Sean C. Morgan
Between donations and a price hike of $1 per ticket, the Rio Theater has raised $6,000 toward a new digital projector that will be required if the Rio is to keep its doors open.
Theater owner Mike Kinney says he needs to raise $40,000 for the projector, which will be required to play new movies, many of which are available only in digital formats beginning this month.
The funds include a little more than $2,000 in cash donations and around $4,000 from a $1 increase in ticket prices earlier this year. Currently, the Rio charges $6 to see a movie.
Kinney said he is working on securing a loan to make the down payment for the projector. He’ll borrow a little more cash than he needs for the projector to make both interior and exterior repairs. He will need to make a $20,000 down payment on the equipment before he can get it installed, but it’s not a payment his family can afford.
He has two children in college right now, he said, and he’ll end up selling off personal property to help. He’s still looking for help from the community to close the funding gap, like the Lebanon community did with the Kuhn Theater.
Like other people, “I really can’t afford to pay for anything like this,” Kinney said. “I want to try do to the best I can. I don’t want to see it go to waste.
“The theater makes money and is self-supporting. It pays the utilities and help.”
But it is not the kind of business that can pay for a mortgage, dental care and car payments, Kinney said.
He ultimately wants to sell the business and retire, and he doesn’t want to see the theater close afterward, he said. He wants to see the theater go digital and stay open.
The Rio is one of many independent theaters that are scrambling to find ways to survive the switch to digital. An Aug. 23 report in the Portland Oregonian listed 13 establishments in the metro area alone that offer second-run and art films, and will have to install digital projection systems if they want to keep showing newly produced movies.
Until now, movies have arrived on 35 mm film reels. Digital movies will arrive on hard drives that can be reused by studios.
Before digital, with 30,000 screens and 5,000 film prints, it was often hard to get movies, Kinney said. Now, there are only 500 prints available.
Once the digital projector is in, with an upgrade from DTS to Dolby 7.1 for sound, “I’ll have as good a picture and sound as anybody can do,” Kinney said. “And my prices will still be cheaper.”
Donations may be given to the Rio Theater at any Key Bank or using PayPal at sweethomerio.com.
The Rio is offering passes and refreshments as incentives for donations. At $25, the Rio will provide passes for a family of four or two passes for two persons. At $1,000, the Rio will provide passes for two and unlimited popcorn and soda for 14 months – or seven months for a family of four.
The theater also offers rental of the facility; the sale of a large private collection of movie posters and early advertising, with some dating back to the 1950s; and the sale of an older digital projector that is not compatible with the new digital movies. It can be used to project 30-foot images from DVDs or files on a screen or wall up to 100 feet away. It is often used now for cartoons, birthday parties and special events.
Kinney is also working with Dawn Shaver of Sweet Home to set up special events in the coming months. The Oregon Jamboree held a special benefit for the Rio, showing “The Wolverine” the night before the Jamboree and providing prizes such as meet-and-greet passes to help out the Rio.
Among ideas for an upcoming event will be a ladies’ night, a “wine and chocolate truffle” event, with an appropriate movie, Kinney said.