Sudbury's indie theatre, festival, seeing resurgence as moviegoers trade laptops for big screens

Movie venues across Sudbury, Ont. say their seats are filling up as more audiences are returning to the big screens.

Cinema managers tell CBC News the surge in moviegoers is fuelled by a mix of blockbusters, popularization of Canadian-made films and movies exclusively showing in theatres again.

"We've just seen the attendance grow and grow," said Michael Scherzinger, managing director of Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, which holds year-round screenings and exclusive premieres for Canadian films during the fall.

The festival's own Red Carpet patron program, which invites audiences to six special screenings a year, grew in attendance since reopening, he added.

According to Scherzinger, its latest screening of Master Gardener, a crime-thriller starring Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver, was also packed with a full house at SilverCity Sudbury Cinemas.

"It was actually so full that we're thinking we need more than one theatre. So that was really encouraging to see and it just speaks to the fact that people are interested and excited to get back out to the theatre," he said.

Sudbury's three movie venues — SilverCity, Imagine Cinemas and Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op — were also part of the reopening that drew people back into the traditional communal experience. 

Cineplex, Canada's biggest theatre chain, reported profits of $63 million during the summer blockbuster season in 2022. But it still fell short of pre-pandemic figures of $106 million in summer 2019.

Ontario's Stage 3 reopening led to a slower start for independent venues. Most relied on a calendar system and needed at least 10 films to be sustainable, Sudbury's Indie Cinema told CBC News in 2021.

"I almost feel like it's because people are really seeking out the films we're playing," said Miranda MacLeod, theatre manager at Sudbury Indie Cinema.

Last's year's programming of 12 Oscar-nominated indie films didn't have a strong marketing compared to Hollywood productions, but still drew people in to see them over the big screen, she added.

"We're a one screen theatre, so you're not going to have availability every day to go see the film, " MacLeod said.

Sudbury's own viewing habits have also changed as more viewers are setting their sights on northern Ontario, Indigenous and French-speaking films, she added.

"A lot of people really like our Canadian films, just because a lot of them are filmed in areas that people recognise or people grew up in. We have played quite a few films filmed in Sudbury," she said.

For overdue moviegoers, MacLeod and Scherzinger say there's no better time to reunite with the big screen than opening night.

"It's such a communal experience," Scherzinger said.

"There is an experience of opening night that you can't beat where no one's talked about the film. If you can take the crowds and you really want to be in that exciting experience, that's 100 per cent what you want to do."