Downtown’s Rialto Center for the Arts upgrades film screening equipment, connecting with its history as a movie house – SaportaReport

by Fulton Watch News Feed

By Hannah E. Jones

The Rialto Center for the Arts, owned by Georgia State University (GSU), is returning to its roots as a downtown cinema. The downtown venue recently installed a new digital film projector and cinema screen, the result of a nearly-completed, five-year fundraising effort to raise $350,000 for the new equipment. 

In addition to its live events, the Rialto now boasts a new big-screen experience. The team has almost reached its goal but still seeks an additional $37,000 to upgrade the sound system.

The hoist-animated, motorized screen is a perforated, 35’ x 19’8” Stewart Luxus Grande S8. (Photo by Darlene Hamilton/Rialto.)

The addition harkens back to the early days of the Rialto. Downtown Atlanta and Peachtree St. used to be an “incredibly vibrant and lively scene” for movie-goers, Rialto Advisory Board Vice Chair Christopher Escobar explained, with the Loew’s Grand Theatre, the Paramount Theatre and the Capitol Theatre. Escobar describes them as “movie palaces,” which are single-screen theatres with over 1,000 seats and fancy finishings. Today, only the Rialto and Fox Theatre remain.

In an effort to restore some of its former glory, Escobar and Rialto Production Manager Michael Williams spearheaded this fundraising initiative. Escobar is the executive director of the Atlanta Film Society and owner of The Plaza Theatre and The Tara Theatre, and Williams is the founder of GSU’s student-run Cinefest.

The team sees the upgrades as a critical addition for the Rialto’s next chapter. Its screening opportunities dwindled over the years because it operated film projectors — a technology that has been phased out by the industry in lieu of a proprietary digital format. Due to this change, the team would have to rent equipment that costs upwards of $15,000 for a screening.

“We’re not just talking about HD projectors where you can use a computer or Blu-ray,” Escobar said. “It’s this format that connects to a server,…

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