Monarch Documentary: Movie Premiere A Success!

6 days, 7 screenings sold to capacity, and just over 2800 people through the doors. As much as we might sometimes like to think we can orchestrate these things, the long-awaited premiere of my documentary, "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre became a prime example of a community engaging, showing up, and turning something as casual as a few nights at the movies into a real moment in time for this cinema.

Who could've predicted this response? Because I certainly didn't. The local premiere of my documentary was originally just meant to be a ceremonial stepping stone to our national release. I needed it to happen for the sake of the narrative, but I didn't expect the premiere to become a major plot point in the conclusion of what was already an elaborate story.

You've all helped to welcome back the Monarch Theatre in a way we only dreamed would've been possible. And perhaps one of the greatest compliments of all, is that so many of you came out just because you heard there was a good movie playing. At the end of the day, that's all we were really trying to do. To tell a good story, not merely a good "local" story, but a story that would resonate with anyone who has positive memories surrounding going to the movies or felt a kinship with their own hometown cinema anywhere across Canada.

To everyone who shared their stories and messages following the screenings, thank you. To everyone who rallied to help make these premiere screenings at the Monarch Theatre possible, thank you. To everyone who played a roll in making the production of Your Cinema Needs You over the last two and half years happen, thank you.

I'm seeing your messages asking about more screenings, and if the community is still interested we're considering doing another limited run of the documentary at the Monarch Theatre in February. The national streaming release is still months away, so we're thinking before that happens, there may still be a few of you who would like to experience this story in the cinema where it all takes place.

In closing, thank you again. You've made this experience an absolute privilege and pleasure. A century from now when the next filmmaker makes their documentary about the Monarch Theatre they're going to have to include this moment when the community turned out by the thousands to welcome the cinema back.

We're all a part of this story now.

Monarch Documentary: Encore Screenings

The encore screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre are ready to kick off this week on the 4th, 5th, and 6th in Medicine Hat, Alberta.

With all of the evening shows now 100% sold out, we've just added a 3PM MATINEE on Saturday, January 6th. These matinee tickets are the last tickets available for this debut run of the feature-length documentary in Medicine Hat before plans for the Canada-wide streaming release move forward. This is one last opportunity (if you don't have your tickets yet) to see the film about the Monarch Theatre in the Monarch Theatre!

Book your matinee tickets here.

Thank you for the incredible response you've already shown this film. We can't wait to see you back at the Monarch this week for the encore shows!

Premiere Screenings of Your Cinema Needs You

What an incredible way to close out 2023! The premiere screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre have been a resounding success with just over 1200 people passing through the cinema's doors for 3 nights of sold out shows.

It's been 3 days of laughs, cheers, tears, and a lot of nostalgia as the Monarch Theatre received the long-awaited reintroduction that she deserved, and the feature-length documentary finally got the climactic conclusion that we always dreamed would be possible after first learning of the theatre's closure back in 2021.

If I'm completely honest, I was never concerned that people wouldn't "like" the documentary. We'd done enough previews and test screenings along the way to know that even the casual movie-lover was likely to find something to sink their teeth into. What I hadn't prepared for though, was for quite this many people to actually LOVE it. And I mean, paragraphs long messages, tears in their eyes, personally recommending it to all of their friends, love it. That's something you really can't know until you're in the moment and you're seeing it unfold directly in front of you each night.

This was all a bit of lightning in a bottle. The timing of the production lining up with the closure of the Monarch was one thing, but then getting the opportunity to reintroduce Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre by hosting the premiere screenings as part of the official reopening was all incredibly serendipitous. As I said in my premiere speeches each night, "I couldn't have scripted a better conclusion than this."

"Your Cinema Needs You" has the privilege of being the last screening at the Monarch in 2023, and will now also be the first screening of 2024 with the launch of the encore shows beginning on January 4th. I simply can't say it enough, but thank you to everyone who has made this possible. This has absolutely been a dream come true. Happy New Year!

Encore Screenings of the Monarch Documentary

CLICK HERE to purchase tickets for the encore screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta at 7 PM on January 4th, 5th, and 6th, 2024.

After more than 2 years in production, the feature-length documentary about one of Canada's most underrated cinematic landmarks is finally ready to debut within the very cinema at the heart of this story, the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. 

Following the 3 night sold out premiere event in December 2023, the encore screenings in January are an exclusive opportunity to return to the Monarch Theatre for the first time since its closing, experience the largely untold history of one of Canada's last surviving cinemas of the silent era from within its auditorium, and be among the very first to see "Your Cinema Needs You" before its Canada-wide release later in 2024. 

Directed by Luke Fandrich, the 2 hour and 15 minute documentary traces the origins of the Monarch Theatre, the rise and fall of its direct competitors, and the cinema's evolution over 112 years since it first opened its doors on December 21, 1911. "Your Cinema Needs You" features newly uncovered images, artifacts, and exclusive interviews from individuals spanning the Monarch's history, including former usherettes, managers, projectionists, moviegoers, and more! 

This will be the final opportunity to view "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre before the cinema once again goes dark for an extended time to continue with planned renovations.

Book your tickets now to experience the start of the Monarch Theatre's next chapter.

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).

Your Cinema Needs You Premiere is 100% Sold Out

One week ago, I was beyond stressed thinking about all of the things that could potentially go wrong. Did I pitch this correctly? Is anyone going to show up? Did all of those "internet points" over the course of production actually mean anything? Lol.

It's actually made me look the best kind of foolish as everyone around me goes, "I told you this would happen." But I guess you don't know until you know.

In the last 7 days, I've sold out the capacity of the Monarch Theatre for 3 nights in a row for the premiere screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" on December 28th, 29th, and 30th. I can't fully express just how thankful I am, and completely surprised that all of the tickets moved that quickly. We're still two weeks away from the screening and don't have a seat left in the house.

Stay tuned for an update next week about additional screenings.

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.

 

Monarch Theatre Premiere: Purchase Movie Tickets

CLICK HERE to get your movie tickets for the premiere of "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta at 7 PM on December 28th, 29th, and 30th, 2023. 

After more than 2 years in production, the feature-length documentary about one of Canada's most underrated cinematic landmarks is finally ready to premiere within the very cinema at the heart of this story, the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. 

This 3 day premiere event is an exclusive opportunity to return to the Monarch Theatre for the first time since its closing, experience the largely untold history of one of Canada's last surviving cinemas of the silent era from within its auditorium, and be among the very first to see "Your Cinema Needs You" before its Canada-wide release in 2024. 

Directed by Luke Fandrich, the 2 hour and 15 minute documentary traces the origins of the Monarch Theatre, the rise and fall of its direct competitors, and the cinema's evolution over 112 years since it first opened its doors on December 21, 1911. 

"Your Cinema Needs You" features newly uncovered images, artifacts, and exclusive interviews from individuals spanning the Monarch's history, including former usherettes, managers, projectionists, moviegoers, and more! 

Book your tickets now to experience the start of the Monarch Theatre's next chapter.

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! 

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.

 

Monarch Documentary: CBC News & the Homestretch

Earlier this week, Your Cinema Needs You was featured on the Homestretch on CBC Radio One following news of the Monarch Theatre's planned reopening. As part of this, CBC then ran a story about the documentary adding to a long list of features as plans for the premiere develop. Read the full story and listen to the clip from the Homestretch here.

One of Canada's Oldest Cinemas is Reopening

This week following the news of the Monarch Theatre's reopening in Medicine Hat, I did a follow up interview with the Calgary Herald about the premiere of my documentary, Your Cinema Needs You. The story was then picked up by the Edmonton Journal. Read the full story here.

 

Monarch Theatre Has Finally Been Sold

At last night's city council meeting it was finally made public that the Monarch Theatre has sold and is now on track to reopen! You can only imagine the barrage of messages I've already received asking if I knew about this, what this means for the documentary, and does this mean the movie premiere is finally a go? Original post here.

In short, for the better part of this year I was aware this deal was in the works. I finalized the documentary in July only after this outcome became certain, but was still at the mercy of the news becoming public before I could say anything. It's been a long, long wait, but yes, this outcome has fulfilled the ending I'd been holding out for for so many months.

While dates are yet to be determined and there are many more discussions to be had, I am thrilled to announce that we've already confirmed the grand reopening event at the Monarch Theatre will be the premiere for Your Cinema Needs You.

More details to come soon.

 

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.

 

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.  

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.

 

As the months rolled on I was continually amazed at what I was finding, who was coming forward to share their stories, and what had seemingly been hiding in plain sight after so many decades. The story got bigger, the timeline extended, and I genuinely started to wonder when I was ever going to be finished. It was overwhelming and exhilarating. Exhausting and completely engrossing. 

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.