Movie theater Actor’s Studio forced to close down
Independent cinema is getting rarer and rarer, this is not breaking news. Some of them, however, have been able to survive over the last years in several cities across Europe. Located in the city center, not far from the Grand Place, the Actor’s Studio (a non-profit organization) has been able to screen independent-studio movies for 30 years. Until a couple of weeks ago.
The Actor’s studio has been facing massive financial troubles and it will be forced to close down on Wednesday, which is very sad news for cinema-lovers.
Did the organization have another option? If you look at the last statistics, it seems like closing down was the only solution they could have thought about. While more than 15 movies were being screened a day, only a little more than 20 people came to watch the films lately. This was way too little to be profitable.
Georges Jetter, the administrator in charge of managing the cinema on the daily basis also pointed out the lack of practical ways to access the place, especially after the pedestrian zone was implemented. The rise of streaming online services has also played a role in its demise.
Independent cinema-lovers will have to find other solutions to watch alternative cinema in the future.
Good to know:
The Actor’s Studio will screen movies for the last time on Tuesday July 31st.