Difficult year, but 2016 will see cinema on the rise

AN ANNUAL report from Oban Phoenix Cinema shows that in spite of a difficult year, a summer of poor weather and some of the best films are putting the community enterprise in the best position for 2016.

Chairwoman Louise Glen will tell the annual general meeting next Thursday that better times are ahead now that the voluntary board has stabilised after a difficult 2014.

Ms Glen said: ‘Oban Phoenix Cinema, like many businesses in their early years, has gone through a transition.

‘While we cannot guarantee that we have settled, the year to March 2015 was one of both turbulence, and then the roots of stability.

‘ We started the year at only what can be described as a crossroads and certainly our annual report for the year to 2014 reflected the many challenges we had.

‘Our figures show that we still have much to offer the public, and since December 2014 we have bought in the services of a film programmer from Lon- don who is a pensioner with a passion for film, programming some of the best independent cinemas in the country.

‘This has had a positive impact on our work and we are showing some of the best films, with a programme second to none.

‘During the year we refurbished our second screen. This has instantly had an impact in terms of booking films and using the second screen as a place to see films which no longer attract an audience to the big screen. No one ever said running a community- owned cinema would be easy, but we are building up a reputation for good practice.

‘ We have retained staff for a remarkably long period of time for the entertainment service industry. We have become members of the Living Wage Foundation and pay all our members of staff over the age of 18 at the national rate.’

The AGM meeting starts at 6pm. Following this there will be a screening of a donation- only film for members of the charity.