Cinema Reborn As Sag Harbor Partnership Closes On Deal

SAG HARBOR, NY — It's the news the East End has been working toward and waiting for: The Sag Harbor Partnership announced Wednesday that on Jan. 1, it formally closed on the purchase of the Sag Harbor Cinema from longtime owner Gerry Mallow.

In a letter to the community, the Partnership thanked a legion of supporters large and small that dug deep to save the iconic cinema and breathe new life into its future: "We have had over 2,500 people donate to our campaign, and more than 90% of donations have been $1,000 and under," the letter said.

“We could not be more grateful for the outpouring of support this effort received — it’s such a beautiful tribute to the history of this theater, and the passion our community has to ensure the cinema has an even brighter future for East End residents of every age and income,” said Cinema Campaign Chair April Gornik.

The Partnership has established the Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center, a registered not-for-profit awaiting its 501(c)(3) status, which will take over the operation of the Cinema once construction is complete.

Plans to rebuild the structure, destroyed in Dec., 2016 by a devastating fire that ripped through the village on an icy day, are underway.

“There’s few things more exciting than seeing a building go up, and since the Cinema is going to belong to everybody on the East End, we think it’s going to be truly inspiring,” Nick Gazzolo, president of the Sag Harbor Partnership, said. “How fast it goes will depend on support, but if last year was any indication, it could be reopened as soon as a year and a half from now. We need everyone’s help getting through this next phase.”

The group is already producing limited programming shown at other venues around the Sag Harbor area, including the film All the President’s Men, which was shown to a full house at Guild Hall on January 14, and which featured a talk-back with Carl Bernstein, the Partnership said in a release.

In other news, Academy Award winning director Rob Marshall and choreographer/director/producer John Deluca will participate in the program with their Prohibition era musical Chicago at the Ross School's senior lecture hall, and other films have been shown at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor. The next film planned for that venue will be The Americanization of Emily, and will be hosted by Julie Andrews, the Partnership said in a release.

The programming is intended to give the public a sense of what to expect when the theater is rebuilt with a focus on serving as a cultural institution focused on education and outreach for all ages of the entire community.

In December, just days before the 1-year anniversary of a devastating fire that ravaged the Sag Harbor Cinema,an $8 million fundraising goal was met, signaling the joyful news that the iconic institution would rise from the proverbial ashes.

The goal was reached with the award of a $1.4 million state grant and an anonymous $500,000 donation, representatives said.

The new Cinema will feature state-of-the-art equipment, a new sound system, and projection ratios and equipment that will allow film to be shown "as it was intended", and give the house the ability to show digital, 35mm, and even 16mm with "astonishing" resolution, so that the viewer experience will be as the filmmakers' meant it to be experienced, organizers of the effort said. "This will be a plus that few other art houses anywhere offer, and will make the emphasis on offering film history as well as contemporary movie-making a reality," the release added.

"We are so grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from residents, small businesses and people from across the East End who have supported this effort over the past eight months," said Gornik. "Our mission, since the beginning, has been to preserve the power of independent film and educational programming through cinema arts on the East End. . . We hope everyone will join us in this effort to build our beloved cinema a new state of the art home on Main Street."

Photo courtesy Sag Harbor Partnership.