Brissy picture palace to become film & TV hub

Brisbane’s threatened Regent Cinema will be renovated into a home for the city’s film and television industry as well as a boutique cinema.

Deputy Premier Paul Lucas said the cinema was set to become the cultural heart and operational centre for the industry under a plan devised with developer Brookfield Mulitplex.

The Greater Union Hoyts cinema, built in 1928, is heritage listed and decorated with a sweeping grand marble staircase, stone walls, bronzework, candelabras, oil paintings, amazing chandeliers and miniature balconies. Its roof is beautifully decorated with murals of medieval figures.

Mr Lucas stepped in earlier this year to save the cinema after a public outcry over plans by Brookfield Multiplex for a city office tower on the site.

Premier Anna Bligh said she could not think of a “grander vision then to breathe new life into the Regent while still retaining a functioning cinema complex with the building”.

“People will be able to go to see a movie on weekends and public holidays, during the week it will be a vibrant artistic centre.”

The complex will be renovated into three cinemas and be home to the Pacific Film and Television Commission, the Brisbane International Film Festival and the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

The PFTC will have the option of running the cinemas as a commercial operation of leasing it out to another operator.

Source: Courier Mail