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[US$3], which was half the price of the evening<br />
performance." Again the public came,<br />
and the other cinemas followed by reducing<br />
their prices.<br />
With a £40 million [US$60 million] turnover,<br />
the Ward-Anderson group employs almost<br />
1 ,000 people. They are at the moment<br />
putting multiplexes up in several Irish cities.<br />
One plan for next year is to have a 1 2-screen<br />
state-of-the-art cinema in the south of Dublin,<br />
where there are now some pre-existing<br />
family dwelhngs. "I expect there to be some<br />
objections to the plan," says Paul Ward, "but<br />
this will be our flagship cinema, with as<br />
much attention as possible to what the public<br />
wants. We intend to have everything you<br />
could want in a cinema complex."<br />
Unlike the mighty UCI operation. Abbey<br />
Films does not have large amounts of cash<br />
to invest in cinema complexes, so it finds<br />
other methods. When the builders of a north<br />
urban market, according to Paul Ward. "They<br />
don't buy, they rent. It's possible that they will<br />
rent the new 18-cinema complex which is<br />
going up in Quarry Vale, which is not too far<br />
away from UCI's Blanchardstown cinemas."<br />
ITie north of Ireland has always been seen<br />
city shopping center which included a multiplex<br />
in its design offered the site to Abbey,<br />
a deal was struck between the two companies,<br />
which saw the builders getting 50<br />
percent of the boxoffice after the Abbey<br />
group equipped the nine-cinema complex—a<br />
"win-win" for all the parties involved.<br />
Brendan McCaul, V.P./Gen. Mgr, Buena Vista Int'l (U.I<br />
In the rural parts of the island, where as a place that has a lot of troubles, but Abbey<br />
constmction costs are far lower than in the has seven cinemas there too. "The north was a<br />
cities. Abbey took another route, building its<br />
own cinemas.<br />
While UCI remains a formidable competitor,<br />
"Virgin is the company to watch" in the<br />
natural progression for us because this is an<br />
island and the distance is not that far," says<br />
Ward. "If it had been England, it would have<br />
not been as easy for us to defend our market."<br />
Both Paul Ward and Buena Vista's<br />
McCaul agree that multiplexes have put<br />
new life into cinemagoing. "People in<br />
'30s and '40s who have not visited a<br />
their<br />
cinema in years are coming back," states Ward,<br />
"and I'm sure this will also extend to the older<br />
bracket."<br />
Last year alone there were over 12 million<br />
admissions to cinemas on the small Irish<br />
island. Since the average ticket price runs at<br />
around £5 [US$8], aknost twice the U.S.<br />
figure, Irish exhibition is looking up. Several<br />
factors point toward an even greater upsurge<br />
and a booming industry, which looks as if it<br />
is going to continue to grow well into the next<br />
century. Chief among these is the expanding<br />
economy in the Irish south, which has made<br />
Ireland one of the most economically desirable<br />
of all the European destinations.<br />
American architects are now planning the<br />
next generation of Irish cinemas from their<br />
New York offices. The door into Europe<br />
begins in this small country, which is why<br />
there are so many computer companies setting<br />
up here, and so many Irish who emigrated<br />
to the European continent and the U.S.<br />
during leaner economic times returning<br />
home.<br />
For the returnees and the general population,<br />
a changed moviegoing experience is what's<br />
waiting on the Irish isle. To be able to sit in an<br />
Irish cinema that is the equal of any other<br />
theatre in the world is a unique pleasure, all its<br />
.JA»Sk^USAM<br />
Celebrating 85 \fears of Exhibition in Georgia.<br />
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We also invite you to stay and participate in the annual Variety Club Golf Tournament. It's a special double feature extravaganza!<br />
Taesday. August 19. 1997<br />
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Registration<br />
7:00 p.m. - Cocktails<br />
8:00 p.m. - Dinner<br />
Wednesday. August 20. 1997<br />
8:00 a.m. - Breakfast<br />
9:00 a.m. - Business Sessions<br />
12:15 p.m. - Luncheon<br />
• Advance Registration $50.00 • Registration Desk $70.00<br />
• Wednesday only registration $30.00<br />
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'''^!^^^<br />
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Tournament contact fori Rider (770) 956-7460. For special room rates at Callaway Gardens call 1-800-282-8181.
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