"With the impending closure of the Regal Cinema next week, residents and visitors of Miami Beach will have no movie theater serving them---other than O Cinema South Beach at Historic City Hall. Traditionally, we have been limited in our ability to showcase newer films as Regal demanded exclusivity from distributors but also, due to our lack of the industry-standard DCP (Digitial Cinema Package) equipment, we were unable to show many films from larger distributors. Up to this point, we have had to rely on getting films after their initial release and when (and if) they become available for our exhibition system. Installing the DCP equipment has been cost-prohibitive for us to this point.
The cost of outfitting the theater with DCP is about $70,000. In order to do so, we need the city's support in funding the expense. Given Regal's exit from the city, there is both an opportunity and a need here that O Cinema is uniquely positioned to quickly fulfill with the city's support. By doing so, we can make certain that residents and tourists alike will continue to have access to seeing new and exciting films in a theater without leaving the island. I believe this could be transformational for our organization, build upon the strong work we've already been doing, and bring more people to the Washington Avenue corridor to enjoy accessible art and culture- and patronize local restaurants and businesses as most theatergoers do when they leave.
thank you,
Kareem
--
O CINEMA
Kareem Tabsch
Co-Founder/ Board Member
kareem@o-cinema.org
pronouns: he/him/his
MIAMI'S HEADQUARTERS FOR INDEPENDENT, FOREIGN, & ART FILMS