Mid-July update
Written by Dan
It's been awhile since I updated everyone on the progress we've been making on the theater, so today's post will remedy that. As we speak, the building's owners, Andrew and Doug, who also happen to be our primary investors, are beginning the process of gutting and renovating the building where the theater will be housed, but before work can commence, they need to gather several comparable bids from local subcontractors in order to obtain the construction loan. However, due to the busy summer months, subcontractors don't have a lot of time available for bidding on new jobs, which is putting a slight delay on the construction schedule.
The costs of transforming the 5,000 square foot building into a two-screen art-house theater will be passed on to Nicole and I through our lease agreement with Andrew and Doug. This agreement will essentially tie our financial risks together - Doug and Andrew will want to see a return on their building and construction investment, and Nicole and I will want to see the business succeed so we can repay the debt to Andrew and Doug - which means we will need to form a partnership or an LLC or some such combination of interests. As time progresses, Nicole and I will eventually buy out Andrew and Doug's portion of the business.
*** SIDE NOTE: Two gentleman just showed up at our door asking for information about our neighbor. As it turns out, she's being investigated by the FBI for running a computer scam and embezzling over $100,000 from someone in Arizona! Nothing makes you feel quite as safe as living above a criminal. I hope we're home when she gets busted. ***
We've also been working and reworking the floorplan with an architect from Midwestburg. I'll devote an entire post to this subject at a later time... I have AutoCAD pictures and everything!
Once the theater is fully-renovated and ready to roll, it will be up to Nicole and I to procure the final loan for equipment costs. We're hoping that the equipment will act as collateral for the loan, thus taking a lot of pressure off the fact that Nicole and I don't have many assets, but in the case that it doesn't, Andrew and Doug have again generously offered us their help. In all likelihood, the equipment loan should only be around $50,000 to $75,000, which, in relation to the rest of the project costs, isn't too much. If all goes well, we shouldn't have too hard of a time swinging it ourselves.
Currently, Nicole and I are in the midst of contacting various vendors for our initial inventory purchase. We're thinking that it might be better to work with a wholesale grocery distributor rather than a brand name vendor for obvious reasons like not having to deal with competing vendors, only needing to place one order with one company, etc., etc.. As always, our normal work hours make it difficult to get a hold of people during the day, so we have to utilize e-mail for the majority of our communications.
As you all know, The Moxie is our new nom de plume, which means we're going to need a new logo. We could use the one that we had commissioned for Criterion Cinema, but I'm not so sure that it fits with our new image. I'm thinking I might try something wild and crazy with the design... I might do it myself. I might not. I might post a call for logo designs right here on the blog... I haven't decided yet, but as soon as I do, you'll be the first to know.
I've stopped building the website for the theater until we have a better idea of what our brand / theme / logo will look like. Once we get that nailed down, the web design will recommence. The same goes with Nicole's newsletter designs, but not to as great an extent.
We went to the St. Louis Film-makers Showcase last Wednesday to get some ideas for when we eventually get to the point of doing something similar at our theater. Independent film-makers, in general, are a very
lively and optimistic group of people. Their enthusiasm for film has a way of rubbing off on you, which is always a good thing. If we're still around in November, we have every intention of attending the St. Louis International Film Festival.
Well, that's about it for now. Cinema 24's ride on the "Blogs of Note" list is just about ready to come to an end. It was certainly fun while it lasted, and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to share this process with a new group of film lovers. Yippee!