Feature

Art-House Showdown

But when I bring up IFC’s support from Cablevision and Sunshine’s synergy with 2929, Moore backtracks, saying, “We’re focusing on what we do well. Our audience are purists; they’re not interested in bells and whistles.” The Angelika’s reputation is its strength, after all: “What we offer, you can’t buy. You can try to copy it all your life.”

Vanco understands such concerns—and dismisses them outright, noting that attempts at one-studio theaters have failed before (Fine Line and the Thalia; Miramax and the Gotham). “We’re looking at the long term, and a theater like this needs to be run right to build credibility. Right now, we’re the new kid in town; our seats are fluffy and perfect,” he says. “The floors will have scuff marks soon enough.”

“It’s like Rupert Murdoch bankrolling the ‘Post.’ Now the IFC, the Angelika, and the Sunshine will compete viciously for the same films.”

The IFC, with new digs and leverage, may be able to steal some films from its competitors. The summer’s highest-profile American independent, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, is still in play. But the Landmark Sunshine has booked the summer’s most anticipated foreign release, Wong Kar Wai’s 2046, and Film Forum’s legendary repertory list will be very hard to beat. Smaller houses like the Quad and Cinema Village are at the greatest disadvantage, but while they lack big backers, they’ll never feel the pressure to book an orphan supported by a corporate partner.

“It’s going to take guts and gumption,” says another programmer, “for John Vanco to turn down stuff that his parent company would like to see at the Center.”