Final Reel for Windermere?
Back in March, South Windermere Cinemas manager Sandra Purro was feeling the pinch of high bills and low profit margins. It wasn’t easy for her to cover a four-figure A/C repair bill with $3-per-ticket sales.
A friendly group of neighborhood moviegoers took it upon themselves to pitch in, holding a fundraiser with a silent auction to help defray the A/C costs. The night was a success and the theatre stayed frosty through the summer, but it seems that it wasn’t enough to save West Ashley’s family run movie house.
Purro’s only employee, her son Michael Jr., has helped out at South Windermere since his mother and late father leased the property in 2001. He’s 13 now, and Sandra Purro has decided to free up his time by closing the theater at the end of this month.
Ironically, this is occurring right when the Terrace Theater on James Island is changing hands; Marcie Marzluff recently sold it to Michael Furlinger. One of South Windermere’s bugbears was the alleged stranglehold the Terrace had on art films, leaving the West Ashley cinema with a limited choice of second-run films and lesser-known indies. Things might have changed with Furlinger now in charge. But all that’s moot if South Windermere does close its doors for good. —Nick Smith
Not Another 48 Hours
A local version of the 48 Hour Film Project has been postponed until 2008, a mere week before it was due to start.
The national initiative gives filmmakers 48 hours to make a short movie, working with a prescribed character, prop, and line of dialogue. A team can be as small as one person, rolling the camera then running in front of it to act; the largest team so far has been a 70-strong group in Atlanta. Top prizes include countrywide DVD distribution, festival screenings, and awards for the best shorts.
Justin Nathanson, organizer of last year’s ChasDoc film festival, has spent several months drumming up interest for a first-ever Lowcountry version. He says there simply weren’t enough takers to make it viable this year.
“We were looking for 18 teams, and Charleston didn’t meet that goal,” he says. “We didn’t even get half. I’m bummed, and so are the other teams that did sign up.” Nathanson partly blames the fractured local film community for the disappointing numbers. Or maybe at the moment it’s just too damned hot to spend a weekend rushing around making movies. —Nick Smith
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