Panida Theater ushers in digital age

SANDPOINT — Catching a movie at the Panida will be more immersive than ever starting this weekend.

The theater completed the installation of its new digital projectors last week, bringing a close to months of work fueled by an almost $80,000 fundraising effort. Theater officials worked with Mega-Tech Electronics, the vendor of the new theater sound system, to completed the project. According to Panida technical director Bill Lewis, theater officials expect to screen “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” as its very first digital movie this weekend.

The new system will bring a host of enhancements to film screenings at the theater. Movies will now be projected at 2K resolution — offering twice the image quality of most standard 1080p television displays. Panida movies will also sound better than ever thanks to the implementation of a new sound system.

For Panida projectionist Doug Jones, the transition is a fairly straightforward one, but it’s not without its strangeness. Jones cut his teeth as a projectionist for the historic theater in the 1970s, learning the essentials of threading film and changing reels as a young man. By comparison, the new digital projectors make the movie screening process remarkably streamlined, but the increased reliance on computer technology is enough to make him a bit leery.    

“(Both systems) have their share of tension-filled moments,” he said.

When he was first trained as a projectionist, Lewis had to learn how to load up a film with an eye to maintaining enough slack in the strip. That allayed the risk of a film break, which could amount to some very costly damages.

The new projector, on the other hand, operates entirely through digital data. Film distributors send the theater a hard drive containing the necessary video file in all its high-resolution glory. The projectionist then plugs in a flash drive that serves as a key permitting the agreed-upon number of screenings. From there, it’s as simple as pushing a button, freeing up Jones to manage the theater lights, oversee the showing and make sure the evening goes smoothly.

“Theoretically, this projector does it all,” he said.

The Panida still has its old film projector available for the occasional screening of film-based movies.

One slight downside to the transition is that new space restrictions prevent the projectionist from loading two film reels at once. That means Jones will have to stop the film briefly to load the next film reel.

“You could look at it as a forced intermission,” he said.

However, film-based movies will likely become an increasingly rare occasion, according to Panida officials. Part of the haste in fundraising for the new equipment resulted from a rapidly-approaching deadline throughout the movie industry. This year is the last most movie distributors will offer film formats for new releases, meaning theaters across the country are forced to either go digital or go home. Bonner Mall Cinema, for instance, completed upgrades to all its screens this spring. Theater officials are grateful to supporters for their help in making the transition in time.

“It is with great appreciation and gratitude to the community that we have been able to complete this project,” said Maureen Tillberg, Panida business and development manager.