THE GATEWAY THEATRE


Gregory sent you a thank you for supporting Restore & ReOpen Gateway Cinema


Martin, In March of 2020, Gateway Cinema closed its doors. The iconic theatre remained closed until May of 2021, when we reopened (during the height of the pandemic). This was only possible due to the support of FLIFF benefactor Scott Bennett and over 150 donors like yourself. The task for reopening and maintaining a 71-year-old building was enormous. We needed a half a million dollars to restore and renovate. We actually did well, raising nearly $75K, but still far below the structure’s needs. However, we did get the beloved Gateway back open, which was our goal.

The condition of the building’s infrastructure forced us to tap into all of our reserves to maintain it. The operation was jeopardizing our ability to produce the Film Festival, which is our founding mission, and for that matter our entire organization. We went to the owners and they agreed to let us out of our lease, if there was another operator in the wings.

I’m happy to report there is – and we will cease our operations on July 31, 2022. The new operator plans to re-open in August. We are melancholy that we could not find the funds to maintain the Gateway – while simultaneously ecstatic that we played a starring role in bringing the Gateway Cinema back to life.

We will continue to present film at Savor Cinema and Cinema Paradiso Hollywood. Best of all, we are extremely enthusiastic about FLIFF37 which will unspool November 4 – 13. July will be special as we will announce many events to thank our donors and general audience. Read the FLIFF eblasts for details beginning next week. We thank you for your support. Without it, Gateway would still be shuttered and possibly worse.

My email is Greg@FLIFF.com. If you have any questions and wish to contact me directly, please don’t hesitate to do so. Wishing you a happy and safe 4th of July. Gregory von Hausch