Cinema Nova has elevated general manager Kristian Connelly to CEO, a reward for 11 years' exemplary service, and hired two creative content executives.
On the reasonable assumption that cinemas are trading in July, albeit with staggered seating, audiences can look forward to a raft of Hollywood films and, perhaps, several new Australian releases.
Melbourne's Cinema Nova, the Eddie Tamir family-owned cinemas and Village Cinemas' Coburg drive-in will re-open next month - but indications are that most cinemas in other states are unlikely to turn on the lights until July.
Applications are open for this year's Natalie Miller Fellowship: a grant of $20,000 for an established woman working in the screen industry to pursue professional leadership opportunities.
Most independent Australian distributors are doing it tough, forced to postpone releases while the exhibition business languishes with Victorian cinemas closed and seating capacity restricted in the rest of the country.
Storyteller and producer Pauline Clague is the recipient of this year's $20,000 Natalie Miller Fellowship.
Cinemas in metro-Melbourne are able to reopen to fully vaccinated patrons tonight from 6pm, at 75 per cent capacity or up to 1,000 people. With Melbourne the most locked-down city in the world, IF talks to Village Cinemas executive general manager Nic Robin and Cinema Nova joint executive director Natalie Miller about how they have fared and how they see the theatrical landscape.
You won't see Marvel films or 'Star Wars' playing at Melbourne's Cinema Nova, something co-founder Natalie Miller jokes is "either clever or stupid, I'm not sure which". For 30 years, the Carlton cinema has carved a niche by sticking to its brand of arthouse cinema programming, and is today the largest independent cinema in the Southern Hemisphere.