The Hollywood Theater Must 'Go Digital or Go Dark' in 2013

Perks of Being a Wallflower author/director Stephen Chbosky grew up in Upper St. Clair and spent many nights in the 1980s and 90s at the Hollywood Theater seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  When he returned to Pittsburgh last year he actually shot part of his film at the Hollywood, and the fee he paid the theater helped us to file our nonprofit incorporation papers.  At the end of his press tour this past September he made a stop at the Hollywood to present Rocky Horror to a very enthusiastic sold-out crowd, and he has since joined the theater's advisory board and made a donation during Pittsburgh's Day of Giving. 

But despite his meaningful connection and support of the Hollywood, his film's distribution company has refused to let our theater show Perks of Being a Wallflower because the theater cannot afford the new digital equipment they require.  After nearly 100 years of showing 35mm motion picture film in movie theaters, the film industry is now undergoing a mammoth change to a new format.  Studios and distributors are fast making the switch to DCP, or Digital Cinema Package, a file format that is screened at theaters via a high end digital projector and server.

Movie theaters need to invest up to $100,000 per screen to convert to this new systerm.  Up to 60% of U.S. movie theaters have reportedly already made the conversion, with the bulk of those being the larger, better-funded corporate multiplex theaters.  The remaining 40% includes many of the smaller historic neighborhood cinemas across the country that can't afford the high cost of the switch, a good number of which have already been forced to close.  The Hollywood falls in that 40% and needs your help now to prevent having to shut its doors forever.   

The Hollywood Theater needs to raise $75,000 to to make the film-to-digital conversion in 2013.  With $5,000 seed money from Pittsburgh's Day of Giving this past September, we have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise the additional $70,000 needed.  Dormont and its surrounding communities at one time had five neighborhood cinemas.  The Hollywood is the last of them that remains open.  Please help keep it that way and donate now at www.indiegogo.com/HollywoodGoDigitalOrGoDark. 

Thank you, and see you at the Hollywood!