It was not the best of news to receive at the beginning of one's birthday.
After rolling out of bed, I checked the e-mail to find a message from my boss. It led to an article with the headline "Coming attraction: seven-screen art theater" and the subhead "Moviehouse expected to open in December at Fashion Mall; smaller art theater to close."
That "smaller art theater" is Castleton Arts, the three-screen art-house theater where I've worked since the summer of 2001.
Over the past five years, the comfortable little theater with couches in the lobby and paintings of famous movie scenes on the marquee had become my second home --- first as a customer and then an employee.
I remember the first film I saw there: Kevin Smith's controversial religious satire "Dogma." I saw it when I first started to challenge my deeply dogmatic religious faith.
I would return for the film that would change my life and reel me into the cinematic world like a fish caught on a hook. It was the intense, depressing drug drama "Requiem for a Dream" --- my favorite film to this day. After both the first and second times seeing the excruciatingly painful film at Castleton Arts, I swore I'd never see it again. (I ended up seeing it twice more at the theater.)
Eight months and many films later I applied for a position as part of the floor staff.
The pay was always sub-par, but it didn't matter. The perks certainly made up for it. Free movies. Free movie posters. (There are dozens hanging up in my apartment.) A comfortable, slow-paced, casual work environment most of the time. But most of all: a wonderful group of people with whom to work.
At any given time over the years, there were probably between 12 and 15 people working at Castleton Arts. Various people would come and go but there was always a friendly core group of people who had worked there for years.
Everyone who worked there was somewhat eccentric. (Hence I managed to fit in nicely.) Some were artists, others filmmakers. Everyone was a character with their own distinct personality and film tastes.
And it's hard to imagine having better bosses than our managers Dave and Dione. After all, at how many jobs do the employees go to their boss's apartment every week to watch movies?
Maybe it's a corny description and surely my co-workers will tease me, but I'll use it: We were a family. One could even say that our many regulars were like the extended family --- cousins, aunts and uncles who would visit occasionally.
These conditions cannot be replicated at a massive multiplex.
And in less than a year, the family will be split apart, and its home closed, perhaps even demolished.
I feel no ill-will toward the Simon Property Group for canceling Castleton Art's lease and inviting Landmark theaters to open a new art-house in the Fashion Mall. It was only a matter of time given how old Castleton Arts is.
At least now even more wonderful films will be able to make it into Indiana so that more people can appreciate the kind of films that have meant so much to those of us at Castleton Arts.
But please, if you have not already, make a trip down to Castleton Arts to see what Indiana will be losing.
Write to David at swimminginbrokenglass@gmail.com
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