First-run movies. Three screens instead of one. Alcohol.
A group of prominent film industry figures has launched a mission to save ShowRoom Cinema Bradley Beach from the abyss of the COVID-19 pandemic.
They want to rename the space The Bradley and restore a “community-based cinematic experience” for summer 2021.
The group, called Cinema Lab, includes people who are known for playing roles in movies, both on and off-srcreen.
Actor Patrick Wilson (”Aquaman,” “The Conjuring”) is the most recognizable face behind the effort.
Wilson is set to make his directorial debut in the upcoming “Insidious 5″ and will appear in “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” (June 4) alongside New Jersey native Vera Farmiga. He lives in Montclair with his wife, actress Dagmara Domińczyk (“Succession”), and their family.
To make its grand vision a reality, the theater group is asking the community for $50,000 via Kickstarter to help cover the cost of improvements and the purchase of the theater, one of many that closed in 2020.
Luke Parker Bowles, former BAFTA New York chairman, left, actor Patrick Wilson and Arianna Bocco, president of IFC Films, are trying to revive and update the theater.Paul Zimmerman | Getty Images; Joshua Blanchard | Getty Images
Wilson’s fellow Montclair resident Luke Parker Bowles, former BAFTA New York chairman and nephew of Camilla Parker Bowles, Duchess of Cornwall, is spearheading the effort. So is Arianna Bocco, president of IFC Films.
Bocco, who lives in Bradley Beach, says the goal is to rebuild communal entertainment after a year of pandemic isolation.
“The biggest challenge right now is we’re competing with our own living rooms,” she tells NJ Advance Media, referring to the glut of streaming entertainment options, including film and TV.
Bocco, who grew up in Freehold, had a summer home in Bradley Beach for 10 years. The former Hoboken resident decided to start living at the Jersey Shore full-time after joining the ranks of people who no longer had to commute to New York in the pandemic.
The biggest change to the Bradley Beach theater, if all goes to plan, will be the addition of a liquor license so people can drink in their seats, Bocco says. The group is also looking to update the lobby.
Bocco says Cinema Lab is hoping to find backers in local residents as well as North Jersey people who rent houses in the area and wouldn’t mind watching a movie when it’s raining.
The Kickstarter launched Tuesday. As of Thursday night, the effort had generated $22,426 of its $50,000 goal, with 27 days to go.
Wilson and Cinema Lab have their sights set on live performances and events to accompany the films.
“Getting into this side of the business has been a passion project of mine for a long time and I’m excited that I can contribute in my own backyard,” the actor said in a statement.
Organizers hope to add a liquor license and lobby improvements to ShowRoom, changing its capacity from one to three auditoriums. Courtesy Cinema Lab
Nancy Sabino and Michael Sodano bought the former Beach Cinema and renamed it ShowRoom Cinema Bradley Beach in May 2019. Then COVID-19 hit. ShowRoom, like all theaters across New Jersey, closed its doors in accordance with a state mandate.
When Gov. Phil Murphy permitted theaters to reopen at limited capacity, ShowRoom couldn’t rebound. Neither could Sabino and Sodano’s other theater, the ShowRoom in Asbury Park.
Beach Cinema started out in 1915 as a vaudeville stage called the Palace Theatre, and transitioned to film in 1925.
“It’s something that is worth preserving,” Bocco says.
Cinema Lab previously tried to revive the Bellevue in Montclair and has plans to work on other area theaters.
“People are looking for some kind of light at the end of the tunnel,” Bocco says.
It may just come from the movies.
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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.
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