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MY LEWES: DINO BISHOP, DEPOT CINEMA MARKETING MANAGER<br />
Are you local? I was born in Gloucester and came<br />
here after three years’ university in Durham and<br />
five years working in London – though I refuse the<br />
title ‘DFL’ because I was only passing through. I<br />
came here in 1996, which means I’ve spent almost<br />
half my life here. I got a job in Uckfield and asked<br />
where was nice to live nearby and everyone said<br />
‘<strong>Lewes</strong>’. I haven’t regretted it for a moment.<br />
Until recently you commuted in and out of<br />
London… Then I had a little malfunction. A bit<br />
of a heart attack. Now I’m working at the Depot in<br />
the same field as I was before – marketing and PR<br />
– but just five minutes’ walk from my house. That’s<br />
much less stressful! And, thanks to a lot of work at<br />
Christine Ash’s wonderful gym in the Phoenix – I<br />
do all the classes from Zumba to combat – I’m fit as<br />
a fiddle now. Fitter, in fact.<br />
Is it a dream job? It’s fantastic. It’s such a beautifully<br />
designed environment and all the people<br />
working there are as excited as everybody else<br />
about the place. You usually ask ‘what does <strong>Lewes</strong><br />
lack’ in this space: well after 46 years it doesn’t<br />
lack a bespoke cinema any more. Carmen’s programme<br />
is just right for <strong>Lewes</strong>, with something<br />
for everyone, and so many people come just to<br />
have a coffee or eat.<br />
What does <strong>Lewes</strong> lack? If I suddenly became a<br />
multi-millionaire I would bequeath the town a similarly<br />
state-of-the-art performance space for amateur<br />
theatre and musicals. I was on the committee<br />
for LOS Musical Theatre (the ‘Operatic’) for years,<br />
and while part of the pleasure of the operation is<br />
turning the Town Hall into a theatre twice a year,<br />
it would be nice to have a dedicated space. And a<br />
year-round radio station, too. Rocket FM is brilliant<br />
[Dino presents the breakfast show with Ruth<br />
O’Keeffe] and it would be great to have more.<br />
Favourite pub? The <strong>Lewes</strong> Arms. I’m in the LADS<br />
panto every March so I spend a lot of time there<br />
rehearsing and having a drink afterwards in the first<br />
quarter of the year. It feels like home, though I’m<br />
not ready for the front bar yet.<br />
Are you Bonfire? I’m in Commercial Square. I report<br />
live on the processions for Rocket FM till 9pm<br />
then I scoot off in my smuggler’s costume to the<br />
firesite. Then we get people reporting from each<br />
site on the fireworks. Only in <strong>Lewes</strong> do fireworks<br />
work on the radio.<br />
Do you often leave <strong>Lewes</strong>? After all that commuting<br />
I go to London as little as possible. There’s<br />
rarely a reason to leave <strong>Lewes</strong>, actually, though my<br />
partner Alex and I have a little place we’ve been doing<br />
up in Alicante that we visit when we can. But I<br />
wouldn’t live anywhere else in the UK than <strong>Lewes</strong>:<br />
they’ll have to take me out of here in a box… they<br />
nearly did a couple of years ago! Alex Leith<br />
Photo by Alex Leith<br />
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