Walthamstow cinema vision v18 120912

Granada Cinema in its heyday
and in its disused state.
WALTHAM FOREST
CINEMA TRUST
Waltham Forest Cinema Trust is a local company formed in December
2010. Its aims are to purchase, restore and re-open the former Granada
cinema in Hoe Street, Walthamstow to the general public. It is a
company limited by guarantee and a registered charity (no.1144168).
Registered in Waltham Forest, the Trust’s founding directors have strong
links to the local community, excellent fundraising experience and a track
record of delivering similar projects.
Inspired by the Locum Consulting report in summer 2010, the Trust’s
founders looked afresh at how a venue on that scale could operate today
when most cinemas have smaller capacities, modern facilities and are
multi-screen. The programme mix gave an answer which, in fact, harked
back to the venue’s heyday.
By April 2011 the Trust had produced a document outlining their vision. At
a time when public funding is extremely scarce, both Arts Council England
and Waltham Forest Council found this compelling enough to take the
necessary leap of faith to fund the next stage to test feasibility.
This led to the appointment of Ian Ritchie Architects to create the scheme,
and a highly experienced team of arts consultant and industry experts
to assess the business model. The consultancy team are Bryan Savery;
Richard Oyarzabal; Graham Devlin OBE; and Sue Storr.
The Trust is chaired by former MP Neil Gerrard and includes local residents
James Atkinson, Development Director Soho Theatre; Mark Godfrey, Executive
Director, Soho Theatre; Bill Hodgson, McGuffin Film Society; Roxana Silbert,
Artistic Director, Birmingham Rep; and Toby Stone, great nephew of Sidney
Bernstein, the founder of Granada Cinema Chain.
4 5
Soho Theatre and
its cabaret bar.
SOHO
THEATRE
Soho Theatre is London’s most vibrant venue for new writing,
comedy and cabaret.
It brings audiences of over 130,000 a year through its doors as well as
reaching many more people through presenting work at the Edinburgh
Festival and elsewhere, and through developing projects such as its
partner venue in Bangalore, India, and a digital arm to provide online
content.
It owns the freehold for its building in the heart of the West End from
which it runs three performance spaces and a bar. This opened 12 years
ago after an £11m capital project which combined Lottery funding with
private finance and philanthropic giving to create a mixed use residential,
entertainment and catering operation.
It currently operates through two companies: Soho Theatre, a registered charity
funded by Arts Council England; and Soho Theatre Bar, a commercial trading
subsidiary which runs the cabaret performance space and busy bar.
Soho Theatre has a distinguished Board of Trustees which is chaired by
Nicholas Allott, Managing Director of the Cameron Mackintosh Group of
Companies. Its Artistic Director is Steve Marmion, one of the UK’s most
exciting theatre directors, and Executive Director is Mark Godfrey, who ran
Soho’s capital project and has extensive theatre management experience.
Soho Theatre is a leading player in the fast-growing comedy market. Its
programme is carefully curated and makes it one of the most prestigious
venues in the country with extensive contacts across the comedy industry in
the UK and internationally. It presents the biggest stars alongside emerging
names and regularly travels to the comedy festivals in Edinburgh, Montreal
and Melbourne, presenting work there and seeking out the best new talent.