BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter Richard Curtis is the latest among the ranks of notable names, as well as more than 920 investors, to join in the campaign to secure the future of Oxford only independent cinema, The Ultimate Picture Palace.
The campaign, named “Lights, Community, Action!”, has been launched to secure the cinemas future by giving the community the first option to buy the hugely loved 111-year old independent cinema through the purchase of community shares.
With just three weeks to go, at the time of writing the campaign is 88% of the way there. If the campaign does not meet its target by Friday 1st July, the UPP will be sold on the open market with no guarantee that it will remain a cinema or open to the public.
Along with industry luminaries including Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes, the CEO of BAFTA Pippa Harris, Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, and Guardian chief film critic Peter Bradshaw who have already expressed their support for the campaign, Richard Curtis delighted the team this week by surprising everyone with a video made at his home.
See video on the UPP’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
The producer of films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill speaks about being a regular at the UPP while he was an English Language and Literature student at Christ Church, Oxford. He expresses his resulting passion for the UPP, and how it has played a part in his career citing that one of his early films was premiered there. He also speaks of the crucial influence small independent cinemas have in providing platforms for independent film.
“Receiving support from acclaimed filmmakers like Richard Curtis is particularly special to us because it’s a clear demonstration of the lasting and crucial role independent cinemas like ours can have on filmmakers throughout their careers. It really did make our day seeing this video come through and with just a few weeks to go it couldn’t have come at a better or more exciting time.”
Micaela Tuckwell, Executive Director, The Ultimate Picture Palace
The UPP’s in itself is a highly successful business. The last owner Becky Hallsmith reasserted the cinema as a cultural landmark within the East Oxford community. Due to Becky’s death in 2018, however, the cinema now has to be sold and it was her wish that it become community owned. Friends of Becky and the cinema’s staff have been working hard throughout the challenges of the last two years to ensure this can now become a reality.
To buy the business, £312,575 needs to be raised through community shares. Building on the cinema’s reputation as a thriving part of Cowley Road’s vibrant cultural community, a successful share offer would turn the business into a Community Benefit Society. This would make the cinema a truly democratic business, enable the original team to continue the unique programming ethos, and increase its capacity to tailor cinema programming to the needs of local people. As a community enterprise the UPP would be run as a profitable, successful, independent business, whilst encouraging a large shareholder Membership to empower the local community, by giving them a direct say in the management of the business.
Membership is established by the purchase of at least one share, with one vote for each Member, irrespective of how much is invested in the enterprise. Each share is set at £1, with a minimum investment of £50, or £30 if you live in the OX4, OX3 or OX1 postcodes or are aged under 30. The share offer will run for nine weeks, closing on Friday 1st July.
“This share offer is a very special moment in the history of our cinema and for the future of culture in this city, especially after the challenges of the pandemic. Reaching our target of raising £313,000 in community shares will give Oxford’s last independent cinema the very best chance to stay independent for years to come. Anyone who knows the UPP’s remarkable story will be keenly aware of just what an indomitable survivor this cinema is. The UPP’s direct connections to Oxford’s community of film lovers has seen it through this incredible 112-year journey. Remaining beautifully preserved and now stronger than ever, it is, therefore, fitting that we are asking for everyone’s help as the UPP starts a new chapter.”
Micaela Tuckwell, Executive Director, The Ultimate Picture Palace
About The Ultimate Picture Palace:
Built in 1911, the Ultimate Picture Palace is an independent cinema situated just off East Oxford’s Cowley Road, showing an eclectic mix of independent, mainstream, foreign language, and classic films. A thriving part of Cowley Road’s vibrant cultural community, all programming is done in-house. The beautiful historic art deco still has the original box office window that opens onto the street. Inside the cosy single-screen auditorium is a small bar that serves a range of drinks and snacks before the film. As an independent cinema, there is no need for adverts, so apart from a couple of trailers, the film itself starts at the advertised time.
