CEO vows to protect 80-year-old art deco theatre as Majestic Cinemas enters voluntary administration

Majestic Cinemas manages eight cinemas, including a historic Art Deco theatre in Sawtell. (ABC Coffs Coast: Charles Rushforth)

A regional theatre chain has blamed a slump in film releases following the US writers strike, announcing it has entered voluntary administration this week.

Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell said the company had faced mounting challenges from natural disasters like floods and bushfires, before the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the industry.

“We had some government support, but the post COVID-hangover was actually tougher for cinemas,” Mr Dell said.

“Because movies weren’t made during the pandemic, we didn’t have enough movies to show once COVID was over.”

Majestic manages eight cinemas across New South Wales and Queensland including locations at Inverell, Port Macquarie, Nambour and Sawtell.

The company entered voluntary administration on January 31 but said all of it’s eight cinemas are operating as normal.

Writers strike ‘final straw’ for regional cinemas

The announcement comes following two years which saw the release of three of the top grossing movies of all time in Australia, Barbie, Top Gun and Avatar: The Way of Water.

Mr Dell recognised that the success historical biopic Oppenheimer and cultural phenomenon Barbie, helped bring audiences back to the cinema in 2023.

“Barbenheimer was really important because it actually changed the conversation, people started to talk about cinema again and people started to come back in droves,” he said.

But he attributes the recent Writers Guild of America strikes with causing Hollywood’s film release schedule to slow to a halt in late 2023.

“It was the final straw,” he said.

“The problem was, because of the actors and writers going on strike, after Barbenheimer we didn’t see as many movies released in the second half of last year.”

Locals vow to protect historic 80-year-old art deco cinema

In the beachside town of Sawtell on the NSW Mid North Coast, locals have fought to keep a historic art deco cinema open through floods and recessions since the 1940s.

After being struck by flood damage in 2009, and closing permanently in 2012, Majestic took on the management of the cinema after a group of community investors joined forces to reopen the theatre.

Former Coffs Harbour, Mayor Denise Knight says the cinema still has a profound effect on the local community.

“It’s really the heartbeat of the Sawtell, it’s incredibly special,” Ms Knight said.

“As you walk down the street on a Friday Night, you can feel the warmth of the village radiating out of the doors.”

Mr Dell has vowed that Sawtell cinema will remain open into the future.

Despite the company’s economic woes and the existential threat presented by streaming giants like Netflix, he’s optimistic regional cinemas can survive.

“”It’s just as Mark Twain said, ‘the rumours of our death are greatly exaggerated.'” he said.