Independent cinemas ‘not on the radar’ in Reading deal

Thursday, 14 March 2024

Wellington City councillor Tim Brown says the capital’s struggling independent cinemas were not considered as the council hatched a $32m plan to help out the international owners of the Reading cinema chain but “the horse has bolted” on the deal.

It comes after owners of three of the four bigger Wellington independent cinemas — Penthouse, Roxy, and Empire — raised alarms that the council deal with the Reading company would put them on an uneven playing field. Each stressed they were open to competition, so long as it was fair.

Empire owner Pat Vinaccia called for a “level playing field when dealing in a very competitive market” while Penthouse owner Iain Macleod argued that “what is good for Americans is also good for locals”. Roxy in Miramar co-owner Valentina Dias said the deal was “incredibly unfair” and local cinemas “invested and supported our communities without council support”.

The Reading complex in Courtenay Place has been closed since a structural report in 2019 and, in an effort to reopen it, the council is looking to buy the land under it for $32m, which the Reading company would use to fix and reopen.

Brown on February 29 labelled fellow councillors wanting to derail the deal “despicable” and said they were throwing the council’s reputation “under the bus”.

On Wednesday he said the comment was a “stupid” remark.

“It is perhaps embarrassing that this issue [of how independent cinemas would be affected] was not raised when councillors were considering the Reading deal … The potential impact on other cinema was not on the radar. I'm almost certain that was never raised, either by management or other councillors

“Now the horse has bolted.”

He stood by his vote but was sceptical about the deal working out as cinema chains were struggling internationally.

The focus while doing the deal had been on what was best for the city, he said..

The council, which was paying an initial bank-guaranteed $6m deposit, could recover the money after a couple of years if it did not meet council requirements, he said.

Vinaccia emailed all councillors, labelling the deal “not only grossly unfair and uncompetitive to the industry but also to Wellingtonians”.

“On their reopening, it will take most of the pie which will spell the end or at the very least restructure to some of the [independent] cinemas,” he wrote. All councillors were asked to respond to his claims.

Mayor Tory Whanau, a backer and part-architect of the Reading deal, said it was about “more than just a cinema, it is a much needed activation of the city”.

Councillor Tony Randle said it was a “bad deal in so many ways” and would see ratepayers such as Vinaccia funding competing businesses.

Diane Calvert said the deal was not an appropriate use of ratepayers’ funds, “nor is it appropriate approach by the city leaders to not provide a level playing field”.

Nicola Young said the deal kept worsening with more information: “Council should listen to the local businesses; instead council is discriminating against them.”

Nureddin Abdurahman said, “council shouldn’t be favouring one commercial business over another”.

No other councillors who voted for the Reading deal responded.

But will there be screens?

Confusion is rippling through the xouncil over whether the reopened Reading Cinema will have a single screen when it reopens.

“I don’t think it has to be a cinema at all,” Brown claimed on Wednesday, after confirming there was no consideration in the deal of how it would affect independent cinemas.

Brown had been involved in the early days of hatching the deal.

He claimed that the only promise was for some sort of “entertainment” precinct at the Courtenay Place site.

But his claim was quickly rejected by council chief executive officer Andrea Reeves: “The agreement includes an obligation to redevelop to the Outline Plans and Specifications, and amongst other things, these set out the cinema complex design and quality,” she said in an emailed statement.