Audience and Venues
The primary audience we wish to reach with Before the Curtain Rises
will be
public opinion leaders, policy makers, and involved citizens who are
reshaping our communities today. The historical story of Interstate
and of the struggle to restore The Plaza Theater will offer a context
in which to examine contemporary issues of historic preservation, urban
revitalization, and corporate commitment to their communities.
There will also be another large audience made up of young people that
we wish to reach who have little knowledge of the scope and beauty of
motion picture exhibition as it existed in the early to mid 20th century.
To many of these individuals, movie-going is, and always has been, an
impersonal journey to a large series of poorly maintained, shoebox sized
theaters.
To guarantee as large an initial audience as possible, Before the
Curtain Rises will be submitted to PBS for airing either on its
national program list, regionally through PBS-Plus, or on a station-by-station
basis through a presenting broadcaster such as KUHT-Houston PBS, KERA-Dallas
PBS, KLRU-Austin PBS, or KCOS-El Paso PBS.
We will also approach cable distributors such as American Movie Classics, Turner Classic Movies, A&E, Bravo, The Sundance Channel, and the Independent Film Channel.
After its broadcast premiere, the even more important, and long term outreach distribution will begin. The film will be made available through educational distributors to secondary schools throughout the nation. Included in this release will be a teachers guide designed to help educators integrate the film into their history and social science curriculum. An educational Web site will also be developed that will compliment the film and enhance the classroom discussions.
The Web site will also be critical as a resource for public debate. To this end, the producers will make available copies of the film to historical preservation organizations such as the Theatre Historical Society of America, the League of Historic American Theatres, the American Theatre Organ Society, and the American Film Institute as well as public policy organizations that deal with urban revitalization and historic preservation for use in their advocacy work.
Structure and Style
Before the Curtains Rises will mix two distinct stories; the
historical saga of Interstate Theatres, the south's largest and most
luxurious movie theater circuit, and the moving story of El Paso's struggle
to save a part of its past with the restoration of its last downtown
theater, the Interstate Plaza Theater.
The historical story will be shot with a beautiful, lush cinematic style of photography. Archival footage, stills, and on-camera interviews of Interstate employees, theater and cultural historians, theatergoers, and theater enthusiasts will make up much of its content. Included in these interviews will be author and playwright Horton Foote who was an Interstate usher at the Houston Metropolitan Theater, MPAA President Jack Valentti, also a Houston Metropolitan Theater usher, and actress Rita Moreno whose love of theaters has been instrumental in the efforts to save the Plaza Theater in El Paso.
The present day story of the restoration of the Plaza Theater will be told in a more "cinema verite" style and will follow the struggle of the citizens of El Paso to conquer the financial and political obstacles of reviving a 72 year old atmospheric theater. There will be interviews of all the players in this drama, both pro and con restoration, throughout the battle to save the theater. This story will serve as a thematic thread throughout the film, with its segments appearing interspersed inside the historical tale. The visual of the rising of the curtain on newly restored Plaza's opening night will cap the story of the film, and add a new chapter to the historical Interstate tale.
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