The Hilton Theatre is an entirely new structure, rlvjr, save for select architectural elements which were removed from the Lyric and Apollo, both of which were demolished (in terms of their interiors) to make way for the then-Ford Center/Hilton Theatre.
Greenpoint, the land currently directly next door to the Empire 25 was a parking lot long before the building which housed the Anco was torn down. The Anco building came down in ‘97 and I remember the parking lot being in existence as far back as '91 (and, as I know, it was there for several years before then).
I agree, Samantha – this is extremely sad. Looking at the photos, save for a little clean-up and minor repair work here and there (and disposal of those seven-year-old cans of Pepsi), this theatre was hardly run-down. Too bad no one took over ownership and found a way to return it to operation.
New route to indies
stops in West Village
By JOE NEUMAIER
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
Manhattan is getting a new house of movie worship.
Opening tomorrow, the IFC Center in the former Waverly Theater at Sixth Ave. and Fourth St. – the building was erected as a church in 1831 – will be the brick-and-mortar home of the Independent Film Channel and will be Manhattan’s most modern indie cinema.
Three state-of-the-art theaters will show first-run movies, a retro film series, weekend repertory screenings, midnight movies and occasional double-bill nights.
The opening-night fare includes two screens showing “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and the classic 1967 Bob Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back.” The first midnight showing in a “New York After Dark” program is the 1980 horror film “Maniac.”
“If you define the West Village as between Houston and 14th St. and west of Sixth Ave., there actually aren’t any movie theaters in that area,” says John Vanco, vice president and general manager of the Center. “It’s perfect to support the types of programs we’re doing. We can show lots of great and crazy stuff.”
The former Waverly Theater opened in 1937. Midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” began shortly after that camp classic’s debut in 1975, sparking a nationwide trend of late-night shows for costumed crowds. “Rocky Horror” itself may be revived at IFC this fall.
“Throughout, the theater is a [combination of] the old and the new, and we’ll maintain that in our programs,” Vanco says.
But filmgoers may get most excited by the wide aisles and huge seats (imported from theaters in Cannes) and the lack of commercials before movies. There will trailers for upcoming IFC Center movies and new 5-minute short films – but no TV-type ads.
“Audiences don’t want to buy a ticket and sit through commercials, and we made a specific decision to lose two rows of seats in each of the three theaters to get more leg room and comfort,” says Vanco. “We want this to be indie film’s Radio City.”
This week’s issue of Time Out New York (to absolutely no surprise whatsoever) features a profile of the IFC Center…
New Waverly -
The IFC Center brightens a legendary darkened theater
By Darren D'Addario
The famed Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village went dark in 2001, but its West 3rd Street block has changed so drastically in the meantime that it feels as if the cinema’s been shuttered since the early years of the Beame administration. Not exactly upscale to begin with, the stretch has become a destination for those seeking tattoos, body piercings, sex toys and hot dogs at “inflation-busting prices.” But the street will receive a welcome jolt of culture when the Waverly is reborn on Friday 17 as the IFC Center.
A property of Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, which also owns the IFC cable channel and film distribution and production companies, the beautifully appointed complex will be home to a trio of theaters (with 220, 120 and 60 seats, respectively) showing first-run indies and revivals, a luxe cafe and editing suites available to filmmakers.
Despite the street’s characteristic seediness, IFC Center VP and general manager John Vanco (formerly of Cowboy Pictures) says that the theater’s location is one of the key reasons he’s so excited about its prospects. “I’m not as concerned about the block as some other people are,” he says. “I really think it’s a tremendous location. The West 4th Street subway station is on everybody’s way to something. When I used to do the booking for the Screening Room (on Varick Street), we did a lot of fun series that I was excited about, but…it was like a tree falling in the forest. Nobody wanted to go down there.”
The IFC Center will, however, join an already-crowded downtown art-house scene that includes Film Forum, Anthology Film Archives, Landmark Sunshine, the Angelika and numerous other venues. In order to stand out from the competition, Vanco plans to book significant short works with each feature, curate an edgy midnight-movie series (William Lustig’s Maniac will be the first title) and have filmmakers be as involved as possible with their films' showings. A week before the IFC was to open with Miranda July’s excellent Me and You and Everyone We Know, Vanco announced that a restored 35mm print of Don’t Look Back would be getting a two-week revival also beginning Friday 17, with documentarian D.A. Pennebaker making appearances.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to consolidate into a single identity,” Vanco says. “We’re definitely going to be different things to different people, and I think that diversity is going to serve us.”
Don is correct; the building which housed the Anco was demolished to make way for the new location of the Empire. According to Nicholas Van Hoogstraten’s book, ‘Lost Broadway Theatres’ (from which Bryan’s initial description above is culled from), the Anco’s interior was gutted to its bare, brick walls in 1988 to make room for the various tenants who later occupied the space.
The Janus Film Festival used to be a fairly frequent staple of revival houses, at least in the Northeast. I remember that it ran at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Ma. at least once, in the mid-‘80s, and, I think, at the Film Forum (either at the Watts Street or the W. Houston Street location – or perhaps both) at some point as well.
That theatre you saw the interior of, Greenpoint, was the Liberty; it’s currently being converted into a Cipriani corporate event space. However, as is true with the Times Square Theatre, it cannot be altered to the point where it cannot again be converted into a performing arts venue.
Another report on the IFC Center, this one courtesy of the Daily News (the best news in this piece being that ‘Rocky Horror’ might be ‘returning’ to the IFC come fall – yay!):
New route to indies
stops in West Village
By JOE NEUMAIER
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER
John Vanco manages the IFC Center, opening tomorrow on Sixth Ave. in the Village.
Manhattan is getting a new house of movie worship.
Opening tomorrow, the IFC Center in the former Waverly Theater at Sixth Ave. and Fourth St. – the building was erected as a church in 1831 – will be the brick-and-mortar home of the Independent Film Channel and will be Manhattan’s most modern indie cinema.
Three state-of-the-art theaters will show first-run movies, a retro film series, weekend repertory screenings, midnight movies and occasional double-bill nights.
The opening-night fare includes two screens showing “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and the classic 1967 Bob Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back.” The first midnight showing in a “New York After Dark” program is the 1980 horror film “Maniac.”
“If you define the West Village as between Houston and 14th St. and west of Sixth Ave., there actually aren’t any movie theaters in that area,” says John Vanco, vice president and general manager of the Center. “It’s perfect to support the types of programs we’re doing. We can show lots of great and crazy stuff.”
The former Waverly Theater opened in 1937. Midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” began shortly after that camp classic’s debut in 1975, sparking a nationwide trend of late-night shows for costumed crowds. “Rocky Horror” itself may be revived at IFC this fall.
“Throughout, the theater is a [combination of] the old and the new, and we’ll maintain that in our programs,” Vanco says.
But filmgoers may get most excited by the wide aisles and huge seats (imported from theaters in Cannes) and the lack of commercials before movies. There will trailers for upcoming IFC Center movies and new 5-minute short films – but no TV-type ads.
“Audiences don’t want to buy a ticket and sit through commercials, and we made a specific decision to lose two rows of seats in each of the three theaters to get more leg room and comfort,” says Vanco. “We want this to be indie film’s Radio City.”
The next attraction at the Ziegfeld will be the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise remake of H.G. Wells' ‘The War of the Worlds’ (a wee little movie I suspect at least a few of us have become well-acquianted with of late), opening June 29th.
Another profile of the IFC Center, this one courtesy of the June 20th issue of New York Magazine…
Art-House Showdown
The spanking-new (brand-extending! Welsh-rarebit-serving!) IFC Center stomps into downtownâ€"and sends rivals into a competitive tizzy.
By Logan Hill
First, the Today show opened a storefront studio to lure screaming tourists. Then MTV plopped TRL in Times Square to lure screaming teens. And on June 17, the Independent Film Channel will open its shiny new IFC Center to lure screamingâ€"well, whisperingâ€"cineasts.
The old Waverly Theater on West 3rd and Sixth Avenue, sung about in Hair and famous for launching the Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight feature, is now a beautifully refurbished cinemaâ€"and a powerful branding tool, too. Inside, there are three theaters (210, 110, and 65 seats)â€"with great sight lines, big, comfy chairs (“imported from France!â€), and high-definition digital projection. The cinema’s largest theater will be one of New York’s most impressive, with exposed brick and violet ambient lighting. The Waverly’s drop-ceiling has been ripped away to expose the vaulted, 50-plus-foot ceiling of a church, originally built in 1831. Upstairs, there are two film-editing suites; next door is a restaurant serving “Welsh rarebit, artisan Lancashire, double-smoked rashers.†In the lobby, downtown’s Posteritati gallery will exhibit vintage posters, while the concession stand serves “organic popcorn with rosemary butter.â€
John Vanco, a veteran of Cowboy Pictures, Miramax, and New Yorker Films, will program a mix of indies, arties, foreign films, and documentaries. And, unlike his mainstream counterpartsâ€"which subject audiences to a barrage of adsâ€"Vanco will screen a digital short film before features. A monthly programming series touts guest curators like novelist Jonathan Lethem; a nebulous “advisory board†includes Steven Soderbergh and Alfonso Cuarón. Vanco says the theater will screen restorations of classicsâ€"“for the Criterion geeksâ€â€"beginning with Japanese icon Yasujiro Ozu. And a midnight series pays tribute to the theater’s Rocky Horror history, beginning with William Lustig’s notoriously violent Maniac.
But on June 17, all three screens will open with Miranda July’s terrific Me and You and Everyone We Know. On the heels of that film’s Cannes awards, the opening is “a perfect storm,†says IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehringâ€"an acclaimed release produced and distributed by IFC, showcasing the Center’s synergistic ambitions. “This was really the vision of Jim Dolan, the CEO of Cablevision,†says Sehringâ€"not the first thing you’d expect to hear about an art house. But it’s true.
The IFC Center isn’t that independent, of course. It’s owned by IFC Entertainment (the IFC network, IFC Films), which is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media (AMC channel, MSG), which is a subsidiary of Cablevisionâ€"which owns the Knicks and the Clearview Cinemas chain that let the Waverly lapse into disrepair in the first place. Cablevision held on to the lease, and Dolan saw an opportunity.
“The directive was, Make it IFC’s Radio City,†says Sehring. A top-notch movie theater, in other words, that could launch art films into the great ’burbs beyond, via Dolan’s cable channels and video-on-demand. “The independent-film distribution model is broken,†says Sehring. To fix it, IFC aspires to release small films with just one wave of ads and reviews, “instead of A markets, B markets, C markets.†The old At the Angelika show will now be shot here and rebranded At the IFC; Jon Favreau’s chat show Dinner for Five, Sehring says, will likely be filmed in the IFC restaurant. These are major advantages in the country’s most competitive art-house market, where distributors are willing to screen small films at only one theater per zoneâ€"in this case, Manhattan below 14th Street.
“If you wrote the IFC Center off to a marketing cost,†Sehring says, “it would still be a great marketing vehicle.â€
This is not a luxury that many other art houses enjoy. “For the consumer, it’s very good, but it puts the rest of us at a disadvantage,†says Quad Cinema director Elliott Kanbar. “It’s like Rupert Murdoch bankrolling the Post. Now IFC, the Angelika, and the Sunshine are going to compete viciously for the same films.â€
The Sunshine, of course, has its own corporate help. It’s owned by Landmark, the biggest art-house chain in the countryâ€"which in turn is owned by Mark Cuban’s 2929 Entertainment, a rival to Cablevision (2929 just brokered a deal with IFC’s adviser Steven Soderbergh to distribute six of the director’s new films, cross-platform, simultaneously).
A generation of filmgoers have also heard the rumble of the subway underneath. “The subway is part of the charm,†Moore says. “We’re very established,†she adds, noting the theater’s “high-traffic area, the great vibeâ€"the new Crate & Barrel, all that.†I mention the branded TV spots IFC took away. “We have been approached to do similar television spots,†Moore says. “We can do anything they can do, too.â€
But when I bring up IFC’s support from Cablevision and Sunshine’s synergy with 2929, Moore backtracks, saying, “We’re focusing on what we do well. Our audience are purists; they’re not interested in bells and whistles.†The Angelika’s reputation is its strength, after all: “What we offer, you can’t buy. You can try to copy it all your life.â€
Vanco understands such concernsâ€"and dismisses them outright, noting that attempts at one-studio theaters have failed before (Fine Line and the Thalia; Miramax and the Gotham). “We’re looking at the long term, and a theater like this needs to be run right to build credibility. Right now, we’re the new kid in town; our seats are fluffy and perfect,†he says. “The floors will have scuff marks soon enough.â€
“It’s like Rupert Murdoch bankrolling the ‘Post.’ Now the IFC, the Angelika, and the Sunshine will compete viciously for the same films.â€
The IFC, with new digs and leverage, may be able to steal some films from its competitors. The summer’s highest-profile American independent, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, is still in play. But the Landmark Sunshine has booked the summer’s most anticipated foreign release, Wong Kar Wai’s 2046, and Film Forum’s legendary repertory list will be very hard to beat. Smaller houses like the Quad and Cinema Village are at the greatest disadvantage, but while they lack big backers, they’ll never feel the pressure to book an orphan supported by a corporate partner.
“It’s going to take guts and gumption,†says another programmer, “for John Vanco to turn down stuff that his parent company would like to see at the Center.â€
New Waverly
IFC indahouse: A Village theater reopens, but not without controversy
by Matthew Ross
The Waverly Theater, at Sixth Avenue and West 4th Street, will forever be known as the movie house that, in 1976, kicked off the most enduring cult classic in cinema history when it began midnight screenings of an unsuccessful 20th Century Fox release called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Its recent legacy hasn’t been so memorable. In the ‘80s and '90s, the Waverly was bought and sold several times, divided from one grand balcony theater into twin screens; in 2001, it was shut down by its parent company, Cablevision, owner of the Clearview Cinemas chain.
While local cinephiles saw the Waverly’s shuttered marquee as another sad relic of the city’s once thriving art house scene, another Cablevision subsidiaryâ€"the Independent Film Channelâ€"has been working to restore the institution as a force in New York film culture. On June 17, after three and a half years of renovations and delays, the IFC Center will finally open its doors to the public with the premiere of Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, a film produced and distributed by IFC that won prizes at Sundance and Cannes.
The center is the brainchild of IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, who originally envisioned it as an “IFC version of Radio City,” complete with a production facility and film school. Those plans were scaled back considerably, although two editing suites have been installed upstairs. The old Waverly, however, has been given the full makeover, one that should impress even the most hardcore theater snob. The 220-seat main screen and the 120-seat balcony theater have been tricked out with plush seating and state-of-the-art projection booths. IFC also expanded into the old leather goods building next door, adding a third 70-seat theater and a restaurant.
Managing the center is John Vanco, a highly regarded specialty film veteran whose distribution company, Cowboy Pictures, closed in 2003 and whom Sehring had been courting since the project’s inception. Vanco plans to combine high-profile first-run releases with a repertory calendar that he will program himself. Other special events, including monthly movie nights with guest curators, are also scheduled. All features will be preceded by shorts.
“When I think about what I want this theater to be and how I want us to interact with the people in this neighborhood, I think about the Lincoln Plaza and the Film Forum,” says Vanco. “At those theaters, people will show up on a Tuesday or Friday night and just see what they haven’t seen, because if it’s there they know it’s going to be good. What that means is that the identity of the theater in many cases supersedes the identity of the films. Ultimately, that’s what we like to do. We want to give people a reason not to have another Netflix evening.” While Vanco admits that IFC productions and releases will get preferential treatment, he insists that the center will not serve as a mere clearinghouse for IFC titles.
So far, reaction among the New York film community seems supportive if a bit wary. “We’re all dividing up a pie, but it’s a very big pie,” says Film Forum director Karen Cooper. “Knowing John I’m sure they’ll show good films, and I welcome him back to the business. I want to be very clear that I’m not being hostile, but I think it’s important to note that people have to make compromises when they’re part of a larger enterprise, especially if those enterprises have an interest in producing and distributing films.” To help ensure the center’s street cred, Sehring has lined up an advisory board that includes Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, John Sayles, Errol Morris, and Rebecca Miller. “Someone will always complain about corporations trying to brand independent filmmaking,” says Sehring. “All I can say to that is, we’re not trying to corporatize anyone’s vision, especially not the filmmakers we work with.”
Mark Urman, head of independent distributor THINKFilm’s theatrical division, says that “we can’t ignore that this is a multimedia conglomerate trying to expand their brand,” but is willing to cut IFC and Vanco some slack for now. “John maintains he’s not simply going to be shilling for the channel, and I think we have to take him at his word. If he programs with a real sense of what the audience likes, there literally cannot be a downside. Manhattan has been woefully underscreened for a long timeâ€"we need more theaters like this, plain and simple.”
One potential source of controversy surrounding the center became apparent at last week’s opening gala. A group of picketers from IATSE Local 306 gathered outside and handed out leaflets denouncing IFC’s decision not to pursue a contract with union projectionists. “We’re not trying to get jobs where none existedâ€"we had people at the old Waverly, and we have people at every one of the other theaters in Greenwich Village,” union president Michael Goucher told the Voice on Monday. “No one can say at this point how it will resolve, but we presume we’re putting some pressure on them. The picketing is going to give them a black eye, especially in a neighborhood like Greenwich Village.” IFC declined to comment.
According to this article – View link (scroll down to Page 2), the Park Theatre was replaced by apartments; whether this was via a complete demolition of or a gutting and rebuild of the structure which housed the Park is unclear. Meanwhile, two very partial images of the interior (not enough to capture any notable architectural elements) of the Park’s auditorium can be seen on this page – http://www.paulmangone.com/images.htm – within the website of former Extreme (a one-time popular Boston-based rock band) bass player Paul Mangone, from the days when Mangone was playing with The Dream, another group from the area.
Thanks for the remembrances, babyg525, Kimee, and Scott. Can one of you confirm what presently occupies the land where the Granada once stood? The research I’ve done indicates that it at least in part serves as the home for some (if not all) of the Malden Public Schools administrative offices, but what I’ve found seems somewhat inconclusive. I trust what Ian wrote in his initial description above, but I seem to remember that the Granada building was gutted for the aforementioned offices; maybe what I remember from that afternoon at the library two years ago and what the reality is are two different things…
Miranda July’s ‘Me and You and Everyone We Know’, with appearances by the director at select showtimes;
D.A. Pennebaker’s ‘Don’t Look Back’ (in a new 35mm print), with appearances by the director at select showtimes;
William Lustig’s ‘Maniac’ (also in a new 35mm print), showing Friday 6.17 and Saturday 6.18 at midnight, with a special appearance by the director; and,
Yasujiro Ozu’s ‘I Was Born, But…’, in an archival print, screening Saturday 6.18 and Sunday 6.19 at noon, with an introduction by subtitler Linda Hoaglund and live accompaniment by longtime musician and silent film composer Donald Sosin.
Additional members of the IFC Advisory Board include Toronto International Film Festival Co-Director Noah Cowan, film publicity guru Cynthia Swartz, and New Yorker Films founder Dan Talbot. (And if they or someone they know have an opening for an intelligent film buff and aspiring screenwriter and producer… but, ah, I’m getting ahead of myself… )
The IFC Center was the subject of an ad on page 24 of the Arts & Leisure section of today’s NY Times. The text mentions that ‘the historic Waverly Theater is now the new IFC Center, the ultimate entertainment space for New Yorkers seeking out the best in independent film.’
Among the noted selling points:
‘Waverly at IFC Center’, a full service restaurant featuring chefs Claudia Fleming and Gerry Hayden;
Three state-of-the-art cinemas with luxurious seating featuring high-def digital and 35mm projection;
The showing of new independent, foreign, and documentary features;
‘Waverly Midnights’ starting June 17th – “New York After Dark”;
‘Weekend Classics’ starting June 18th – “The World of Yasujiro Ozu”;
‘Movie Night’ – July 7th – Jonathan Letham, guest curator;
‘Short Attention Span Cinema’ – Short Films by Jeff Scher;
‘Posteritati Gallery at IFC Center’ – Vintage movie posters; and…
…NO COMMERCIALS! (emphasis purely mine)
The IFC Center Advisory Board Members are Alfonso Cuaron, Richard Linklater, Rebecca Miller, Errol Morris, John Sayles, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, and Gary Winick. The web site of the IFC Center is http://www.ifccenter.com and the IFC Center’s phone number is 212.924.7771.
Wouldn’t Cineplex Odeon have moved its offices to the 34th Street East Theatre building in the ‘80s (or maybe early '90s)? They didn’t enter the NYC marketplace – at least not formally – until 1987.
The new IFC Center continues to get ink, including some from across the pond (courtesy of The Guardian newspaper)…
Naomi Watts Celebrates IFC Center Opening
Friday June 10, 2005 5:46 PM
NEW YORK (AP) – Naomi Watts, along with Harvey Weinstein, John Sayles, Alfonso Cuaron and 400 movie-lovers, celebrated the grand opening of the Independent Film Channel’s new independent cinema hub.
Watts, 36, was nominated for an Oscar for her role in 2003’s “21 Grams.” Her screen credits also include “Mulholland Dr.,” “The Ring” and the upcoming “King Kong,” directed by Peter Jackson and also starring Jack Black and Adrien Brody.
Located in the former Waverly Theater and an adjacent building in Greenwich Village, the IFC Center houses three theaters, two editing suites and a restaurant and bar. The 10,140-square-foot space combines painted exposed brick, stadium-style seating, tinted concrete floors and the Waverly’s original marquee, which has been restored.
The grand opening was held Thursday night.
IFC hopes the center will serve as a focal point for the indie film community.
The monthly TV series on new independent films, “At the Angelika,” will now be titled, “At the IFC Center” and will be hosted at the center, which opens to the public June 17 with screenings of “Me and You and Everyone We Know.”
Thinking further about the Fair, it occurred to me that perhaps if it was programmed and marketed well, it could thrive (or, perhaps at its worst, hold its own) as a second-run cinema. It’s pretty obvious why there aren’t any such theaters in Manhattan (the former policy at the Loews State notwithstanding), but does anyone have any theories or first-hand knowledge as to why the same is true in the outer boroughs (perhaps, if I’m neglecting to consider them, one or two here and there) as well?
I’ve seen – can’t recall where and wasn’t able to find them via Google – what I presume to be relatively recent exterior photos of the Fox and indicating that a Latino church has moved into the space. Can anyone confirm this (or, perhaps through personal knowledge, pinpoint a time when those snapshots might have been taken)?
The Hilton Theatre is an entirely new structure, rlvjr, save for select architectural elements which were removed from the Lyric and Apollo, both of which were demolished (in terms of their interiors) to make way for the then-Ford Center/Hilton Theatre.
Greenpoint, the land currently directly next door to the Empire 25 was a parking lot long before the building which housed the Anco was torn down. The Anco building came down in ‘97 and I remember the parking lot being in existence as far back as '91 (and, as I know, it was there for several years before then).
Stupid me – in all my excitement, I posted the Daily News article twice; my bad and my apologies…
I agree, Samantha – this is extremely sad. Looking at the photos, save for a little clean-up and minor repair work here and there (and disposal of those seven-year-old cans of Pepsi), this theatre was hardly run-down. Too bad no one took over ownership and found a way to return it to operation.
…and from yesterday’s Daily News:
New route to indies
stops in West Village
By JOE NEUMAIER
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
Manhattan is getting a new house of movie worship.
Opening tomorrow, the IFC Center in the former Waverly Theater at Sixth Ave. and Fourth St. – the building was erected as a church in 1831 – will be the brick-and-mortar home of the Independent Film Channel and will be Manhattan’s most modern indie cinema.
Three state-of-the-art theaters will show first-run movies, a retro film series, weekend repertory screenings, midnight movies and occasional double-bill nights.
The opening-night fare includes two screens showing “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and the classic 1967 Bob Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back.” The first midnight showing in a “New York After Dark” program is the 1980 horror film “Maniac.”
“If you define the West Village as between Houston and 14th St. and west of Sixth Ave., there actually aren’t any movie theaters in that area,” says John Vanco, vice president and general manager of the Center. “It’s perfect to support the types of programs we’re doing. We can show lots of great and crazy stuff.”
The former Waverly Theater opened in 1937. Midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” began shortly after that camp classic’s debut in 1975, sparking a nationwide trend of late-night shows for costumed crowds. “Rocky Horror” itself may be revived at IFC this fall.
“Throughout, the theater is a [combination of] the old and the new, and we’ll maintain that in our programs,” Vanco says.
But filmgoers may get most excited by the wide aisles and huge seats (imported from theaters in Cannes) and the lack of commercials before movies. There will trailers for upcoming IFC Center movies and new 5-minute short films – but no TV-type ads.
“Audiences don’t want to buy a ticket and sit through commercials, and we made a specific decision to lose two rows of seats in each of the three theaters to get more leg room and comfort,” says Vanco. “We want this to be indie film’s Radio City.”
This week’s issue of Time Out New York (to absolutely no surprise whatsoever) features a profile of the IFC Center…
New Waverly -
The IFC Center brightens a legendary darkened theater
By Darren D'Addario
The famed Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village went dark in 2001, but its West 3rd Street block has changed so drastically in the meantime that it feels as if the cinema’s been shuttered since the early years of the Beame administration. Not exactly upscale to begin with, the stretch has become a destination for those seeking tattoos, body piercings, sex toys and hot dogs at “inflation-busting prices.” But the street will receive a welcome jolt of culture when the Waverly is reborn on Friday 17 as the IFC Center.
A property of Cablevision’s Rainbow Media Holdings, which also owns the IFC cable channel and film distribution and production companies, the beautifully appointed complex will be home to a trio of theaters (with 220, 120 and 60 seats, respectively) showing first-run indies and revivals, a luxe cafe and editing suites available to filmmakers.
Despite the street’s characteristic seediness, IFC Center VP and general manager John Vanco (formerly of Cowboy Pictures) says that the theater’s location is one of the key reasons he’s so excited about its prospects. “I’m not as concerned about the block as some other people are,” he says. “I really think it’s a tremendous location. The West 4th Street subway station is on everybody’s way to something. When I used to do the booking for the Screening Room (on Varick Street), we did a lot of fun series that I was excited about, but…it was like a tree falling in the forest. Nobody wanted to go down there.”
The IFC Center will, however, join an already-crowded downtown art-house scene that includes Film Forum, Anthology Film Archives, Landmark Sunshine, the Angelika and numerous other venues. In order to stand out from the competition, Vanco plans to book significant short works with each feature, curate an edgy midnight-movie series (William Lustig’s Maniac will be the first title) and have filmmakers be as involved as possible with their films' showings. A week before the IFC was to open with Miranda July’s excellent Me and You and Everyone We Know, Vanco announced that a restored 35mm print of Don’t Look Back would be getting a two-week revival also beginning Friday 17, with documentarian D.A. Pennebaker making appearances.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to consolidate into a single identity,” Vanco says. “We’re definitely going to be different things to different people, and I think that diversity is going to serve us.”
Don is correct; the building which housed the Anco was demolished to make way for the new location of the Empire. According to Nicholas Van Hoogstraten’s book, ‘Lost Broadway Theatres’ (from which Bryan’s initial description above is culled from), the Anco’s interior was gutted to its bare, brick walls in 1988 to make room for the various tenants who later occupied the space.
The Janus Film Festival used to be a fairly frequent staple of revival houses, at least in the Northeast. I remember that it ran at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, Ma. at least once, in the mid-‘80s, and, I think, at the Film Forum (either at the Watts Street or the W. Houston Street location – or perhaps both) at some point as well.
That theatre you saw the interior of, Greenpoint, was the Liberty; it’s currently being converted into a Cipriani corporate event space. However, as is true with the Times Square Theatre, it cannot be altered to the point where it cannot again be converted into a performing arts venue.
Another report on the IFC Center, this one courtesy of the Daily News (the best news in this piece being that ‘Rocky Horror’ might be ‘returning’ to the IFC come fall – yay!):
New route to indies
stops in West Village
By JOE NEUMAIER
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER
John Vanco manages the IFC Center, opening tomorrow on Sixth Ave. in the Village.
Manhattan is getting a new house of movie worship.
Opening tomorrow, the IFC Center in the former Waverly Theater at Sixth Ave. and Fourth St. – the building was erected as a church in 1831 – will be the brick-and-mortar home of the Independent Film Channel and will be Manhattan’s most modern indie cinema.
Three state-of-the-art theaters will show first-run movies, a retro film series, weekend repertory screenings, midnight movies and occasional double-bill nights.
The opening-night fare includes two screens showing “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and the classic 1967 Bob Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back.” The first midnight showing in a “New York After Dark” program is the 1980 horror film “Maniac.”
“If you define the West Village as between Houston and 14th St. and west of Sixth Ave., there actually aren’t any movie theaters in that area,” says John Vanco, vice president and general manager of the Center. “It’s perfect to support the types of programs we’re doing. We can show lots of great and crazy stuff.”
The former Waverly Theater opened in 1937. Midnight showings of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” began shortly after that camp classic’s debut in 1975, sparking a nationwide trend of late-night shows for costumed crowds. “Rocky Horror” itself may be revived at IFC this fall.
“Throughout, the theater is a [combination of] the old and the new, and we’ll maintain that in our programs,” Vanco says.
But filmgoers may get most excited by the wide aisles and huge seats (imported from theaters in Cannes) and the lack of commercials before movies. There will trailers for upcoming IFC Center movies and new 5-minute short films – but no TV-type ads.
“Audiences don’t want to buy a ticket and sit through commercials, and we made a specific decision to lose two rows of seats in each of the three theaters to get more leg room and comfort,” says Vanco. “We want this to be indie film’s Radio City.”
The next attraction at the Ziegfeld will be the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise remake of H.G. Wells' ‘The War of the Worlds’ (a wee little movie I suspect at least a few of us have become well-acquianted with of late), opening June 29th.
As noted in the article above, the main opening feature at the IFC Center will be ‘Me and You and Everyone We Know’ on all three screens.
Another profile of the IFC Center, this one courtesy of the June 20th issue of New York Magazine…
Art-House Showdown
The spanking-new (brand-extending! Welsh-rarebit-serving!) IFC Center stomps into downtownâ€"and sends rivals into a competitive tizzy.
By Logan Hill
First, the Today show opened a storefront studio to lure screaming tourists. Then MTV plopped TRL in Times Square to lure screaming teens. And on June 17, the Independent Film Channel will open its shiny new IFC Center to lure screamingâ€"well, whisperingâ€"cineasts.
The old Waverly Theater on West 3rd and Sixth Avenue, sung about in Hair and famous for launching the Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight feature, is now a beautifully refurbished cinemaâ€"and a powerful branding tool, too. Inside, there are three theaters (210, 110, and 65 seats)â€"with great sight lines, big, comfy chairs (“imported from France!â€), and high-definition digital projection. The cinema’s largest theater will be one of New York’s most impressive, with exposed brick and violet ambient lighting. The Waverly’s drop-ceiling has been ripped away to expose the vaulted, 50-plus-foot ceiling of a church, originally built in 1831. Upstairs, there are two film-editing suites; next door is a restaurant serving “Welsh rarebit, artisan Lancashire, double-smoked rashers.†In the lobby, downtown’s Posteritati gallery will exhibit vintage posters, while the concession stand serves “organic popcorn with rosemary butter.â€
John Vanco, a veteran of Cowboy Pictures, Miramax, and New Yorker Films, will program a mix of indies, arties, foreign films, and documentaries. And, unlike his mainstream counterpartsâ€"which subject audiences to a barrage of adsâ€"Vanco will screen a digital short film before features. A monthly programming series touts guest curators like novelist Jonathan Lethem; a nebulous “advisory board†includes Steven Soderbergh and Alfonso Cuarón. Vanco says the theater will screen restorations of classicsâ€"“for the Criterion geeksâ€â€"beginning with Japanese icon Yasujiro Ozu. And a midnight series pays tribute to the theater’s Rocky Horror history, beginning with William Lustig’s notoriously violent Maniac.
But on June 17, all three screens will open with Miranda July’s terrific Me and You and Everyone We Know. On the heels of that film’s Cannes awards, the opening is “a perfect storm,†says IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehringâ€"an acclaimed release produced and distributed by IFC, showcasing the Center’s synergistic ambitions. “This was really the vision of Jim Dolan, the CEO of Cablevision,†says Sehringâ€"not the first thing you’d expect to hear about an art house. But it’s true.
The IFC Center isn’t that independent, of course. It’s owned by IFC Entertainment (the IFC network, IFC Films), which is a subsidiary of Rainbow Media (AMC channel, MSG), which is a subsidiary of Cablevisionâ€"which owns the Knicks and the Clearview Cinemas chain that let the Waverly lapse into disrepair in the first place. Cablevision held on to the lease, and Dolan saw an opportunity.
“The directive was, Make it IFC’s Radio City,†says Sehring. A top-notch movie theater, in other words, that could launch art films into the great ’burbs beyond, via Dolan’s cable channels and video-on-demand. “The independent-film distribution model is broken,†says Sehring. To fix it, IFC aspires to release small films with just one wave of ads and reviews, “instead of A markets, B markets, C markets.†The old At the Angelika show will now be shot here and rebranded At the IFC; Jon Favreau’s chat show Dinner for Five, Sehring says, will likely be filmed in the IFC restaurant. These are major advantages in the country’s most competitive art-house market, where distributors are willing to screen small films at only one theater per zoneâ€"in this case, Manhattan below 14th Street.
“If you wrote the IFC Center off to a marketing cost,†Sehring says, “it would still be a great marketing vehicle.â€
This is not a luxury that many other art houses enjoy. “For the consumer, it’s very good, but it puts the rest of us at a disadvantage,†says Quad Cinema director Elliott Kanbar. “It’s like Rupert Murdoch bankrolling the Post. Now IFC, the Angelika, and the Sunshine are going to compete viciously for the same films.â€
The Sunshine, of course, has its own corporate help. It’s owned by Landmark, the biggest art-house chain in the countryâ€"which in turn is owned by Mark Cuban’s 2929 Entertainment, a rival to Cablevision (2929 just brokered a deal with IFC’s adviser Steven Soderbergh to distribute six of the director’s new films, cross-platform, simultaneously).
This leaves the Angelika, owned by the L.A. developer Reading, relatively exposed. “I know IFC’s opening a little later than they hoped,†insinuates the Angelika’s director, Terri Moore. “And I understand they’ll have a café, like we do. People always model success. It’s flattering. But a generation of directors and producers have dreamed of opening at the Angelika.â€
A generation of filmgoers have also heard the rumble of the subway underneath. “The subway is part of the charm,†Moore says. “We’re very established,†she adds, noting the theater’s “high-traffic area, the great vibeâ€"the new Crate & Barrel, all that.†I mention the branded TV spots IFC took away. “We have been approached to do similar television spots,†Moore says. “We can do anything they can do, too.â€
But when I bring up IFC’s support from Cablevision and Sunshine’s synergy with 2929, Moore backtracks, saying, “We’re focusing on what we do well. Our audience are purists; they’re not interested in bells and whistles.†The Angelika’s reputation is its strength, after all: “What we offer, you can’t buy. You can try to copy it all your life.â€
Vanco understands such concernsâ€"and dismisses them outright, noting that attempts at one-studio theaters have failed before (Fine Line and the Thalia; Miramax and the Gotham). “We’re looking at the long term, and a theater like this needs to be run right to build credibility. Right now, we’re the new kid in town; our seats are fluffy and perfect,†he says. “The floors will have scuff marks soon enough.â€
“It’s like Rupert Murdoch bankrolling the ‘Post.’ Now the IFC, the Angelika, and the Sunshine will compete viciously for the same films.â€
The IFC, with new digs and leverage, may be able to steal some films from its competitors. The summer’s highest-profile American independent, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, is still in play. But the Landmark Sunshine has booked the summer’s most anticipated foreign release, Wong Kar Wai’s 2046, and Film Forum’s legendary repertory list will be very hard to beat. Smaller houses like the Quad and Cinema Village are at the greatest disadvantage, but while they lack big backers, they’ll never feel the pressure to book an orphan supported by a corporate partner.
“It’s going to take guts and gumption,†says another programmer, “for John Vanco to turn down stuff that his parent company would like to see at the Center.â€
The Village Voice takes a look at the IFC Center…
New Waverly
IFC indahouse: A Village theater reopens, but not without controversy
by Matthew Ross
The Waverly Theater, at Sixth Avenue and West 4th Street, will forever be known as the movie house that, in 1976, kicked off the most enduring cult classic in cinema history when it began midnight screenings of an unsuccessful 20th Century Fox release called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Its recent legacy hasn’t been so memorable. In the ‘80s and '90s, the Waverly was bought and sold several times, divided from one grand balcony theater into twin screens; in 2001, it was shut down by its parent company, Cablevision, owner of the Clearview Cinemas chain.
While local cinephiles saw the Waverly’s shuttered marquee as another sad relic of the city’s once thriving art house scene, another Cablevision subsidiaryâ€"the Independent Film Channelâ€"has been working to restore the institution as a force in New York film culture. On June 17, after three and a half years of renovations and delays, the IFC Center will finally open its doors to the public with the premiere of Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, a film produced and distributed by IFC that won prizes at Sundance and Cannes.
The center is the brainchild of IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring, who originally envisioned it as an “IFC version of Radio City,” complete with a production facility and film school. Those plans were scaled back considerably, although two editing suites have been installed upstairs. The old Waverly, however, has been given the full makeover, one that should impress even the most hardcore theater snob. The 220-seat main screen and the 120-seat balcony theater have been tricked out with plush seating and state-of-the-art projection booths. IFC also expanded into the old leather goods building next door, adding a third 70-seat theater and a restaurant.
Managing the center is John Vanco, a highly regarded specialty film veteran whose distribution company, Cowboy Pictures, closed in 2003 and whom Sehring had been courting since the project’s inception. Vanco plans to combine high-profile first-run releases with a repertory calendar that he will program himself. Other special events, including monthly movie nights with guest curators, are also scheduled. All features will be preceded by shorts.
“When I think about what I want this theater to be and how I want us to interact with the people in this neighborhood, I think about the Lincoln Plaza and the Film Forum,” says Vanco. “At those theaters, people will show up on a Tuesday or Friday night and just see what they haven’t seen, because if it’s there they know it’s going to be good. What that means is that the identity of the theater in many cases supersedes the identity of the films. Ultimately, that’s what we like to do. We want to give people a reason not to have another Netflix evening.” While Vanco admits that IFC productions and releases will get preferential treatment, he insists that the center will not serve as a mere clearinghouse for IFC titles.
So far, reaction among the New York film community seems supportive if a bit wary. “We’re all dividing up a pie, but it’s a very big pie,” says Film Forum director Karen Cooper. “Knowing John I’m sure they’ll show good films, and I welcome him back to the business. I want to be very clear that I’m not being hostile, but I think it’s important to note that people have to make compromises when they’re part of a larger enterprise, especially if those enterprises have an interest in producing and distributing films.” To help ensure the center’s street cred, Sehring has lined up an advisory board that includes Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, John Sayles, Errol Morris, and Rebecca Miller. “Someone will always complain about corporations trying to brand independent filmmaking,” says Sehring. “All I can say to that is, we’re not trying to corporatize anyone’s vision, especially not the filmmakers we work with.”
Mark Urman, head of independent distributor THINKFilm’s theatrical division, says that “we can’t ignore that this is a multimedia conglomerate trying to expand their brand,” but is willing to cut IFC and Vanco some slack for now. “John maintains he’s not simply going to be shilling for the channel, and I think we have to take him at his word. If he programs with a real sense of what the audience likes, there literally cannot be a downside. Manhattan has been woefully underscreened for a long timeâ€"we need more theaters like this, plain and simple.”
One potential source of controversy surrounding the center became apparent at last week’s opening gala. A group of picketers from IATSE Local 306 gathered outside and handed out leaflets denouncing IFC’s decision not to pursue a contract with union projectionists. “We’re not trying to get jobs where none existedâ€"we had people at the old Waverly, and we have people at every one of the other theaters in Greenwich Village,” union president Michael Goucher told the Voice on Monday. “No one can say at this point how it will resolve, but we presume we’re putting some pressure on them. The picketing is going to give them a black eye, especially in a neighborhood like Greenwich Village.” IFC declined to comment.
According to this article – View link (scroll down to Page 2), the Park Theatre was replaced by apartments; whether this was via a complete demolition of or a gutting and rebuild of the structure which housed the Park is unclear. Meanwhile, two very partial images of the interior (not enough to capture any notable architectural elements) of the Park’s auditorium can be seen on this page – http://www.paulmangone.com/images.htm – within the website of former Extreme (a one-time popular Boston-based rock band) bass player Paul Mangone, from the days when Mangone was playing with The Dream, another group from the area.
I found a street address for what I presume is the same Park Theatre in Everett: 23 Chelsea Place.
Thanks for the remembrances, babyg525, Kimee, and Scott. Can one of you confirm what presently occupies the land where the Granada once stood? The research I’ve done indicates that it at least in part serves as the home for some (if not all) of the Malden Public Schools administrative offices, but what I’ve found seems somewhat inconclusive. I trust what Ian wrote in his initial description above, but I seem to remember that the Granada building was gutted for the aforementioned offices; maybe what I remember from that afternoon at the library two years ago and what the reality is are two different things…
The official opening programs at the IFC Center:
Additional members of the IFC Advisory Board include Toronto International Film Festival Co-Director Noah Cowan, film publicity guru Cynthia Swartz, and New Yorker Films founder Dan Talbot. (And if they or someone they know have an opening for an intelligent film buff and aspiring screenwriter and producer… but, ah, I’m getting ahead of myself… )
The IFC Center was the subject of an ad on page 24 of the Arts & Leisure section of today’s NY Times. The text mentions that ‘the historic Waverly Theater is now the new IFC Center, the ultimate entertainment space for New Yorkers seeking out the best in independent film.’
Among the noted selling points:
The IFC Center Advisory Board Members are Alfonso Cuaron, Richard Linklater, Rebecca Miller, Errol Morris, John Sayles, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, and Gary Winick. The web site of the IFC Center is http://www.ifccenter.com and the IFC Center’s phone number is 212.924.7771.
Wouldn’t Cineplex Odeon have moved its offices to the 34th Street East Theatre building in the ‘80s (or maybe early '90s)? They didn’t enter the NYC marketplace – at least not formally – until 1987.
What became of the space or building which formerly housed this theater?
The new IFC Center continues to get ink, including some from across the pond (courtesy of The Guardian newspaper)…
Naomi Watts Celebrates IFC Center Opening
Friday June 10, 2005 5:46 PM
NEW YORK (AP) – Naomi Watts, along with Harvey Weinstein, John Sayles, Alfonso Cuaron and 400 movie-lovers, celebrated the grand opening of the Independent Film Channel’s new independent cinema hub.
Watts, 36, was nominated for an Oscar for her role in 2003’s “21 Grams.” Her screen credits also include “Mulholland Dr.,” “The Ring” and the upcoming “King Kong,” directed by Peter Jackson and also starring Jack Black and Adrien Brody.
Located in the former Waverly Theater and an adjacent building in Greenwich Village, the IFC Center houses three theaters, two editing suites and a restaurant and bar. The 10,140-square-foot space combines painted exposed brick, stadium-style seating, tinted concrete floors and the Waverly’s original marquee, which has been restored.
The grand opening was held Thursday night.
IFC hopes the center will serve as a focal point for the indie film community.
The monthly TV series on new independent films, “At the Angelika,” will now be titled, “At the IFC Center” and will be hosted at the center, which opens to the public June 17 with screenings of “Me and You and Everyone We Know.”
Any word, William, on how the increase in seating capacity is being facilitated?
Thinking further about the Fair, it occurred to me that perhaps if it was programmed and marketed well, it could thrive (or, perhaps at its worst, hold its own) as a second-run cinema. It’s pretty obvious why there aren’t any such theaters in Manhattan (the former policy at the Loews State notwithstanding), but does anyone have any theories or first-hand knowledge as to why the same is true in the outer boroughs (perhaps, if I’m neglecting to consider them, one or two here and there) as well?
I’ve seen – can’t recall where and wasn’t able to find them via Google – what I presume to be relatively recent exterior photos of the Fox and indicating that a Latino church has moved into the space. Can anyone confirm this (or, perhaps through personal knowledge, pinpoint a time when those snapshots might have been taken)?