Here's a way to better promote independent movie theaters: INTERVIEW: Ethan Hawke to screen his film 'Blaze' at the Byrd Theatre on Oct. 6, followed by Q&A session

Years ago, then Mayor Gray somehow managed to get rights for the Lincoln Theatre in DC to show, when it was still first run, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," starring Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig.  It was awesome to go there and see it.

I've written about the Byrd Theatre and other independent theaters (cinemas) elsewhere across the country.

Image from Richmond Style Weekly.

Because of how the distribution of new movies works, it's very difficult for independent cinemas to show the newest movies, unless they are part of a chain ("The Scale of the Screen: Auditorium Size and Number in the American Movie Theater," Media Fields Journal).

I guess there are two types of independents: (1) one-offs, like the Avalon Theater in DC, the Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, or the Byrd Theatre in Richmond (and of course, many others); and (2) small chains that focus on specialty films and documentaries, "auteurs," etc. as opposed to the "blockbuster" films produced by the big studios.

With the latter, there are small chains, like the Cinema and Drafthouse Group or Icon, and even big ones, like the Landmark Theaters owned by Sony.

Anyway, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Ethan Hawke will be screening and talking about his movie "Blaze," at an event at the Byrd Theatre in Carytown (on it's own Carytown is one of the best independent commercial districts between Philadelphia and Atlanta), on October 6th.

Hawke didn't star in the movie, which is about an obscure country music artist, he produced and directed it ("Ethan Hawke's beautiful Blaze feels like flipping through an old album," National Post).

What a great way to attract attention to the theater and to Carytown commercial district.

The theatre somehow has leveraged the fact that Hawke is in Richmond, currently filming "The Lonely Bird."

What a great idea to try to leverage going forward.  When movies are being shot in your community, as part of the "community benefits" negotiated with the production firm over tax credits and other inducements, they should include the provision of events like this, at independent theaters, as a way to promote the artists involved in the production, their ouevre, and the local independent cinema ecosystem.