Northern Lights in Medicine Hat, Alberta

This week has been an incredible time to witness the northern lights in Medicine Hat, Alberta (and across Canada for that matter). My favourite shot came from a spontaneous road trip out to Red Rock Coulee where I found the sky lit in shades of red, purple, and emerald. 

 

Autumn in Medicine Hat, Alberta

A new season of autumn photography has returned to the Editing Luke facebook page with regular features continuing through October. Here are some recent highlights.

Monarch Theatre Restoration In Progress

While there's currently no follow-up or sequel planned for my documentary, Your Cinema Needs You, I took my own advice last week and decided I should capture some footage while change was actually in progress (something I frustratingly couldn't find any of over a century of archival material about the Monarch Theatre during production). 

Since the documentary premiered at the Monarch Theatre at the end of December 2023, the renovations at the cinema have progressed in some major ways. The basement has been cleaned out and organized, the projection room has been fully rewired and updated, surround sound speakers were acquired from the Cineplex in Eau Claire in Calgary before the demo, the framework of the old cigar shop was uncovered, and as we speak, the Monarch's crumbling facade has been repaired and is in the process of being freshly restuccoed. 

On Friday, I did what I haven't done since 2022, I fully explored the Monarch from top to bottom again. From the depths of the basement to the top of the temporary scaffolding, I filmed a few pieces of the work in progress and some of the spaces I featured in the movie - if for no other reason than to have proof of the transformation for my archives.

While I'm not short on anecdotes from the documentary, I did get a kick out of finding one of my premiere posters now chilling out with the dozens of other prints tucked away in the cinema's basement. Not that there haven't been a lot of reminders over these months, but seeing that there was like another notch on the achievement list. Like, how about that? It all came together in the end. I can't wait for the reveal when the restoration is complete.

Our Last Picture Show at the Monarch

That's it! That's all! That's a wrap! No really, the screenings of Your Cinema Needs You at the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta have officially come to an end! 

Yesterday's matinee marked the 16th screening of the documentary at the historic Monarch Theatre, and frankly, after spacing out these shows over 5 months and with more than 5,100 tickets sold - I'm confident that we reached 99% of the local audience who was interested in seeing this in the movie theatre. 

I think it's easy to gloss over just what a big turnout this actually was because we're so rarely in packed movie theatres these days. But, the attendance for these 16 shows at the Monarch Theatre was the equivalent of selling out every seat in all 10 theatres of Medicine Hat's Cineplex Galaxy 3 times over, and then still having 700 people waiting outside to get in.

And let me say it again, this was for an indie documentary! Not exactly the genre known for blockbuster turnouts. You absolutely exceeded all expectations, Medicine Hat!

Thank you to everyone who came out to one of the shows. Thank you to the incredible cast and crew who made this movie possible. And to the staff and volunteers at the Monarch 1911 Society who could not have been more enthusiastic collaborators in running these screenings.

The last thing I did before leaving the theatre yesterday was I had everyone hold up all of the random ticket variations that I handed out at the door before each of the 16 shows. My only hope is that someone finds one of these tucked away in an album 50 years from now and goes on a hunt to figure out what it was. What an incredible ride this turned out to be - thank you all!

One Last Run At The Monarch Theatre

As this multi-year production is finally beginning to wind down, it only felt right to cap off this experience in the place where it all started. My thanks to the Medicine Hat News for this latest article about the last chance to see the documentary at the Monarch Theatre. 

Your Cinema Needs You, the story of the Monarch Theatre's journey to becoming Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre, is returning for its final run of local shows in Medicine Hat this Thursday to Sunday (May 30 to June 2). 

You can buy advance tickets online or purchase tickets at the door for $15 (cash only) at any of the 5 screenings. After this many shows there are plenty of seats available so you don't have to worry about getting stuck in the front row anymore. We are only about 50 tickets away from hitting a new attendance milestone though, so think about it lol.

Documentary Teaser: Finale Screenings

With the final shows of Your Cinema Needs You returning to the Monarch Theatre later this month, I decided to cut a new trailer for the documentary using some previously deleted scenes. You can purchase movie tickets for these screenings from May 30 to June 2 here.

Experience Medicine Hat: Monarch Documentary

Hey girl, I'm not just a good time, I'm a full page in this year's "experience Medicine Hat" travel guide lol (see the original post on @editingluke). My thanks to the team at Tourism Medicine Hat for the feature and interview about my documentary, Your Cinema Needs You in the 2024 issue of the new Medicine Hat guide out this long weekend. 

I know what you're thinking, "Luke, you've barely talked about this documentary - it's about time!" I couldn't agree more lol. Seriously though, it was fun to share a small part of this story and to help further promote the Monarch Theatre. The next time you're in Medicine Hat, Alberta come and see Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre for yourself.

 

Front Page News: Your Cinema Needs You

Yesterday I got a text from my mom, and she goes, "I saw you on the front page of today's paper. You really are a big deal." Just totally glossing over the fact that I've been telling her what a big deal I am since at least 2002. 

In all seriousness, I did a quick interview over the phone earlier this week about the final shows of "Your Cinema Needs You" and had no idea it would be front page news. It's as good a time as any to say thank you again to all of the local journalists who have covered the progress of this documentary from the first days of the production to the premiere shows to this festival run. Not only is it fun to share the excitement, but it's played a huge roll in getting this story to spread outside of Medicine Hat, which was always the intended goal. 

We've been fortunate to see a few of these stories about the doc get picked up nationally over the last 3 years, but to be honest, having the movie make the front page locally just seems so undeniably wholesome. You can read the full story here.

If I haven't said it enough, thank you for all of the support! 

You can grab movie tickets for the finale screenings of Your Cinema Needs You at the Monarch Theatre from May 30 to June 2 here.

Finale Screenings of the Monarch Documentary

CLICK HERE to purchase movie tickets for "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre playing May 30th through June 2nd. Evening and matinee shows now available!

After more than 2 years in production, a sold out premiere run, and an ongoing international film festival tour through 2024, the feature-length documentary about one of Canada's most underrated cinematic landmarks is returning to the cinema at the heart of this story, the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. 

The finale screenings will mark the conclusion of this multi-year project, and are an exclusive opportunity to return to the Monarch Theatre, experience the largely untold history of one of Canada's last surviving cinemas of the silent era from within its auditorium, and be among the first audiences to see "Your Cinema Needs You" while it's still only available in select theatres as part of its international film festival tour. 

Directed by Luke Fandrich, the 2 hour and 15 minute documentary traces the origins of the Monarch Theatre, the rise and fall of its direct competitors, and the cinema's evolution over 112+ years since it first opened its doors on December 21, 1911. "Your Cinema Needs You" features newly uncovered images, artifacts, and exclusive interviews from individuals spanning the Monarch's history, including former usherettes, managers, projectionists, moviegoers, and more! 

Book your tickets now to experience the start of the Monarch Theatre's next chapter.

Monarch Theatre: Taking Her Back to 1941

With the Monarch Theatre now wrapped in scaffolding and "Editing Luke was here" still up on the marquee from the premiere shows of "Your Cinema Needs You", I couldn't have come up with a better visual to demonstrate just how much has been willed into action over the last 3 years in a story about saving a movie theatre. 

With "Your Cinema Needs You" now returning to the Monarch Theatre for the final time on May 30 through June 2, people are understandably asking me, "do you really think you can sell more tickets after the 11 sold out shows of the premiere run?" 

Honest answer? I don't know lol. I have no idea how many people may still be interested, if we can get people to come see it again, or if any of the international film festival success will translate into views in the Hat ... but, I can tell you exactly why we're doing it. 

(1.) The success of the documentary is as good for the Monarch Theatre, as the Monarch Theatre's success is good for the documentary. If running a few more shows helps to further fund the ongoing restoration at the Monarch, the closer we get to regular screenings returning and the preservation of this heritage site and landmark in the long run. 

That was always the point of holding out to have this documentary premiere and reopen the Monarch to begin with - to emphasize the value in saving it. People who are now watching the movie at film festivals are just as curious to see how the cinema is succeeding after the fact and one final run of shows is ultimately the narrative bookend that ties all of this effort together. Put simply, it didn't feel right to have the film travel the world and then not bring it back to the cinema that it was about while it was now actively being saved.

 

(2.) As I'm looking to turn the page on this experience and move on to my next project, I have an idea for a brand new documentary that I'd like to try and develop. Instead of crowd-funding or asking for donations, I'll be using my portion of the revenue from these finale screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" to directly fund a new proposal. So, if you'd like to see another story about an unexplored chapter of Alberta history in the future (which this new idea is), buying a ticket for this finale will go a long way in making that happen. 

So, think about it? 

Tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 8.