Quentin Tarantino Saves Los Angeles Cinema
Quentin Tarantino has stepped in to save a Los Angeles movie house from closure - he`s agreed to buy the cinema to keep it in business. The Hollywood director has been watching films at the New Beverly Cinema since he was a teenager and several years ago he was devastated when he learned the family business was suffering financial difficulties.
He contacted the manager, Sherman Torgan, and offered to give the movie theater $5,000 a month to keep the business running.
He tells Reuters, "It was going to be turned into a Super Cuts (hair salon). I`d been coming to the New Beverly ever since I was old enough to drive there from the South Bay - since about 1982. So, I couldn`t let that happen. Since I`m a print collector and I screen movies at my home, I heard from other collectors and projectionists that Sherman might have to close down. So, I just started paying him ($5,000) per month. I considered it a contribution to cinema."
However, after Torgan passed away in 2007, the landlord who rented the space to the family was determined to sell up and Torgan`s son Michael contacted Tarantino - who stepped and bought the building in a bid to keep his beloved cinema open.
Tarantino adds, "I always considered the New Beverly my charity - an investment I never wanted back. I already had a good relationship with the family and the theater, so it was a natural step (to buy the cinema). It is cool to have a theater that I can use to show what I like. As long as I`m alive, and as long as I`m rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing double features in 35mm."
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