Deutchman, Ira

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    $7 Million Deal Is Reached for Upper West Side Movie Theater, Nonprofit Says

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    A nonprofit group says it has reached an agreement to buy the shuttered Metro Theater from its owners, but the deal is contingent on raising the money by the end of the year.A group trying to restore a landmark Upper West Side movie theater says it has signed an agreement to buy the building for $7 million if it can raise the money by the end of the year.The nonprofit corporation Upper West Side Cinema Center said on Friday it had reached the agreement with the current owners of the Metro Theater, which is on Broadway near 99th Street and closed in 2005. The building, known for its pink terra-cotta Art Deco facade, is owned by the estate of its former owner, Albert Bialek, who died last year. The owners could not immediately be reached for comment.Attempts in recent years to reimagine the space as a Planet Fitness gym or Alamo Drafthouse cinema were unsuccessful, and development options are limited because of the theater’s landmark status and because Bialek sold the air rights above the building. The nonprofit is spearheaded by Ira Deutchman, an independent film producer, and Adeline Monzier, the U.S. representative of the French film promoter Unifrance and a guest programmer at the Metrograph, a Lower East Side theater.Deutchman said that there was already funding pledged to cover about one-third of the sale price. The nonprofit is hoping to raise the rest with a mix of philanthropic support from major donors, government financing and individual contributions from current and former Upper West Side residents who may be nostalgic about the theater’s golden days, he said.If the nonprofit is successful in securing the money to cover the sale price, the next step would be to raise an additional, estimated $15 million to $25 million for its restoration.“I’d never worked on a project before where every single person I tell about it, their response is, ‘Oh, that is so needed,’” Deutchman said. “My joke is that they’ve never said that about a movie I’ve made.” More

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      Celebrities Support Plan to Reopen Upper West Side Movie Theater

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      Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke and John Turturro are all listed as advisers to a new proposal to buy the former Metro Theater, which closed in 2005.After almost two decades of failed attempts to reopen, a landmark Upper West Side movie theater may be resurrected with a plan from a potential new buyer and celebrity support.The independent film producer Ira Deutchman is spearheading the project, along with Adeline Monzier, the U.S. representative of the French film promoter Unifrance and a programmer at the Metrograph, a Lower East Side theater. They have formed the Upper West Side Cinema Center, a nonprofit corporation, whose website lists Martin Scorsese, Ethan Hawke and John Turturro as advisers, along with Bob Balaban, Griffin Dunne and the “American Psycho” director Mary Harron. (They would call it the Metro Cinema Center.)Representatives for Scorsese and Dunne confirmed their involvement.The plan was reported earlier by IndieWire.The proposal includes a five-screen theater dedicated to art house releases, classic film and special events; it would also have an education center and a cafe.Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, said he has spoken with two other parties that are talking with the owners about a potential sale, but Deutchman’s proposal is the most fully developed. The estate of the former owner also has yet to engage a broker for the sale, Levine said.The Upper West Side, once a hot spot for art house theaters, is now served by selections at Film at Lincoln Center and large multiplexes. “This is a really underserved audience that is in a community that clearly has an interest in the kinds of movies we’re talking about,” Deutchman said in an interview.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘Searching for Mr. Rugoff’ Review: Man Behind the Movies

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      A documentary looks at an influential distributor and theater owner who went after visionary films, including “Scenes From a Marriage” and “Putney Swope.”Not every documentary features its director calling his subject “kind of a terrible person.” But Ira Deutchman’s “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” happily looks at the man in full: Donald S. Rugoff, the influential distributor, New York City theater impresario and certifiable “piece of work” (to quote one testimonial).During a blazing run in the 1960s and 1970s, Rugoff went after visionary movies that made audiences sit up and take notice: “Z,” “The Sorrow and the Pity,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Scenes From a Marriage,” “The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “Harlan County USA,” “Nothing but a Man,” “Putney Swope,” “WR: Mysteries of the Organism,” and, yes, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”As a former employee and later a distributor and producer, Deutchman brings firsthand insights into the indefatigable Mr. Rugoff (who died in 1989). He assembles an amused and bemused circle of fellow veterans of Rugoff’s distribution company Cinema 5, old-school commentators, Rugoff’s ex-wife and sons, and grateful filmmakers (Lina Wertmuller, Robert Downey Sr., Costa-Gavras). Deutchman, a professor at Columbia University, also visits Edgartown, Mass., for traces of Rugoff’s life after his company was taken over.As someone who grew up going to some of the theaters Rugoff once ran — which included Cinema I and II and the Beekman, among others — I got the warm-and-fuzzies from seeing the love here for moviegoing and exhibition, which he goosed with gonzo showmanship. Equally so for the brief inclusion of Dan Talbot, fellow distributor and theater maven, whose cinemas and unparalleled New Yorker Films catalog also remain at the heart of the medium. It’s all part of an essential history of film culture that continues in new and different ways today.Searching for Mr. RugoffNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Google Play, Apple TV and other streaming services. More