The Plaza projector?

Posted by Drew Anderson in Culture

Okay, there's a lot of hysteria floating around about The Plaza closing thanks to this CBC article. We'll even have a (potentially misinformed) news note in tomorrow's paper based solely on that article because we didn't hear back from the owner, Mike Brar, prior to going to press.

But there's one problem with the article and the claims laid out by Brar: He says that he needs $100,000 to upgrade from 35 mm to digital projection. The only problem? The Plaza has a "top of the line" digital projector. It says so right on their website. There's also this story about American Express giving the projector to The Plaza.

Now, maybe The Plaza website is wrong and that projector was never delivered, but that seems odd. There's also the possibility that the digital projector at the theatre isn't as "top of the line" as it should be and Brar just needs a new one. But that's not the same thing as needing to switch from 35 mm.

What is clear is that people seem to be jumping the gun. There's already an Indie GoGo campaign to raise funds for the theatre for cryin' out loud. Beyond the fact that this is a for-profit business and the questions that raises about bailing it out, everybody should just relax and wait to learn all the facts before shelling out their hard earned money. Okay?

Stay tuned....


more in News & Views     |     posted Jul 25th, 2012 at 5:10pm     

Comments: 6

rocketfun wrote:

I'm a former employee of the theatre and I was there during the whole American Express/CIFF fundraising thing, and I can confirm that the projector was definitely delivered and put to use. I was told that it was the same model being used by the multiplexes of Calgary, but I can't guarantee that.

Also, I don't believe for a second that Mike Brar "can't afford" the upgrades. Total BS.

on Jul 25th, 2012 at 5:21pm Report Abuse

JulietBurgess wrote:

Of course they have a digital projection piece, you'd be dead as a theatre if you didn't.

I was under the impression that the standard will be changing and films cannot be screened using what currently exists in a while.

I've also used their projector and I don't know if it's "top of the line" for real. If it is... yikes.

on Jul 25th, 2012 at 6:31pm Report Abuse

Benbejammin wrote:

Hi. My name is Ben and I started the Indie Gogo fundraiser. Admittedly it may have been premature, but after the closing of The Uptown I couldn't in good conscience watch another landmark meet the same fate. I'm troubled by the potential of misleading information floating around as well, but it seems to me that if the projector was installed 7 years ago it's likely obsolete. Digital technology has come a long way in that time. I wasn't able to reach Mike the owner today either, however I'm sure he's aware of all this hoopla and if he wants assistance, he's got it. If it's his intention to let the Plaza fade away, at least we'll know that we did what we could.

on Jul 25th, 2012 at 10:03pm Report Abuse

rube wrote:

The article that mentions the projector was written not quite four years ago, and talks about them planning to buy it still. So, let's say it's 3 1/2, tops. And it was top-of-the-line at that point, since they had $100,000 to work with. That's a pretty short lifespan between best in Calgary and obsolete. Is that what people would be paying for again? Do theatres really need to drop $100K per screen every three or four years?

on Jul 25th, 2012 at 10:20pm Report Abuse

peterm wrote:

The projector is fine. It is the playing medium. New releases of feature films will be in DCP format they won't be making 35mm prints of featres. The digital cinema package player will cost about $100,000. It is basically a digital player system that will play the hard drives that movies will now be master to.

on Jul 25th, 2012 at 10:27pm Report Abuse

Suzy Thompson wrote:

Where are you Mike Brar?! He isn't answering the email, the Plaza isn't answering the phone and the voicemail is full (no surprise). Where are you?

on Jul 26th, 2012 at 10:58am Report Abuse


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