Wil Andruschak

How long have you worked at the Plaza?

Two years from ’99 to ’01 and then from 2007 until ’11.

I saw an article that the Gauntlet wrote a while ago in which you mentioned that you’d be at the Uptown for the rest of your career. What happened?

Can we stick to questions that are positive and regarding the Plaza? It’s about the Plaza more than me. I’m just stepping down and taking a career opportunity up in Edmonton.

For sure. During your tenure at the Plaza, how many movies have you screened?

I don’t know. It’s hard to put my mind into reverse because it’s so forward right now. Jesus. I don’t know. Many. We had the 75th anniversary last year, and we had shown over 20,000 films in those 75 years. Let me just do the math. In the 76 years that the Plaza’s been open, over 20,000 films. In the six years I’ve been involved, I’ve booked over 1,500.

What is your process for finding films?

Quality. That’s the number one criteria. We just try to continue the reputation for screening quality films at the Plaza. It’s a somewhat friendly competitive market in Calgary, so you basically knock on doors to try to get the films that are showing up in other cities — New York, L.A., Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal — before they come to Calgary. You choose what you know your theatre’s philosophy is, which is just showing quality films of all genres. It’s basically art house. You knock on the doors of distributors, and hope for the best.

How long have you been watching film?

The very first film I remember seeing is 2001: A Space Odyssey. My older sister wanted to go see it, so I went along. It wasn’t my first film, but it’s the first one I remember. To answer that question, I’ve always been a fan. The film that got me thinking about exploring more into the world of cinema was Cinema Paradiso, and then I just sort of backwards fell into a career with it.

How exactly did you fall into the role of managing and programming?

I finished college on Vancouver Island, was out of work and applied and got hired as a manager and projectionist in the Landmark chain, which owns the Globe. I moved to Calgary 16 years ago to manage the Globe. What peaked my interest was the programming side of things and I managed to steer my career towards programming and theatre management.

Is there a specific genre of film that stands out to you more than others?

Edgy comedy and thrillers. I like independent, and yet the number one rule of programming for a public movie theatre is never always program what you like. You have to be broad-minded, which is where it gets into the all-genre. I’ve always had a liking for the crazy mind-twisting films like Memento and such films. And comedies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Big Lebowski.

About one per cent of all films shown in Canadian theatres are Canadian films. Is there anything the Plaza is doing to boost that number, or does it come completely back to the quality?

Of course you want to champion your own country. There are many good films. There’s no CanCon in the film exhibition industry, but we do our part by showcasing dozens and dozens of Calgarian and Albertan films. We love having all the film festivals here, which also have strong Canadian content. There is a CanCon there, in a way, because by writing grants as a non-profit you have to have a certain amount of Canadian. We try to showcase the best of Canadian cinema that is available through the distributors. I’ve never worked out the percentage, but I’m satisfied with the fact that we always show quality. We have probably the highest percentage in Calgary of Canadian films being shown here, and the highest percentage of those is the locals.

How did you end up getting the job in Edmonton?

I was headhunted. There was a big-time opportunity up there. I have lots of contacts and friends up in Edmonton in the film community there. I’ll just stress that it’s a career opportunity.

What’s the theatre?

Metro Cinema. I’ll be the programmer and manager. Actually, what’s kind of cool about that is, long story short, the Metro is Edmonton’s cinematheque for the past 30-plus years and they’ve been in a small downtown theatre. A similar theatre in Edmonton, which is what the Plaza is to Calgary, is the Garneau, which is a historical art house theatre. In August, the Metro will be moving into the historical Garneau. There’s a story in that almost. It’s a very exciting opportunity.

Something I noticed in some of the interviews done with you in the past was people always ask you about your favourite event, which you’d usually answer with the Blair Witch night in ’99. Were there any events you hosted at the Plaza that were disappointing or with a lesser crowd than expected?

Three hundred and sixty-four days a year. I put some thought into it, and I got the Blair Witch one. But I’ve got a few of other favourites that I can streamline. We had an Art Bergmann night with the screening of Hard Core Logo in 2000. The story there is that Bergmann had a five-second cameo in the actual film. We contacted his agent, and they were coming through to play at the Republik. We snagged him to come. We were planning to stop the film five minutes in when his image was on the screen and then spotlight him as he walked out onto the stage to play a few songs. Art, in his usual style, didn’t arrive on time for that scene, but he strolled in with his guitar just as the end credits were rolling. He chucked down four or five beers and went onstage. That was brilliant because he was top of his game then.

We had Malcolm McDowell last year introducing A Clockwork Orange 35 mm and taking Q&A for 45 minutes afterwards, answering questions about Kubrick and the set.

This year, we had a fundraiser during the Calgary Underground Film Festival for the local filmmaker who’s doing Burlesque Assassins. Through that, we had 10 of the world’s best burlesque performers on our stage, which was just amazing. Hats off to all the Calgary burlesque performers, but these were the best in the world. It was incredible. And the dressing room was a lot of fun.

How did that come to be?

The filmmaker, Jonathan Joffe, contacted us about doing a fundraiser because all of the performers were going to be actors in his film shot in Calgary. We’re talking performers from all over the world: from Italy, Berlin, L.A. and San Francisco. They agreed to do one night to fundraise for the film. Calgary Underground Film Festival agreed to have it as part of the fest. Their only night off during the month-long shoot was to perform onstage. What a party. That was just back in April.

Other highlights are just total involvement with the Underground Film Fest for the eight years of their existence and every $100 Film Festival.

Who’s going to be taking over from you?

It’s a transition in management, so we fully expect that the Plaza will continue to roll as it has for 76 years, if one can put it in that context. The owner will be making announcements once everything has completed its transition.

So is June 30 your last day?

Yup.

And when do you start in Edmonton?

July 1st.

Do you have any final parting words?

The best part of working at the Plaza has been the team here, the co-workers and all the interaction with the film community as well as just being in Kensington. When they say location, location, location, it’s true. The main reason I came back after leaving the Plaza was because working in Kensington is such a bonus.