Okay there’s a lot of hysteria floating around about The Plaza closing thanks to this CBC article . We’ll even have a (potentially misinformed) news note in tomorrow’s paper based solely on that article because we didn’t hear back from the owner Mike Brar prior to going to press.
But there’s one problem with the article and the claims laid out by Brar: He says that he needs $100000 to upgrade from 35 mm to digital projection. The only problem? The Plaza has a "top of the line" digital projector. It says so right on their website . There’s also this story about American Express giving the projector to The Plaza.
Now maybe The Plaza website is wrong and that projector was never delivered but that seems odd. There’s also the possibility that the digital projector at the theatre isn’t as "top of the line" as it should be and Brar just needs a new one. But that’s not the same thing as needing to switch from 35 mm.
What is clear is that people seem to be jumping the gun. There’s already an Indie GoGo campaign to raise funds for the theatre for cryin’ out loud. Beyond the fact that this is a for-profit business and the questions that raises about bailing it out everybody should just relax and wait to learn all the facts before shelling out their hard earned money. Okay?
Stay tuned….
