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Local movie house could 'go dark' due to new technology

August 10, 2012|Emily Wood, KY3 News | ewood@ky3.com

Springfield, Mo. --  Unwinding a film reel and threading it through a projector is the technique that has allowed people to watch movies on the big screen for decades.  But a landmark change in the film industry could change that.  And that change could put many, locally-owned theaters out of business, including one theater in Springfield.

"They're saying in 2013 they're no longer going to be making 35 millimeter film prints.  Even though our projectors work, they'll not be able to show any new movies," said Mike Stevens, the Executive Director of Moxie Cinema in Downtown Springfield.

Moxie Cinema is a not-for-profit that features foreign films, documentaries, and acclaimed independent films that you can not see anywhere else in the area. 

"It is a community-minded theater. The mission is to improve the quality of life in Springfield through film," Stevens said.

The digital transition is the biggest change for film industry since silent movies switched over to talkies adding sound in the 1930s.

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"I'm not against the other theaters or anything like that, but as a moviegoer, I love having this option," said Jeremy Shelton.

Shelton looks to The Moxie for limited releases and said the area would suffer without it.

"There will be a cultural hole here.  That's terrible," Shelton said.

The cost to make both the Moxie's theatres digital will likely top $160,000, but without the conversion, the theater will not be able to show anything new.

"When they realize, 'Oh, that could go away.  These movies could stop coming to Springfield,' we're going to see outpouring of support," Stevens said.

The film industry's digital conversion should be complete by the end of the year.  Stevens said the next-closest theater like the Moxie is in Columbia, Missouri.

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