FIRST (YEAR) RODEO
Rodeo Cinema offers nostalgic movie-going experience
Rodeo Cinema in Stockyards City marks one year in business
I admit I love movies. In a strange way, it started before I was born because my mom and dad got my name from a movie. There is a movie titled “Dino” starring Sal Mineo and Brian Keith, so movies always have been an integral part of my life. People don't find it all that unusual when they discover I have been a film critic for close to 30 years.
Film is a powerful art form, and the international cravings for love, fantasy, adventure, drama, comedy and crime — to name a few themes — have not changed all that much over the years. Movies are a combination of all the arts; they connect with so many different things in our lives. The uniquely special experience of movie-going is taken to a new and exciting level at Rodeo Cinema in Stockyards City.
Rodeo Cinema will be celebrating its first anniversary on Aug. 24, while its sister theater in Tulsa, Circle Cinema, has been around for 16 years.
Kim Haywood joined the deadCenter Film Festival in 2003, and her work there was very impressive. The last seven years she served as director of programming and education for the festival. She also worked with Clark Wiens, one of the cofounders of Circle Cinema. Haywood is now executive director of Rodeo Cinema.
“We had always really wanted to create a very similar concept here in Oklahoma City because Oklahoma City did not have a dedicated independent art house movie theater that had independent film seven days a week,” Haywood said. “So, when this property became available, the owners had purchased it and were looking at finding another tenant again to fulfill those other six and a half days of the year.”
By the way, that other tenant is the Rodeo Opry, which has a performance every Saturday night, except for holidays. And it's a partnership that is working well.
Before Rodeo Cinema officially opened, Haywood had a two- to three-year plan, which included people coming in daily to see a movie and having many sold-out screenings. But she said they already have hit that mark.
“We have people coming in all day long for all our screenings. We've had multiple sellouts. And what that tells me ... is that there is a hunger for independent cinema.”
`A warm hug'
It's a hunger that's been in Oklahoma City for years, so it is very exciting to have Rodeo Cinema fulfill a need for that very special cinematic, single-screen experience. When I first walked into the theater, I immediately felt comfortable, relaxed and right at home.
" Someone described the theater as being a warm hug because you still feel the history and the space, but it has all the modern amenities,” Haywood said.
The 172-seat theater also has some stadium seating in the back. And the Rodeo Cinema is the only theater in the state that has something called a hearing loop.
“Underneath each of the chairs is copper wire,” Haywood explained. “And if anyone has an assistive hearing aid, there is a setting on their hearing aid where they can tune in to a very specific channel, and audio from the film goes directly to their hearing aids.”
Haywood said she is asked occasionally exactly what type of films are shown at the theater.
“The kind of films nominated for Oscars
that you've never heard of and you didn't know where to go see them. That's what we play,” she said.
Simply put, you can see independent films with great stories, great acting and great cinematography. You can catch documentaries and regular narrative features, too.
The Academy Awardnominated “The Favourite” was one of the many films shown in recent months, as well as the award-winning documentary “Free Solo.” Occasionally, filmmakers or someone from a local group connected to the theme of the film will be brought in for a discussion.
Rodeo Cinema is a nonprofit organization. “So, we have a membership program that ranges anywhere from $35, many places in-between, and up to $5,000 for corporate businesses. We do accept donations, and we are fundraising through grants,” Haywood says. “The reason that we do that is because we like having these programs. We love having the speakers. We want to create more programs, and that's just something that theaters can't do off of a ticket sale and concessions.”
And, I want to add, the theater is easy to get to in Stockyards City, and parking is a breeze!
Dino Lalli is the producer, co-host and one of the reporters for the weekly television travel show Discover Oklahoma.