INEQUALITY FOR ALL

A passionate argument on behalf of the middle class, this film features Robert Reich-professor, best-selling author, and Clinton cabinet member-as he demonstrates how the widening income gap has a devastating impact on the American economy.

Saturday, March 1st:  3:30pm, 8:30pm

FREEDOM RIDERS

Chronicles the story behind hundreds of civil rights activists called the Freedom Riders who challenged the racial segregation of the American interstate transport and by traveling together in small interracial groups and sitting where they chose on the buses and trains to demand equal access to terminal restaurants and waiting rooms, and to bring racial segregation national attention.

Saturday, March 1st:  1:00pm, 6:00pm

Compact Cinema will start showing a selection of documentary films on Saturday, March 1st (the original opening on Wednesday has been pushed back).  The first show will be at 1:00pm, with a different film at 3:30pm and then the same two films repeated at 6:00pm and 8:30pm.

You are invited (and encouraged!) to do “Dinner and a Movie” by ordering a meal from any of the restaurants or food vendors in 16 West, and bringing the food into the theater to eat while you watch the movie and enjoy the big-screen experience!

The experience doesn’t end when the credits roll, either, as you are invited to participate in an audience discussion after each film, so everyone can share their thoughts and insights.

Check back here shortly for the full listings of titles and descriptions for our first week of thought-provoking films! And there may be one or more FREE showings… stay tuned!

In the past week, I completed the most important and difficult parts of construction.  These involved hanging the screen from the drop ceiling, hanging the video projector from the ceiling, and running all the cabling through the ceiling to the appropriate places.

I started with the screen. With some tiles removed from the drop ceiling, I could see there was nothing to mount the screen to:

So, to support the weight of the screen, I built a wooden truss that would span the width of the room and sit on top of the walls on each side:

Then I lifted the truss up into the ceiling (with help from Aaron from RACXpress!), secured it into place, and hung the screen from it:

Then, I replaced the drop ceiling:

Then I mounted the video projector to the ceiling in the rear of the room, using a special mount kit that sits atop one of the ceiling tiles:

I then cleared out most of the room to make space for the initial, temporary seating. Sometime soon I plan to build two rows of raised flooring in the very back:

With the screen, projector, and temporary seating in place, the space is nearly ready to show movies.

I created a Compact Cinema logo, made a banner from it, and hung it over the entrance to the theater:

Then I started working on mounting a flat-panel TV into a window to show the upcoming movie listings.  First, I built a wooden frame to hold the TV:

Then I lifted it up into place and secured it to the ceiling and the metal window frame:

I will paint the frame sometime soon so it blends in better. But regardless of that, I now have a working digital signage display:

If you happen to walk by, take a look at the screen to see what’s playing!