My New Dream

Fantastic Fest is happening right now in Austin, TX. Aside from really wanting to be there, it got me thinking, and not for the first time. It is being put on by the Alamo Drafthouse, which is a crazy cool independent movie theater that shows everything from big Hollywood hits to weird genre films to tiny indies.

I think Staten Island needs a place like this, a catch-all for awesome. My vision is a 2-3 screen theater, where one or all screens are sunken in behind a stage for comedy and musical performances. The lobby would be fashioned with a fully stocked beer bar, including at least one house brew. There would also be a good-food-with-reasonable-prices restaurant/ café, so you can spend an evening with dinner-movie-bar all in one place.

A yearly film festival, midnight movies, genre nights, classics, new releases, comedy, music beer, food, even merch (a la the Drafthouse's Mondo Tees. It would be a great way to get people to Staten Island, and a great alternative to the (mostly) crap that's there now. It's what we need, and I can envision it being wildly successful.

Here's my problem – I wouldn't even know where to start to get something like this rolling. Ideas? Permits? Locations? Money? Where do you begin? I need a partner, someone with a little bit of savvy and expertise, who shares my vision and knows what to do about it. If anyone knows somebody like this… please tell them to contact me. I need to get this done before Mr. Burns sells Staten Island to New Jersey.