About Us
Fort Wayne Cinema Center, Inc. is a not-for-profit film
society serving northeast Indiana. We are guided by
our mission statement which reads:
Fort Wayne Cinema Center, a not-for-profit cultural
organization, is dedicated to bringing the best of
independent, foreign, documentary, classic, and specialty
films that otherwise might not be shown in northeast
Indiana, through a variety of films, special events,
educational programs, and community outreach.
Our purpose is to fulfill this mission. We strive to
increase understanding and enjoyment of film as an art form
and to give viewers of all ages opportunities to become
enlightened consumers of this increasingly influential and
popular media.
We pursue this mission at two great locations; our original
location Cinema Center downtown at 437 East Berry Street in
the Hall Community Arts Center and at our new location,
Cinema Center Tech, in the Andorfer Commons on the campus
of the Indiana Institute of Technology at 1600 East
Washington Blvd.
History
Cinema Center was founded in 1976 by a dedicated group of
film enthusiasts after The Spectator, Fort Wayne's
last art and specialty movie house located on the Landing,
lost its lease. Our first funding came from the Fort
Wayne Bicentennial Committee supported the presentation of
classic American films. Our first presentation was
"The Big Sleep," the great film noir directed by
Howard Hawks, a Hoosier born just down the road in Goshen,
Indiana.
For thirty years, we have grown and changed with the
community and the film industry. For our first fifteen
years, we were an itinerant organization, finding homes as
needed. We have shown films at the Unitarian Meeting
House, the Allen County Public Library, a conference
room at One Summit Square, and the Fort Wayne Museum of
Art.
In 1991, with the generous support of Arts United, the
Foellinger Foundation, the Lincoln Foundation and many
other organizations and individuals, Cinema Center
founds its first permanent home in the Hall Community Arts
Center at 437 E. Berry St. A permanent home allowed us
to grow and step up to 35mm presentation. Our theater
seats 141 and boasts bright, crisp projection and Dolby
digital sound.
In 2004, in collaboration with Indiana Tech, we added
a second screen on the campus of Indiana Tech at 1600 E.
Washington Blvd. The 200 seat state of the art theater
is in the new student center, the Andorfer
Commons. Cinema Center now presents over 100 films
each year.
Today, after 30 years of great films and films and
community service, we are more passionate about the joyous
transformative powers of film than ever! We are
community owned and locally programmed. For more
information, e-mail us at movies@cinemacenter.org.
Board of Directors
Leonard Williams - President
Denise Douville- Vice President
Fred McKissack- Secretary
Kim Grathwohl- Treasurer
Kathy Bock
Derek Devine
Kenna Jackson
Kim Jacobs
Tim Jones
Jane Martin
Ted Remmington
Steve Sarratore
Dan Smith
Kevin Smith
Nancy Virture
Advisor: Bessie Makris
The Board of Directors governs Cinema Center. Board members
share an interest in film, but are diverse with regard to
age, religion, concerns, and interests. The Board is
responsible for determining the priorities and policies of
Cinema Center. Board members serve three year terms and are
eligible to serve two terms.
Staff
Executive Director: Catherine Lee
Theater Manager: Rich Lee
Chief Projectionist: Alan Gick
Projectionist: Tony Hendy
Smiling faces at the box office: Caroline
Dykehouse, Ryan Thrower, Nate Spielman & David
Seculoff
Miss Saturday Night: Barb Sprandel