Page 6 - BusinessWest March 17, 2025

Participating in a Q&A after a screening of The Longest Goodbye are, from left, Amherst Cinema’s George Myers; Jamey Simpson and his mother, astronaut Cady Coleman; and director Ido Mizrahy with his son.
Photo courtesy of Amherst Cinema
Wars fans who had seen it originally, but also a new generation being able to watch that on a large screen for the first time; that was really, really fun,” she said.
“And when you think about what the greater community needs at this time, it’s an opportunity to come in, share the film experience, clap and laugh and applaud and cry and process and grieve. We do
all of that across our screens. That’s why we’re a catalyst for community: we’re here for the community, serving up programs and experiences that are meaningful and memorable.”
From Darkness to Light
Eisenhauer’s first day on the job after accepting the executive director’s role at Amherst Cinema was Jan. 6, 2021 — a meaningful day in the U.S., for sure, but a very quiet one at the movies.
“Our screens were dark, closed to
the public,” she said of those early days, almost 10 months after COVID shuttered public gatherings. “We were doing stream- ing films, but it was very, very clunky. We are not, nor do we aspire to be, a streamer, but it was a group of arthouse theaters who launched a venture to be able to showcase independent films. At the time, we were also doing private theater rentals, one group at a time. People were paying $300 for a theater experience.
“That’s where we were when I came in. Our front-of-house team had been furloughed. Our managers and board were totally burnt out because the pandemic really upended theaters and theatrical exhibitions,” she recalled.
“So one of the first things that I did when I came on board was to try and experiment: let’s do away with private theater rentals because they’re really expensive. It’s a pandemic, when many peo- ple in our community are suffering in all kinds of ways. So let’s take the model, but we’ll rename it small-group screenings, and we’ll charge regular ticket prices and include our member discounts.
It’s still no more than 10 at a time, but we got to open up all of our screens.”
“We survived the pandemic. I mean, that is not a small feat. There are
a lot of cinemas that didn’t survive.”
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6 MARCH 17, 2025
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