Editor's note: Now includes the full story. First half of story published over the weekend.
A fixture on Market Avenue in Grand Forks, the GEM Theatre will be celebrating a series of anniversaries in 2013.
The movie house (which opened in 1911 as the Empress Theatre and was given its current name in the ‘50s) burned down and re-opened in 1913 and current proprietors Marius and Maureen Paquet took over operation in May of 1988 from Peter and Mary Ambrosimoff – a 100th anniversary from the theatre’s re-opening and a 25th anniversary for the Paquets as it were.
The couple has seen the movie industry evolve in front of their very eyes.
“When they were first showing movies, it was only a couple of minutes and it went from a couple of minutes to slides,” Marius explained.
“When Marius first got in as projectionist, we were running with a carbon arc, meaning you had to literally had to burn the carbon arc into the projector to create the light for the screen and then we changed over to xenon light bulb and now we’re all completely computerized,” said Maureen, adding that Marius used to have to carry film cans, which weighed an average of 36 to 45 kilograms and now the film comes in a format that is the size and shape of an old videocassette.
“It’s fabulous,” Marius says of the transition from film to digital. “You just can’t beat it, you don’t have to spend the time to put the show together because you have to splice it, tape it and check if it’s scratched. It’s so easy (now) to put trailers or put the movie together and when your run is finished, you don’t have to break it down … you press a button and that’s it. It’s clean and it has a much better sound.”
The Paquets also say that the GEM was one of the first small, independent theatres to open a digital 3-D movie, when it showed James Cameron’s Avatar in September of 2010.
More on movies
Both Maureen and Marius Paquet list Avatar as a favourite movie but it was the adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy that they say garnered the most buzz around town.
“We were so good with Lord of the Rings; that was awesome,” reminisced Maureen. “You knew every January you were going to have good money coming in. For us it was at the end (of the year). It always opened at Christmas or January.”
However, Marius is quick to point out that it wasn’t a blockbuster movie that has the honour of being top box office draw at the GEM – it was Academy Award-nominated film (Best Cinematography) film Snow Falling on Cedars, starring Ethan Hawke.
“We were the best theatre in Canada but it was only because it was filmed in Greenwood,” Maureen added. “Universal Pictures said, ‘Wow!’”
In terms of releases, the GEM Theatre normally (but not always) shows movies a few weeks after they open across the country but that has nothing to do with the fact that Grand Forks is a smaller city.
“You have contract stipulations. Our only problem is (the movie companies) want the screens to themselves and we like to have three different shows,” said Maureen.
“You can’t play anything else and of course, the percentage is a little bit higher when you open the movie because they want to make as much money as possible and if you wait a little bit, a couple of weeks after, then it drops and this way, we can pass it on to the public,” Marius said.
The Paquets did go exclusive for family film The Croods, which is currently being screened until this Thursday.
Expanding GEM’s scope
While the GEM Theatre has always shown movies, whether for fundraisers or for the usual movie-going crowd, live performance has been something that has also taken place. Singer Stephen Fearing and the Boundary District Arts Council presentation of Deck have recently hit the stage.
“It’s very exciting and it just gives us another opportunity to get traffic into the theatre of course but just to be able to use all the equipment and the acoustics are so good,” opined Maureen. “Its incredible what you can do with everything because of the sound system, we have microphones and now the people come in – the lighting technicians in Grand Forks are so fabulous. They come in and they throw their lights up within 40 to 50 minutes; for a small town there sure are a lot of talented people. They seem to come and throw everything together and they’re done and you have a fabulous show.”
Maureen and Marius Paquet are considering stepping down at some point but don’t have any definitive plans.
“We love the movies, we’re in the business because we love the business and Grand Forks is one of the best places to be,” Maureen said.
“It is a fun business. I can’t think of a business that’s more fun than a theatre,” said Marius. “The people in town are just so incredible; they’re so nice. They’re the real gems actually.”
“They’re the gems that make the GEM,” added Maureen.
“We’re like family. People come in, some give us hugs, we talk and we laugh – it’s a family theatre,” Marius said.