IU Cinema postpones grand opening to January

IU claims the “best of” category title for a variety of accomplishments, and soon it will have one of the best cinemas on college campuses.

IU Cinema has been undergoing construction since October 2009 and was scheduled to open this fall, but the date has been postponed until late January.

“It’s a construction project, and often construction projects are delayed,” said Jon Vickers, director of IU Cinema. “There are surprises, and some of those surprises lead to delays.”

Vickers explained that part of the delay is because of installing different technologies and putting the finishing touches on the building. He said the cinema will be one of the best in the country and requires paying attention to detail to ensure everything is finished correctly, even if that means taking longer than expected.

“We’re in this for the long haul,” Vickers said. “So if it’s delayed for six months, so be it. It is absolutely worth the wait.”

Once completed, the cinema will be one of about 10 THX-certified facilities on college campuses in the U.S.

“It will be one of the best equipped cinemas in the country,” Vickers said. “And that’s not an exaggeration.”

It will be the location for a variety of film screenings, including silent and independent films, a few select classes, lectures from directors and film makers, a dance studio and offices for the IU Department of Theatre and Drama.

“I think it will be a remarkable addition for students and faculty,” said Greg Waller, professor in the Department of Communication and Culture. “People will just be knocked out by it.”

Waller served on the committee that voted to create the cinema and was also involved with the process of hiring a director. He said this will be a great asset for the campus because it will provide a new experience in terms of watching film.

“People are increasingly getting used to watching things on little screens,” he said, referencing iPods, cell phones and computers. “The experience of going to the movies gets less and less. It’s not going to be competing with that — it’s going to be something entirely different.”

As part of the opening events for the cinema, there will be a variety of speakers involved with filmmaking visiting IU in the spring. A few of the confirmed names include Grover Crisp, Michael Barker and Larry Schanker.

“There’s not any big names there,” Vickers said. “We’re hoping that once we’re open and have our name out there, we’ll be able to attract even bigger names.”

In addition to professional and independent films, the cinema will also showcase student films, specifically the communication and culture student film festivals.

“It’ll be a great place for all the stuff made on campus to be shown,” Waller said.

But IU Cinema is not just for film majors or movie junkies. Waller said the cinema will have something to offer everyone.

“I’m sure if they go once, it’ll be a better visual and audio experience than they’ve ever had,” he said. “That’s what’s going to make it worth going to this thing.”

In the meantime, Vickers said there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of construction and marketing.

“We’re creating this program from scratch, so we’re pretty busy right now,” he said.