Saving the Hollywood Theatre’s Soul

Can we save a Vancouver cinema and still keep it as a cinema?

The empty but historic Hollywood Theatre on West Broadway, a cultural and community hub for years, is now owned by Bonnis Properties. Last week, representatives of this developer went to Vancouver city council get their final development permit and heritage designation.

City staff, after a lot of work investigating the proposal, thought they had a deal — more development space given for housing and the preservation of the heritage building. This sounded great, especially when the developers claimed that they will “honour and respect [the] history of the Hollywood Theatre.”

But the business plan for the theatre says it will be a “for-profit entertainment/cultural venue,” a term which broadens the scope of the theatre to be able to include just about anything. While many aspects, like the planned restoration and architecture, live up to that history, we worry that the proposed community use falls far short.

We worry that cinema at the Hollywood may become an afterthought, and that the building becomes another venue for touring music acts and the few Vancouver musical artists that can fill that many seats. While the music venue would be an asset for music fans across the province, it would crowd out the showing of film.

The amazing Thierry Garrel is fighting for film’s place at the Hollywood. He is an internationally acclaimed documentary commissioning editor, public intellectual and, now in semi-retirement, a Vancouver community activist. Garrel, who was made a Chevalier of the French Republic for his contribution to French culture, ended up in Vancouver through an accident of marriage; however, in the 10 years he has been a Vancouverite he has become a force for film, and particularly documentary film culture in Vancouver. In France they take culture seriously and he has inspired many in the cultural community here to do the same.

It’s hard for films, especially documentary films and other less profitable cultural events like film festivals, to compete with the high ticket price that touring musical performances can command.

Let’s step back a bit.

B.C.’s film industry is now booming thanks in part to $561 million in tax credits, a result of initiatives first brought in by then-premier Glen Clark and former culture Minister Ian Waddell (co-author of this piece).

B.C. has become “Hollywood North,” but there is still a lot of work to do. Very few B.C. stories are told on film. Our local producers of features and documentaries need help. Documentaries are particularly important to Vancouver because it is far and away the most popular form of locally made cinema, from international mega-hit The Corporation to the more recent Canadian sensation Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World. Vancouverites have an appetite for documentaries, often homemade but of international quality, that is underserved.

Vancouver needs a place to feature our documentaries and the Hollywood Theatre would be a perfect place. Toronto’s Bloor Cinema has become an exclusively documentary venue and has had over a million admissions.

Speakers at city council, many who work in film, suggested that at the very least 40 per cent of the Hollywood’s programming should be cinema, and of that half or more should be documentary.

For over 75 years the Hollywood Theatre was a venue for films, and played a large part in Vancouver’s proud culture of cinema. The film-going community here is strong and ever-growing, but venues are scarce. If the Hollywood Theatre is preserved, we should also preserve its historical connection to cinema.

We two cinema lovers suggest that city council — in exchange for approving the rezoning — require a commitment from the developer to ensure that at least 40 per cent of the Hollywood Theatre’s exhibitions fulfill its original purpose as a cinema, and that an affordable price be offered to operators who wish to continue this storied cinematic tradition. Council will decide on the rezoning today.

That way, the soul of the Hollywood Theatre can reside again within its structure and our city’s cultural fabric will be safer and sounder.

Is a cinema any less a cinema without showing films? You bet! So, come on city, insist on conditions.

Update from July 24, 2018 at 5 p.m.

Vancouver city council approved the requested density from developer Bonnis Properties in exchange for the revitalization of the Hollywood Theatre. A community use agreement will restrict the building to theatre use only and it will live on as a cinema, performance space and live music venue.