The team behind the Prince Charles Cinema – the only remaining independent cinema in London’s West End- reports that it is ready to make a bid to revive the Edinburgh Filmhouse as an independent community cinema.
The bid to be made by the closing date for offers on Wednesday 7 December at noon is led by Gregory Lynn, who is a Bathgate native and who now lives in Dunbar. Mr Lynn has co-run the Prince Charles in London’s West End for more than two decades.
The group has confirmed that their bid is both fully costed and fully funded – including plans to buy the building which was used by the Filmhouse until the demise of the parent charity Centre for the Moving Image (CMI) earlier this year, and carry out extensive renovations, following detailed surveys that showed that it had fallen into substantial disrepair.
The team has had positive conversations with The City of Edinburgh Council, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and the Edinburgh Film Guild, and they have shared their vision for the Filmhouse to follow the Prince Charles’ highly successful business model of combining themed seasons of world and classic cinema, with specialised new independent releases, unique event screenings and a wide variety of festivals.
As you will see from our range of photos below the cinema was advertising annual memberships for £20 and lifetime memberships for £60/100. The programme over the weekend included eight films on Saturday with non stop screenings promised in the All-Night Movie Marathon. The cinema has regular £1 screenings to entice film lovers to visit the building in the middle of London on Leicester Place.
The Prince Charles team also confirmed their intention and hope for the cinema to once again host the Edinburgh International Film Festival after news last week of a rescue deal.
The Prince Charles Cinema bid for the Filmhouse will be submitted before midday on Wednesday 7 December. Estate agents Savills are marketing the 1830 B-listed building at 88 Lothian Road, on behalf of the administrators of the charity CMI which ran the Edinburgh International Film Festival as well as the Filmhouse folded in September. Just before the pandemic plans were announced to replace the building which was deemed no longer fit for purpose with a bespoke new multi storey cinema in Festival Square. Those plans were never progressed.
Gregory Lynn said: “Having grown up and now living around Edinburgh the Filmhouse has always been a hugely important cultural and community landmark for cinema lovers. Our bid is a robust, viable route to bring it back to life as a thriving independent cinema.
“As an experienced and successful independent cinema operator we believe we are the best qualified bidders with the funding, plan and expertise to bring the Filmhouse back to its full glory, with top notch facilities, a fantastic and highly varied programme, full houses, and a secure future.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
