Palace keeps the show going after 100 years
AS the country’s sole cinema operator Palace Amusement Limited has had to, for over a century, keep patrons entertained through the big screen, but not without its fair share of transitions and challenges interspersed with some of the most memorable moments. Amid a changing industry the company’s directors are, however, intent on building on its historical assets, promising to better the cinema experience for movie-goers in the next 100 years.
Founded in 1921, the company credits its rich history and the contributions of its founders and past directors as the driving force behind an operation which, within the last century, has helped to play a pivotal role in the entertainment industry.
Led by Audley Morias during its early years the company, which was later sold to the J Arthur Rank Organisation, a British company, was in 1962 acquired by Russgram Investments Limited through its principal Russell Graham. After some 27 years the senior Graham on his retirement later sold his shares to his son, Douglas Graham, who since then took over the reins of Palace as managing director, control of which he has maintained for the past six decades.
The company, which prior to 1921 operated as the Palace Wilcox Sanger, had also established the Rose Garden cinema on East Queen Street along with other theatres in Kingston such as Gaiety and Majestic, accompanied by others scattered across towns in Morant Bay, Savanna-la-mar, Spanish Town, and Mandeville. In 1949 the Tropical Theatre located on Slipe Road in Kingston was also added, showing pictures produced by US film companies Paramount and RKO Inc. During the 40s patron wore suits to the cinemas and the staff wore white gloves.
However, with much of the older theatres partly operating “open air and silent” prior to the development of sound in film, the company in subsequent years has had to, over time, close a number of its former operations to make way for newer modes of delivery.
“As television and live entertainment impacted on the business, the older open air theatres proved to have outlived their usefulness and Palace, Gaiety, Tropical, Regal and Ambassador, just to name a few, all closed. Palace Amusement Company Limited, however, responded by building multi-screen establishments like Cineplex in Liguanea, Multiplex in Montego Bay, Carib 5 in Cross Roads, Odeon in Mandeville (which closed after operating for 11 years) and Sunshine Palace in Portmore,” noted Palace’s Chairman and Managing Director Douglas Graham.
The company — through its flagship Carib 5 cinema, commissioned on April 13, 1938 and often referred to as the grand old lady of Cross Roads — has since its inception continued to capture the hearts of patrons, boasting a number of achievements including its designation as the first air-conditioned building in the Englishspeaking West Indies, and also as the first to be equipped with a Dolby stereo system in the region, followed by later developments in digital and 3D projections. Even after combating a fire in 1996 and managing to re-open operations some nine months later, the cinema continues to top its counterparts, welcoming substantial crowds and contributing the bulk of the revenues for the company annually.
Graham, citing the fire and the novel coronavirus pandemic among the hardest challenges faced by the company over its 100 plus years, described the latter as a devastating blow for the business which resulted in months of complete shutdown, millions in lost revenue, and increased debt loads, with which it is now burdened to repay.
The return of a drive-in cinema in New Kingston, following the earlier experience with the Harbour View Drive-in which was meant to serve as a response to the pandemic, was however short-lived as light and noise concerns and waning patronage forced management to permanently close the location in August 2022.
Delivering just over a billion in revenues pre-pandemic, the company has since then
incurred a number of losses. Listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) since 1973, the company ranks as one of the earliest on the platform and today trades at a price of $2-$3 on average, following a 600:1 stock split in February when it moved from being one of the most expensive stocks listed on the main market after stock prices almost touched $3000 pre-pandemic.
Forging a number of partnerships with local and international stakeholders throughout the many years, the company offers services to customers in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands — to which it distributes films. A recent partnership with digital gift card company Giftme now allows Palace Amusement to offer patrons new ways of gifting friends and family a trip to the movies.
“As we look to add additional revenues we also continue to offer cinema rentals for school shows, birthday parties and other corporate and personal events, including marriage proposals at intermission, to patrons. These, along with the sale of our growing list of concession items, has over the hundred plus one years helped to create a personalised and curated experience for patrons — which keeps them coming back,” stated Melanie Graham, director and marketing manager for Palace Amusement.
With plans lined up to extract greater value from the business in the next century the cinema operator, leaving nothing off the table including the use of artificial intelligence among other types of technology, remains greatly focused on having the company’s legacy far outlive it’s largely senior management team.
“An upcoming launch for our upgraded website and a new mobile application, among other strategies, will help to further drive value for our company and shareholders as we push to grow the business,” she said.
“Our journey from silent movies to digital 3D technology has been epic, remarkable, groundbreaking and adventurous — at best. Some of our greatest achievements so far have not only been the restoration of the Carib 5 cinema but also the placement of the company on the cutting edge of technological developments taking place in the industry.
“As we look towards the future we are currently in negotiations to go one step further with 3D in the establishment of 4DX, which is a new technological advancement making movies more realistic. As we also look to adopt cleaner forms of energy we are positioning to have our plants in the near future being powered by solar energy. We are at this time actively engaged in the first phase of these projects, with plans for much more in the months ahead,” Chairman Graham added.
The director and marketing manager, in closing, also said that as Palace continues to direct a rich legacy the hope is for the company to remain as the vanguard of the industry, providing the total movie experience for all patrons in the years to come.
“As we continue to explore growth we have not ruled out on adding more cinemas, but this will only come after we have bettered our business financially,” she said.