“A game of Tetris”: The intricate challenge of independent cinema programming
For most independent cinemas, the challenge is balance. You can’t just show the small, independent films that you love, because it is the big releases that attract audiences and keep the cinema running. At the same time, you don’t want only to show popular, marquee films, because that would make you no different from any big cinema franchise.
Owner Gus Berger is responsible for finding this balance at Thornbury Picture House, a tiny hub for film lovers in the northern suburbs. After a stint at London’s DocHouse, a cinema dedicated to documentaries, he returned to Australia and bought a vintage furniture shop in an old deco building in Thornbury. The building had once been one of the first drive-through petrol stations in Melbourne. Berger built a small bar there, put in a cinema screen and decorated it in a cosy, old-fashioned way and opened his doors in 2017.
This is not the only single-screen cinema in Melbourne. The Astor Theatre in St. Kilda is a large, retro-style building that’s been standing there since the 1930s. However, it mostly focuses on cinema classics.
“No one’s doing it like we’re doing it,” Berger tells upstart. “Like a small, intimate, boutique cinema and bar.”
Unfortunately, one challenge with a small space is that there is only room for one screen. This poses several programming challenges.
“It does force you into being quite creative,” Berger says. “And it does force you into planning ahead.”