Katherine will have a cinema again in a few weeks after industry veteran Greg Harmer takes up the lease.
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He started off in the cinema business as an usher at 16 more than 40 years ago in New Zealand, before moving to Australia and working cinemas in the Northern Territory and Sydney.
His son will also be returning to the Territory with his family to help Greg run a family-owned business in Katherine under the new name 'Star Cinema'.
"People back home and all my older brothers think I'm crazy, colleagues from the industry think I'm crazy but I'm confident it'll work," he said.
"I don't really mind how negative some people I know have been about it because in Katherine the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.
"The Katherine Film Society and Katherine High School have already both offered assistance to get the place cleaned up and ready.
"It's different in the Territory and especially in a town like Katherine because people still want to get out of the house and we have the perfect weather for people to do so.
"I've been in this business a long time, I've also had access to figures from the last 12 months it was open and there's a lot of potential here," Mr Harmer said.
Lightning destroyed crucial equipment at Katherine Cinema in January of this year and the business never returned to full operation thereafter.
Efforts to sell fell through in February, leaving many residents to doubt whether it would ever return.
Mr Harmer decided to take up the lease after a 'good chat' with venue owner Tony Adams, who had agreed to 'make it easy' for Greg to bring a cinema back for the community.
He believes a community-minded management style and a return to the former glory of cinema experiences will allow Star Cinema to thrive in a town like Katherine.
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"People used to come in and they'd have the cartoons and funnies on for twenty minutes before settling in," he said.
"I've changed the name because cinemas should still have some of that personality to them, and I want people to have that full cinema experience when they come in the door as well.
"I'll be running a Senior's day on Wednesdays with sandwiches made up at the Cafe next door.
"I'll be speaking with the schools and other organisations about organising work experience and opportunities for this town's kids at the cinema.
"If the schools want to hire out the cinema to show a film for their kids they can have it for free, the only condition being everybody gets their munchies and drinks at our Candy Bar.
"And I'll be putting video games and such into the foyer area because the cinema should be an entertainment centre in this town," Mr Harmer said.
COVID-19 has raised questions around which films will be released for cinemas to play, as well as how many patrons they can legally have in the venue.
Mr Harmer says he is prepared to work around such issues going forward, and will have a soft launch in the coming weeks with $5 tickets to watch old movies and come see the revitalised venue.
The opening-date has yet to be identified but is also expected soon.
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