Village Embraces Plan to Keep Greenport Movie Theater Open Year Round

GREENPORT, NY — Mayor George Hubbard said the dream of keeping the Greenport movie theater open year-round could soon become a reality.

At Thursday's village board work session, Hubbard said the next step is working with Village Attorney Joe Prokop to see how to move forward.

Owner Josh Sapan has said in an interview with Patch that he'd be willing to let the village use the building rent free, as long as costs are covered, and the Mayor pointed to that interview as a sign of momentum.

Already, Hubbard said, a fuel-oil vendor has approached the village and offered to sell fuel to the theater at cost.

"That's one of the biggest expenses," Hubbard said. "I thanked him. The community is coming together. There's been a lot of good feedback. Everyone thinks this is a great idea."

The challenge, the mayor said, is figuring out how the village can legally be involved with running the theater, which would include hiring a projectionist, manager and concession stand employee. It's possible that a separate, satellite community group would be formed to take over in the model of Friends of Mitchell Park.

One idea discussed with Sapan when the two originally spoke, Hubbard said, is the possibility of selling memberships to a possible "movie club."

"The goal is that when it opens for summer, we're ready to go in September, and keep it going," Hubbard said.

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips said she'd gotten many private messages from people who are excited about the idea.

"Anything all of us can do, to help move this forward," she said.

Hubbard said that hiring a manager, concession stand person and projectionist would provide opportunities for people needing a winter job. "It's a positive thing, really good for the North Fork and, with the Sag Harbor movie theater gone, for the whole East End," Hubbard said. "It's something out here to do."

Trustee Doug Roberts asked that children's movies be shown, too; Hubbard said the idea of matinees could be explored.

Sapan told Patch recently that he would love to keep the theatre open year round. "As long as I can cover the expenses of heat, insurance, and management, I would be delighted," he said.

Sapan then reached out to describe how the idea could unfold.

"I am very happy to provide the theatre rent free to the community for them to run it outside the summer," Sapan said. "Our manager, projectionist and staff are hired for the summer, so the community would just need to cover expenses for insurance, heat and the like, and find people to manage the theatre, do the booking, projection and operate the concession," he said.

Sapan agreed with residents who have enthusiastically embraced the idea on social media, stating that they'd love to have a movie theater to enjoy year-round.

"I have always dreamed of the theater being open all year," Sapan said. "The theater is a passion of mine and I love providing the theater at no cost to The Maritime Museum for their film showings, to the student film program at no charge for their film exhibition, and working with East End Arts," he said. "We have an artist exhibit of their work each summer. There have been superb photography exhibitions."

Last year, for example, an exhibit by the "extraordinary photographer Andrea Tese, who has a place on the North Fork," was featured, he said.

Sapan, CEO of AMC Networks, said he's long had a love for movie theaters.

As a personal project of the heart, Sapan, on his own, purchased the Greenport Village Cinema in 2004.

Since then, he said, the theater has been renovated completely, including the sign on front, the metal facing and the ticket booth.

Sapan said family at Foley Fiore Architecture in Cambridge, MA, shared their expertise in historic preservation to spruce up the theater.

"It was a great to do it with them," he said.

In addition, Sapan added, "We renovated the bathrooms — and were able to save the beloved maroon urinals in the men's room. Now that's an achievement!"

All four theaters and seats, he said, were refurbished, with an attempt to keep the original architecture and design intact.

Two years ago, the theater was converted to digital, with digital projectors installed and purchased, Sapan said.

"We produced a short black and white film to play before movies, with music by acclaimed composer Bruce Wolosoff who lives on Shelter Island," he said. The theatre does not show commercials.

A love affair with cinema
From the first, the Village Cinema, with its walls echoing of days gone by, spoke to Sapan.

"Since I was a kid, I have loved movies and movie theaters," Sapan said. "The movie 'Cinema Paradiso' made an big impression on me, as it was an homage to movies and movie exhibition. Growing up, I paid $3 to watch four movies in a row in a beat-up Times Square theater. The movies were billed as 'Spend a Day with Clint Eastwood'. They were 'spaghetti westerns', three directed by Sergio Leone, with music by the great composer Ennio Morricone. It was a rare nine hours that crystallized my love of sitting in a dark theater in front of a big screen."

During college, Sapan ran film societies and after graduation, he set up a "mobile touring movie exhibition business."

Ever creative, Sapan's business model meant packing 16 mm projectors in the back of his Nash Rambler station wagon and taking his theater on the road, renting exhibition halls where he showed foreign films such as 'The Bicycle Thief' by Vittorio De Sica,' 'Last Year Marienbad' by Alain Resnais and American classics such as 'The Man who Shot Liberty Valance' by John Ford and 'Touch of Evil' by Orson Welles.

That deeply ingrained love of film explained why he followed his heart and purchased the Village Cinema as a personal project, he said.

"I found the opportunity to continue that in a permanent home in Greenport irresistible, as the theater is historic and Greenport such a wonderful place," he said.

Film, and the movie houses that present them, touches the deepest part of Sapan's heart, he said.

"There is a song by Loudon Wainwright of Shelter Island called 'Movies Are A Mother to Me.' In it, he beautifully describes the healing qualities of going to the movies. I wanted to see the Greenport Theatre survive so Greenport had a theater. As so many historic theaters are disappearing I thought the theater should not be torn down, but should be preserved and alive and vital," he said.

And now, he said, the darkened theater is just waiting for the chance to open its doors year-round. "Whenever the community is organized and ready, the theater is there," he said.

Photo courtesy of Josh Sapan.