Thank you so much for helping to make this a reality!!

In honour of our cinema opening, George Lucas has decided to launch STAR WARS, the biggest movie event of the year, on the same day.  Good on ya George!

So our very first public event will be a midnight screening of Star Wars.

The ticketing system is still being set up (you just wouldn’t believe what’s involved in getting one small cinema off the ground).  So you can’t preorder tickets at this stage, but we’ll make sure you are the first to know when the ticketing comes on line.

The cinema will be open normal opening hours from the 17^th onwards.  We encourage you to join the Majestic Movie Club so you can make the most of Sawtell Cinema in the months ahead.

Majestic Movie Club costs $25 per year and entitles you to a wealth of privileges:

Click here for more details and to download the application form.

Thank you again for being a part of the rebirth of our wonderful cinema.

See you at the movies…

You have purchased all new seating, new screens and sound curtains for our two cinemas. Not only will we get back the opportunity to watch high quality and art house movies in our little cinema – we get to do it in comfort and style.

Every single seat in the Sawtell Cinema will now bear the name of someone who dug deep to help save our movie house. The walls will be decorated with the silhouettes of people who love their cinema enough to show they care. I Saved Sawtell Cinema t-shirts and bumper stickers can be seen on our streets and in our cafes. Private parties will be held throughout the next year, hosted by generous cinema supporters. On 20 February many of you will join David Stratton at a special screening celebrating the rebirth of our cinema. And in December, the doors of our cinema will open again.

Thank you! You have blown us away with your generosity, support and caring.

Sawtell Cinema is Saved! We’ll see you at the movies this December.

The challenge, of course, has been finding those professional skills without sacrificing the community feel we all cherish at Sawtell Cinema.

So we are delighted to announce that independent cinema operators Majestic Cinemas will take on management when the cinema reopens in December.

Many of you will already be familiar with Majestic, who run the cinema at Nambucca Heads. This is just one of five regional cinemas they currently operate throughout NSW. There is little question that they have the experience and relationships we need.

But most important to those of us who love this cinema, is the fact that the Majestic people are locals at heart. They get this community and our love for our little cinema.

Local Coffs Harbour resident, Brenton Spoehr, will be the man in charge of programming the films. Brenton has worked at Sawtell Cinema previously, having managed the programming under former owner/manager Col Brissett, so he has a strong sense for the local audience.

Bellingen resident, Judi Quinn will manage the cinema on a day-to-day basis. Judi has been one of the managers at Majestic’s Nambucca Heads cinema for over 10 years, so she brings plenty of experience and a real passion for both the area and the types of films we all love.

Of course, the question on everyone’s lips is, “What sort of movies will they show?” Majestic’s commitment is to show high quality and art house films, combined with access to major releases and family friendly films during the holiday periods. A number of film festivals will be run throughout the year to add a little spice to the programming.

Specific plans will be developed in coming weeks, and you can expect to see people from Majestic out and about in our community getting a feel for the needs of individuals, companies and community groups.

Don’t think this means that Sawtell is going to start showing all the same films as Nambucca: quite the opposite in fact. The five screens now available across the two locations will enable Majestic to offer a wider variety of film choices, with Sawtell’s selection skewed to quality and art house film.

I hope you will join us in welcoming Judi and the Majestic family to the Sawtell Cinema fold. We have all worked so hard to secure the building and to bring our cinema into the 21^st century. It’s a relief and a thrill to have found a team with Majestic’s experience and love of film to open the doors into the future.

If you have questions about the redevelopment or management of Sawtell Cinema please feel free to email us or post on Facebook.  We have prepared some answers to the most frequently asked questions which you can check out here.

Congratulations everyone! You’ve just bought all new seating for the Sawtell Cinema.  Yippee!

In the 4 short weeks since we launched the Save Sawtell Cinema crowdfunding campaign, this community has reached the initial goal of $75,000 – which means all new seats are now on order.

But let’s not stop there. Let’s see what else this community can achieve.

At the heart of any cinema experience is the screen – this is what separates cinema from television. An extra $50,000 raised would fund the installation of high quality new screens in both cinemas. This includes the screens, the framing and side curtains.

How are you going to feel sitting in “your” seat and watching a movie on “your” screen?

So keep on Chuffing – there are plenty of rewards to enjoy!

The other big news is that the renovations are about to commence. Starting in August you will start to see builders FM Glenn on site, bringing our cherished movie house back to life.

Having operated on the Coffs Coast since 1979, FM Glenn has deep roots in this community. The company got the gig after a broad review process that included both local and non-local firms. We were pretty thrilled to be able to bring on board a local firm to restore our local icon. Feels good!

Final bit of news…now that the cinema design has been finalised, we’ve been able to release another 10 seats in the boutique cinema. After fulfilling our waiting list there will be only 2 seats available. Better act fast if you want one.

Thank you so much for your support. We stand in awe of the Sawtell Cinema community.

This community is simply amazing.  Less than a month into the Save Sawtell Cinema crowdfunding campaign and we have raised over 85% of our target.  THANK YOU doesn’t seem enough to express our gratitude for the support of so many people.

The big news is that the seats in the Boutique Cinema have officially sold out.  If you had been hoping to have your name on one of these seats then don’t give up hope yet.  The plans for the cinema are just being finalised and it looks like we might have a few extra seats in the Boutique Cinema.  If you want to go on a waiting list please email us at sawtellcinema@gmail.com.

Although we are close to reaching our target we still need your help to keep up the momentum!  Don’t forget that as well as buying the seats, we also need to get them installed.  Wouldn’t it be amazing if the community were able to raise enough to buy AND INSTALL these seats.  So please….don’t stop now.

To say we are excited about how this campaign has started would be a serious understatement! As of the end of the day on 6 July – only 3 days after the official launch of the campaign – we have raised over $46,000. Woop woop!!

We have to keep reminding ourselves that we’re not there yet – so we thought we’d remind you too. If you have friends, family, neighbours, tradesmen, workmates or people you see from time to time at your favourite café who have not yet been a part of the Save Sawtell Cinema campaign – please give them a gentle nudge. We still need help!

Also, be aware that the opportunity to name a seat is selling fast. Already seats in the smaller boutique cinema are getting close to selling out. So if you, or someone you know, is thinking about investing in a seat please act quickly. We don’t want anyone to be disappointed.

Thank you again to everyone who has been a part of Saving Sawtell Cinema. It’s exciting to come together as a community, isn’t it?

In case you missed it, click here to check out David’s interview in the latest Focus Magazine.

As alluded to in the Focus article, a crowdfunding campaign is on its way.  Amongst a number of rewards available is a chance to join David Stratton for dinner and a movie at Sawtell Cinema.  Everyone on our mailing list will receive an early invitation to participate at the end of this week.  The formal launch event will be at Chilifest on 4 July.  Join us in the cinema foyer to view 3D plans of the cinema renovations and to be a part of saving our wonderful cinema.

The excitement just keeps building!!

Last Saturday’s auction last Saturday was a big success in so many ways!

First it was wonderful to welcome so many old and new friends of the Cinema to Friday’s Open House and Saturday’s Auction. We estimate that over 500 people came through those cinema doors over the course of the two days – it was a buzz!

Then of course there was the excitement of seeing all those wonderful Sawtell Cinema memories find new and loving homes. A Sawtell family will be tinkling the keys of the cinema organ. A local mum will be serving the kids popcorn from a heritage popcorn machine. A man who used to load the films at Sawtell Cinema went home with the old projector.

In total the auction raised over $10,000 and all of these funds (bar the auctioneer’s fees) will be reinvested in the cinema. This is a wonderful head start on the upcoming crowdfunding campaign to help fund new seating. (Hold your horses….we’ll tell you more about this very soon.)

Raising some money was nice (and very much appreciated) – but one of the special moments this week was the opportunity to give a little to our north coast community. After a call for help from Wauchope, we were delighted to donate all remaining banks of seats to be used in a purpose built cinema in Timber Town.

It’s wonderful to think of all these little pieces of Sawtell Cinema scattered throughout our community, bringing happiness!

Thank you to everyone who made our auction a success.

Former Sawtell Cinema projectionist, David Manuel, goes home with the projector. Perfect!

We can’t keep all of the Cinema’s treasures….which means you have a chance to buy a piece of Sawtell history.  The auction commences at 10am on Saturday 16 May.  On the blocks will be a vintage popcorn machine, banks of cinema seats, stage curtains, movie posters and more.  Click here to see the full list of what’s going under the hammer.

As a very special treat local artist John Van Der Kolk has transformed two of the cinema seats into incredible pieces of heritage art.  Not only do these works of art provide you with inspiration should you choose to bid for one of the banks of seats on auction….they will actually come under the hammer themselves.  Pick up a local masterpiece as well as a piece of local history!

We look forward to welcoming you back to the Sawtell Cinema.  Click here for a copy of the brochure.

A Sawtell Cinema seat in John Van Der Kolk’s workshop