and Rick Dandes
WATSONTOWN — Matthias Sundberg doesn’t want “Marley and Me” to be the last movie ever shown at the Watson Theatre.
After the September 2009 screening of “Marley,” owners Rick and Deb Whistler and their son Jason closed the doors to the theater. Sundberg, 30, a New York City resident who grew up in Watsontown, wants to reopen them.
To do that, he needs to raise $200,000 by March 15 and has started a Web site to collect donations.
“The idea is for the theater to be a community film center where we can offer cheaper movies and old films,” he said.
Sundberg is a producer and editor for Next New Networks, an Internet company that has several different Web sites, including the cartoon-based www.ChannelFrederator.com.
Sundberg said he would return to the area if the money is raised, and he wants to teach children how to make movies and create special effects.
“I want to be able to come back to the theater where I spent many Saturday nights as a child,” he said.
Sundberg said he has a three-step plan to re-open the doors.
“I want to first raise the money, then I can buy the building and all the contents inside,” he said. “Step two and three depend on step one.”
He said he would set up a nonprofit organization to run the 490-seat theater and then start showing films, throwing in midnight double features.
“This theater is a place that helped me chose my career path,” he said.
Sundberg might do well to follow Lewisburg’s downtown Campus Theatre model of operation, said Jessica Paquin, general manager of the venue.
“The most important thing to do is make sure the community is behind you,” she said Monday night. “Without that kind of grass-roots support for the kind of programs he is proposing, I would say it would be difficult to pull off.”
She suggests that Sundberg survey the community.
“What do they want? A first-run theater? Live music? Festivals? In Lewisburg, we put out suggestion boxes to learn what people want. We’re still trying to decide the mix, between first-run movies and classics,” she said.
Lewisburg has a strong base of residents who believe that the Campus Theatre, with all its history, needs to be kept alive.
But it isn’t easy, she said. “We have to maintain the theater, keep the sound system modern and use the latest equipment,” she said. “That all costs money.”
The Campus Theatre has 10 paid employees, seven part-time high school students, an executive director, an administrative assistant and a general manager.
“My next piece of advice is, get volunteers to help,” Paquin said. “As many as you can.”
The Campus Theatre is alive today because residents can’t envision a downtown Lewisburg without it, she said.
“To me, not having this facility would be like ripping the heart out of Lewisburg,” Paquin said. “If people in Watsontown feel the same way about their theater, then perhaps it has a chance to succeed.”
If you would like to donate to the project, visit www.thewatsontheatre.com or call Sundberg at (412) 999-1125.
