Dec 21, 2023
Encore Screenings of the Monarch Documentary
Dec 17, 2023
Monarch Documentary: Souvenir Premiere Tickets
If you have movie tickets to one of the sold out premiere screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre later this month on December 28th, 29th, and 30th, remember to grab a FREE souvenir ticket stub when you attend.
I personally love having souvenirs from my experiences, but with everything moving online, you rarely get the memento anymore. I thought I'd create some vintage inspired tickets to give guests something to share, to take a picture for socials, or just to mark the occasion. I'll also have a hole punch on hand so we can punch the exact date you attended the screening (if you want to).
The souvenir tickets are purely aesthetic, so unfortunately they won't get you in the door. But, I'll probably be handing these out as people line up at the Monarch before the show.
And if you missed out on this first round of screenings at the Monarch, stay tuned for news to drop about additional screenings coming this Thursday (Dec. 21).
Dec 14, 2023
Your Cinema Needs You Premiere is 100% Sold Out
Dec 12, 2023
Premiere Posters at the Monarch Theatre
Dec 8, 2023
Your Cinema Needs You on the Monarch Marquee
Admittedly, I'm biased, but I think this looks way better on the Monarch Theatre's marquee than "CLOSED" did. Movie tickets for the premiere of "Your Cinema Needs You" are moving quickly. Purchase your tickets here for the screenings on December 28th, 29th, and 30th.
Dec 7, 2023
Monarch Theatre Premiere: Purchase Movie Tickets
Dec 4, 2023
Monarch Documentary: Premiere Is A Go!
After last week's post about the seeming unlikelihood of Your Cinema Needs You premiering this year, I couldn't be more thrilled to announce that the Monarch documentary will officially premiere at the Monarch Theatre before the year is out! December 28, 29, and 30th to be exact. Now the real work begins to pull this together and rally the community.
Here was the teaser trailer from today's surprise announcement (see below). Tickets for the screenings will go on sale this Thursday with a direct link to the ticketing portal posted here on Editing Luke as well as on facebook.com/editingluke. I hope to see you there!
Nov 29, 2023
Hurry Up & Wait: Monarch Documentary
Nov 18, 2023
Midnight Madness & Kitschy Thrift Shop Finds
Last night was Midnight Madness in downtown Medicine Hat, Alberta, and over the last couple years, this has become one of my new favourite Christmas traditions. Mostly, it's an excuse to snack and shop, but in addition to a few great visuals (like the balloon glow) we've made a habit of using the event as an excuse to find thrifty treasures around downtown.
If you're wondering where all of your grandparents' kitschy gems ended up - last night I bought 'em all! I am a sucker for vintage books, film, travel souvenirs, photography, etc.
A few of my finds included more VHS, 45s, and 8 tracks. I also found a handful of location-based glassware, your grandma's spoon collection from around North America, and a handful of vintage travel guides - including the official photo book of the torch relay from the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, the guidebook from the Tower of London gift shop, and a 1966 travel guide of Pompeii (100% in Italian). And what did my total come to for all of these incredibly rare historic artifacts? A whopping $18 for the night. It was a lot of fun.
Oct 15, 2023
Vintage Monarch Theatre Movie Ad Prints: Series 2
This second collection is a follow up to the first series of vintage movie ad prints created as part of the production for Your Cinema Needs You about the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Full details on this new collection here. Also, here.
Sep 19, 2023
Monarch Theatre Has Finally Been Sold
Aug 28, 2023
Vintage Monarch Theatre Movie Ad Prints: Series 1
Part limited-edition print release, part official merch drop for my upcoming documentary, today I released a collection of 10 cardstock prints featuring custom-restored movie ads from the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
Created as part of the production for "Your Cinema Needs You", the soon to be released feature-length documentary about Canada's oldest surviving cinema, these prints feature stylized ads spanning the Monarch Theatre's history from the silent era up into the 1980s.
Each print is 5x7" and is printed on a heavy cardstock, matte laminated on the image side, and features the documentary film logo and description on the reverse. These prints were restored from uncovered negatives, were custom edited and stylized for "Your Cinema Needs You", and each one specifically references the Monarch Theatre and just some of the notable films that played there - because of this process, this collection does not exist anywhere else.
The collection of 10 prints is available for $60 and includes a free pop & popcorn enamel pin set in addition to free shipping. Full details for this flash sale are on the Editing Luke Facebook page as of today (while stock lasts).
Prints in series one include: Silent Era 1, Charlie Chaplin, Silent Era 2, Wizard of OZ, King Kong, Gone With the Wind, Mid-Century 1, Mid-Century 2, Jaws, and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Aug 17, 2023
Medalta Documentary: Tourism Feature
My thanks to Tourism Medicine Hat for their feature on my documentary about Medalta Potteries and the historic clay district this week. The documentary is titled Clay, Creativity & the Comeback and was released in 2019. Read more about that project here.
Aug 3, 2023
Film On Monarch Theatre History Complete
With the documentary on the Monarch Theatre (Your Cinema Needs You) finally wrapped, it's now all about working out the details for a premiere and the much anticipated release. This story appeared in the Medicine Hat News today following the official announcement on the film's completion just a few days ago online. Full article here.
Jul 30, 2023
One Last Chapter: Monarch Documentary
It has been one year and seven months to the day - 577 days to be exact - since I made an announcement about the Monarch Theatre, a signed production agreement, and the new feature-length documentary I had going into production at the start of 2022.
Deciding to uncover the story about a potentially significant old cinema is one thing, but you can't really appreciate just how long 112 years actually is until you find yourself face to face with what a single newspaper archive spanning that timeframe looks like up close - and worse, just how sparse the clues in those archives are when the subject you've chosen to focus on is a seldom written about single screen movie house in the middle of the Canadian prairies.What can I say though? I do love movies and the places that show them.
It's honestly been a dream to explore, document, interview, contextualize, and uncover artifacts in connection to a cinematic landmark that (let's be honest) the vast majority of Canadians have understandably never heard of before. There's something exciting about knowing you've found your hook though, a point that only became reinforced when just a month into production the announcement about my little movie was picked up and spread nationally by the Toronto Star.
And, oh yeah, was the Monarch ever going to reopen again? This news hung over the production for over a year while plans shifted, promises changed, and I continued to pretend that I knew what the conclusion to my movie would eventually be. As the Calgary Herald so fittingly put it in their feature about the documentary, "true stories rarely have tidy endings".
So, here we are. After all of the teasers, updates, sneak peeks, rumours, changes, and behind the scenes snapshots, I guess it's finally time that I break the long-awaited news (and yes, I thought I'd make a meal out of this update too) the documentary is actually done. Scored, previewed, revised, rendered, cut, locked, and now awaiting release.
Your Cinema Needs You is finally, officially complete.