Roxy Cinema Bringing Back The Golden Age Of Movies

Press Release Thursday 31 March 2011

Wellingtonians and visitors alike can catch their first glimpse of Roxy Cinema, Miramar this Friday when the doors open on a new golden age of movie palaces.

The public are invited from Friday 1st April to look around the grand surrounds of Roxy’s two state-of-the-art cinemas, including the first purpose built 3D digital cinema in New Zealand, and to taste the flavors of Coco an elegant licensed restaurant and lounge bar. Coco will be open daily for brunch, lunch and dinner, while the first public film screenings at Roxy start rolling from Thursday 7th April.

Situated in Wellington’s eastern suburb, the home of movie making in New Zealand, Roxy Cinema and Coco are the creation of a group of film and hospitality experts who set their hearts on reigniting the glamour and excitement of going to the movies.

Roxy Cinema and Coco investors include Jamie Selkirk, Oscar award winning editor and film producer and his partner Ann, Tania and Richard Taylor, co-founders of Weta workshop, cocktail guru Jonny McKenzie, Jo-Anne Lundon and Tim Alexander, long time movie fans with a focus on technology and Valentina and Daminda Dias, local foodies and co-owners of Polo Restaurant.

The building was originally Capitol Theatre, constructed in 1928 to screen silent movies and updated in 1932 to screen ‘talkies’ (movies with sound). In 1964 the last film screened and the building was converted into Capitol Court shopping mall which operated for three decades, before falling into disrepair.

The building was purchased in 2003 and is now owned by the Selkirk and Taylor/Rodger Family Trusts and over the last year a $7 million rebuild from the ground up has turned the Roxy dream into a reality. The building’s original art deco style has been revived, with stunning interior features designed and built by the team at Weta Workshop, state-of-the-art audio and visual technology and two cinemas installed to guarantee a world-class movie experience.

“Having set up Weta Workshop almost 18 years ago it seemed only logical to take on the challenge of breathing life back into one of Wellington's original suburban cinemas” Tania Rodger said. “This was an abandoned building that deserved a second chance and I now see the Roxy as a unique gallery, a place to showcase the creative art of film making with our creative team from Weta Workshop and we’re so pleased to be able to share the magic of movies with people from far and wide.”

From Friday 1 April the public are invited inside the building to come and have a look.

Coco at the Roxy will be open from 10am offering a range of sensational brunch. Lunch and dinner delights, from espresso and gateaux, tasting plates and wine, to cocktails, or gourmet burgers and fries. Upstairs the public will be welcome to take in the stunning new surrounds and have a preview of Cinema One with its specially installed ‘waterfall curtain’.

The owners in conjunction with New Zealand’s largest cinema equipment supplier, Audio Visual Equipment, have equipped both cinemas with identical digital equipment with the addition of a 35mm Kiniton film projector in Cinema One as well as being the first purpose-built 3D cinema in the country.

Surround loudspeakers are also tuned to perform as an array to create the clarity an audience expects from professional quality cinema

“We are in the heart of New Zealand’s movie industry so we must have the best” Jamie Selkirk said. “It’s an opportunity to give something back to Miramar and Wellington, so come along and be part of the Miramar film experience.”

THE ROXY CINEMA

OPEN from 10am til late Friday 1 April 2011

SCREENINGS commence Thursday 7 April 2011

5 Park Road, Miramar, Wellington

www.roxycinema.co.nz

ENDS

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