Silver Screen Is Still Golden

For more than 30 years, films shown at Fox Bay Cinema Grill have been projected by one man, 68-year-old Don Holt.

Holt, who started as a film projectionist in California during the 1960's, has been projecting films at the theater since 1972, his first film being the French Connection.

“Back then we only had one booth, two projectors and only one theater,” Holt said when showing the old projectors that sit in the lobby. “The two projectors were used to switch between the multiple reels for just one film then.”

The business underwent a $750,000 renovation in 1991, which included a new bar and kitchen, the theater room split into three, and a switch from film to all digital projectors. Now instead of multiple reels for a film, a movie can be shown on just one single reel.

“There is no need to manually rewind the film reels like back in the day,” Holt said. Now the big contraption used to rewind the film sits behind glass along with other film memorabilia.

Having the theater so close to schools helps greatly with ticket sales as well. Mostly a family-oriented theater, the cinema is packed on weekends not just with moviegoers but children birthday parties as well.