Newsletter No. 2 – December 2007

Dear Friend

There is much to report to you which is interesting and hopeful, albeit nothing definite as yet.

The City Council has had an approach from Mr Suri, the owner of Reel Cinema in St Stephen’s Centre, a strong supporter of art cinema. He has expressed interest in dedicating one of his seven screens in Hull’s central shopping centre to Hull Screen, keeping the name and sharing with us ideas on programming. Discussions between him and the City Council continue.

We are not party to this, but Susan Harr and Val Brady met Mr Suri on behalf of the Friends of Hull Screen, and feel cautiously optimistic about his approach. This was confirmed when he came with his Hull Reel Cinema manager to the mince pies and wine evening on Thursday, December 13th, preceding the film, Miracle on 34th Street. He spoke warmly to us and looked for further dialogue with us. Meanwhile the City Council are considering their policy issues in relation to Hull Screen and continue to engage with him. It was interesting that in Mr Suri’s view art films are the ongoing backbone of cinemas, not the ‘blockbusters’ that tend to be transitory. We thank Mark Ogden for arranging the film – very suitable for the pre-Christmas period. We also understand and share the staff’s concerns about the future of Hull Screen.

Susan, Val, Pablo and Daphne had a stall at the recent Green Fair, and attracted interest and some new members. All this helps to draw attention to Hull Screen and what we want to achieve. The steering committee meets regularly, and is looking into the advantages of becoming a charity. Charitable status would give us an identity. With this very much in mind, the steering committee will meet in early January to put together some ideas into a more formal document..A direct telephone connection is also under discussion.

There is no doubt we need more ‘friends’. We are asking you for £5 to defray postage, etc. The steering committee decided to keep all our members on the list for this year who have signed up even if they haven’t as yet paid. If this applies to you, could you let Susan Harr have your membership fee and extend it for 2008?

Watch out for further information in our next Newsletter.. We hope to issue one every two months. Sending it to you via email will cut circulation costs – please give us your email address.

ABOUT REEL CINEMAS

Reel Cinemas began in 2001, when Mr. Suri, the owner, bought the Curzong Cinema in Loughborough, intending to develop the building as apartments.

However, it became apparent to him that the art deco quality of the building was too precious to lose, and so it was refurbished as a cinema after researching into the viability of such a venture.

“At this point, the Curzon Leisure Group was formed, with the aim of providing tailored experiences to specific market sectors within town centre environments.”

The Curzon Group was re-branded as Reel Cinemas in 2005 as it expanded over 16 cinema complexes in the country.

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• April 2008
• February 2008
• November 2007

HULL SCREEN FOR WORLD CINEMA