along with husband Jack Craig for more than 35 years, sold the business to the Cassidys.
Cassidy said she shares her husband’s passion for old movie theatres.
“I've been trying to limp it along as long as I can on my own,” she said, but she just found it to be too much.
“I have to sell the cinema because of the business loan. With Dean's passing, I basically have to pony up half of the remaining loan, which I can't do unless I sell the cinema. So, yeah, so that has to happen,” she said.
Cassidy, who lives in Carstairs, has a day job. She works at a pipe manufacturer.
Cassidy said since the cinema went up for sale there have been some expressions of interest, but no formal offers.
“In all fairness, I mean, it has been the slow season, January to March. Any cinema will tell you that that's the dead season.
“So now that hopefully it has projector going and Minecraft in the summer starting, people see exactly how great of a business it is; not just passion project, but it's actually feasible business,” she said.
Cassidy was asked if she feels sad about having to sell the business.
“I feel very upset about it, of course,” she said.
Goyette struck a hopeful tone.
“Up until this hiccup, we have had a wonderful year, with a variety of great films, enthusiastic new volunteers and the best film-loving audiences,” she wrote.
“We are really looking forward to the theatre being purchased, at which time we will start up again.”
“We're hoping that this is not a death notice for the film group,” MVFG president Ross Dabrusin said. If someone buys it, we hope to keep going.”
MVFG member Doug Shaw was one of the founding members of the MVFG.
He said the idea for a group to show independent films in the community dates back to around the time the concepts for the new high school and the Community Learning Campus were proposed.
Shaw said they lost about $30 when they showed their first film, which he said, “wasn’t too bad.”
That encouraged the group to try a full season.
“I think at the end of the first year, we were down 100 or 200 bucks or something like that. So came close to breaking even. Then we got more and more people involved that kind of grew it from there,” he said.
It was suggested that perhaps the MVFG could show their films in the TransCanada Theatre. Shaw agreed with Dabrusin that that’s too expensive.
“Probably our cost would be about three times higher. We wouldn't be able to do it there,” Shaw said.
It was jokingly suggested that maybe some MVFG members might want to pool their funds to buy the Mayfair Cinema.
“Hopefully,” Shaw said. “It's not anyone I talked to so far, but you never know.”
He noted that community groups in some other small Alberta towns have launched projects to revive old movie theatres.
“But you know, it's a tough go for that, for any kind of theatres, even the big new ones,” he said.
He noted that the Princess Theatre in Edmonton, which used to show independent films also shut down, “so that's not a very promising sign.”
Goyette recommended that those who want to stay informed about the MVFG sign up for their newsletter which is available via their website.
