Cinema Detroit hoping to expand movie showings

DETROIT (WJBK) - Cinema Detroit in Midtown is looking for the public's help to get a new piece of technology that would help them show more movies.

"To show the movies that people want to see, we need to have this super expensive equipment that most multiplexes have because the larger the movie, the more like it is to be encrypted. Major studios do this to prevent pyracy, obviously," explains the theater's co-founder Paula Guthat.

The piece of equipment runs around $50,000, though, and that's a price the little-theater-that-could just can't afford right now.

Cinema Detroit, which recently relocated to a new home on third, is known for showing true indie cinema and documentaries with the occasional crossover hit. Their goal, though, is to become a permanently viable destination for moviegoers in the city, showing art house and blockbusters.

"We get the question a lot. 'Why don't you show new movies?' Our movies are new - just no one has heard of them," Paula says, smiling.

Reasonable concessions make up only so much of the theater's revenue, so Cinema Detroit is really looking at crowdfunding, or even a possible corporate partner, to keep the lights "out" and the projector humming.

To learn more about the theater, visit www.cinemadetroit.com. To learn more about their crowdfunding efforts, or to make a donation, click here.