Cinestudio

Cinestudio was founded in 1970 by a group of students at Trinity College. The film obsessed students found a home in a little used lecture hall with troubled acoustics in the Clement Chemistry Building. Within two years, they turned the space into a beautiful recreation of a 1930s film house. The sound issues were fixed, with the help of Ralph Maur... o of National Theater Supply and Lonny Jennings at Dolby, and Cinestudio held its grand opening to the public February 16, 1970, showing a sold-out double feature of Alice's Restaurant and The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. Cinestudio made its mark early by showing controversial new cinema, foreign classics like the works of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, epic films like Stanley Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey - shown on the huge, newly installed 70mm screen - and debuting future cult classics like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Harold and Maude and Eraserhead. Cinestudio still runs today as a cooperative, with students overseeing most aspects of the theater's operation. As a cooperative operation, Cinestudio continues to provide a unique opportunity for young people to learn how to operate a fully professional movie theater to the highest technical standards. Two founding members, James Hanley and Peter McMorris, have guided the theater since its inception and now manage its day-to-day operation, including all nightly projection. A staff of approximately 50 student and community volunteers run showings seven days a week. In 2002, Cinestudio incorporated as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization. The theater now is independent of Trinity College, although it still occupies the same space in the college's chemistry building. In 2007, the theater's ticket booth was renamed the Fred Pfeil Memorial Ticket Booth in honor of late Trinity College professor and much loved long-time Cinestudio volunteer and board member, Fred Pfeil.Read More