St. Paul, Minnesota — State Representative John Ward (DFL – Baxter) is encouraging local theaters to apply for grants to help historic, small-town theatres purchase and install digital projection technology. Over the last few years, movie studios have switched from movies on film reels — the format for more than 100 years — to digital movies on hard drives. As a result, theaters have been forced to buy digital projectors costing as much as $100,000.
But according to the National Association of Theater Owners, as many as 10,000 screens — one in five in North America — can’t afford the change and could close.
The Department of Administration has opportunities for competitive grants for FY 2014-15. These competitive grants will be awarded through an application process whereby grants will be awarded to applicants that most closely meet the selection criteria.
“We have some great, historic theaters in our area and state that we shouldn’t lose over technology updates,” said Rep. Ward. “Many are small-town theaters that lack the resources of big theater chains and hopefully these grants will help them make this expensive transition. Movies in theaters have been a way for our communities to come together for generations. Our community movie theaters are a part of our culture and are worth helping.”
$75,000 in grant money is available each year for historic, small town theatres in Minnesota to purchase and install digital projection technology to allow continued access to films. Priority for grants is to theaters that have exclusively 35 millimeter projection systems in communities with few available theaters or to small theaters with only one screen. Priority is given to projects that have a non-state cash match of at least 65 percent of the total eligible project costs.
Information on request for proposal (RFP), grant requirements, selection criteria, timelines and process are now available for Small Theatre Grants and can be found here: http://mn.gov/admin/citizen/grants/arts-cultural-heritage-fund/competitive-grants/.