Cinema Ohio

Running your own independent theater -- like starting an indie bookstore or a bed-and-breakfast -- is one of those perpetual fantasies that grip us in those moments of high business frustration. Jeff Frank, co-founder of Drexel Theatres Group, can tell you, though, that it's not all cineastes and Chabrol. Frank, along with his wife Kathy, have been running the Drexel East in Columbus, Ohio since they bought it in 1981. As he tells Fast Company, it was a neighborhood movie theater from the Art Deco era. Today, it's a three-screen cinema that shows independent films from around the world. Through a combination of passion and promotion, Jeff has managed to keep the Drexel East going strong -- and has added three other theaters to his group. A couple of months ago I interviewed Richard Florida, author of "The Creative Class", in this space. Frank targets the creative class in Columbus, Ohio. How many other small cities have an underserved market with a ravenous appetite for more than Hollywood's mindless mill?

How did you get started in art cinema, in Columbus of all places?

After I received my film degree in 1975 I moved back to my hometown, Columbus, where there were few job opportunities in film production. I got PT jobs as a crew member at ad agencies doing commercials. When a FT opportunity came up it was taking over the fledgling film series at our local Art Museum from the founder. She gave me a list of film distributors, and I dove into a totally new and unfamiliar area of the film business.

Three years later I became the Marketing Director of the 3,000 seat gorgeous downtown Ohio Theatre. Here I learned the rigorous discipline of being responsible to place butts in all those seats.

In 1981 a local neighborhood movie theatre building (vintage 1937 streamlined deco) and business went up for sale. With the encouragement of my wife and my dad I bought the business. I had done some research on new independent cinemas in several other cities in the U.S. (this was before videos and videos stores), and decided that Columbus could support an Art and Repertory Cinema.

What combination of love and money do you do this for?

No one owns and operates independent Art Theatres for the money because it's a tough business to make money at. The Drexel Theatres Group has supported my family and staff for 25 years. I do it because of the love of bringing an art form that I love to our community. Over the years we have introduced thinking people in Columbus to the best cinema from around the world. It doesn't get much better than that.

Does the audience for independent and foreign films live up to the cliché? I mean, does anyone in your audience support the war and have a poster of Scalia in their den?

Despite the clichés, the Art Film Audience includes a broad spectrum of ideas and political points of view. Film Art has wide appeal. Films like Cinema Paradiso or A Beautiful Life are enjoyed by everyone. Not too many conservatives came to Fahrenheit 911, however.

Do you program for your own interests and fervently hope that others will be similarly inclined?

If I programmed to push my own personal agenda, I would have been out of business after one year. We continue to be students of the world, learning about new things through cinema all the time. Whoever expected or entirely understood the appeal of What the Bleep? March of the Penguins came as a complete surprise. I was amazed at the popularity of a film about a Spelling Bee. The Drexel showed Microcosmos for 53 straight weeks. Sometimes we fall in love with a terrific film and hope it takes off, but that doesn't always happen, no matter how much work we put into it. On the other hand, we have occasionally rediscovered a movie that missed in the commercial theatres. That happened with One from the Heart.

Have you ever done a focus group?

We did a focus group to discover what kinds of films and amenities would appeal to audiences for our brand new downtown Arena Grand theatre. We haven't been able to do enough of this kind of research, however. Mostly due to very small staffs being very overworked.

The mega-plexes are having their obvious problems these days, what with declining audiences, a blockbuster deficit, and new technologies.

At the same time, art houses are facing competition as indie products are gaining wider distribution -- in Blockbuster, no less!

Is there anything that provokes wild or even moderate optimistism about your industry?