How to Grow a Cinema in Your Backyard
Inside NYC's secret movie club, SENECA CINEMA. PLUS: Can you outsmart the Underexposed Movie Quiz?
Last Friday, when
graciously invited me to contribute to his excellent Substack, Hope for Film, I seized the moment to bang a drum for a cause close to my heart: Getting people excited about movies again, especially the great ones nobody talks about.I spotlighted a few green shoots pushing through the ash heap, including the rise of “micro cinemas” - scrappy, grassroots operations that are reviving movie watching as a communal event.
It seems this struck a chord, so today, we dig deeper. I truly believe these kinds of efforts can hack through the clogged arteries of the current system, and inspire new, vibrant moviegoing experiences - ones fit for any age, income, and taste.
One such insurgent cell here in NYC is Seneca Cinema - which started, quite literally, as a bedsheet nailed to a wall on a rooftop during the pandemic.
In the years since, Seneca has blossomed into a secret-ish society of film lovers. Every month or so, a few dozen movie-curious souls descend on a secret location, known only to those invited. Upon arrival, they scan a QR code that unlocks a ballot of curated titles - many of them deep cuts or cult hits. The crowd votes, and the winning movie plays.
As the audience has grown, so too has the scope of the screenings. In addition to offering concessions, snazzy merch, and raffle prizes, Seneca Cinema’s upcoming musical-themed screening on June 13th will feature karaoke.
I spoke with Seneca Cinema’s co-founders, James Paulius and Katie Gruszeck, about their community, the longterm vision, and what it takes to build a film culture from scratch. You can read the interview below. But first - this week’s Underexposed Movie Pick…
Splice (2009, dir. Jesse Peretz)
Being a teen in the Nineties meant being irony-poisoned on a steady stream of Gen X ensemble dramedies with killer soundtracks: Ben Stiller’s Reality Bites, Cameron Crowe’s Singles, Doug Liman’s Go, Greg Araki’s The Doom Generation, Kevin Smith’s Mallrats, Richard Linklater’s SubUrbia… there were a lot. Then, one day, it just stopped.
In 2009, long after the cultural moment had curdled, there came a curious, unheralded attempt to rekindle that sensibility. It was called Splice, a little-seen gem from Jesse Peretz (Our Idiot Brother and Juliet, Naked). Ethan Hawke plays Sam, a burned-out filmmaker who’s planning to move back to Texas when he meets Jane, a sharp-tongued single mom (Marisa Tomei), and the duo decides to start a film society on their roof. Peretz, who started as the bassist for the Lemonheads, composed the film’s lo-fi guitar interludes himself, and Hawke is rumored to have based Sam on Linklater (though he denies it). Sadly, the release was overshadowed by the financial crisis, and the film never expanded past New York and LA.
Where to watch Splice:
You can't. I lied. Splice does not exist.
That’s right - an April Fool’s prank, delivered when you least expected it: in May. Or maybe you did expect it. After all, there’s been much chatter about the Summer Reading List published by the Chicago Sun-Times earlier this week, the one that included ten titles that were entirely made up. How could this happen, you might ask, at a 76-year-old rag once known for being “of the people, by the people,” a paper that gave us Roger freaking Ebert? The Sun-Times explains: They outsourced to a freelancer, who outsourced to an AI agent, which hallucinated a best-selling climate thriller by Isabelle Allende. Oops!
So there you have it. Why pretend to have a rich cultural life when AI can pretend to have one for us? Seriously, though - if this is where we’re going, we might want to consider turning back. But first, how about a little fun?
This week on Underexposed: our first-ever Movie Quiz. I’ll name some obscure films. You tell if they’re real, or conjured from digital ether. You can take the quiz below.
But before that, back to our interview with Seneca Cinema…
Underexposed: Seneca Cinema was born during the pandemic on an apartment building rooftop. What is the full origin story? Why did you start it?
Katie: James and I are next door neighbors. During the pandemic, our roof became the meeting place for all social-distancing hangouts with our roommates. We gave it the name Seneca House to grant it more meaning, to make it feel like we were actually going somewhere. We switched up the name, depending on the event: Seneca Cafe or Seneca Disco. Naturally, the first time we decided to nail a sheet to the wall and watch a film together, we called it Seneca Cinema. The very first movie we screened was Showgirls, but in reality it was just a few close friends trying to safely hang-out during COVID. At a certain point, we could no longer decide what movie to watch. We would spend more time choosing a film than actually watching it. That’s when we decided to come up with a voting system. James jokingly said, “why don’t we choose the movie like we choose the mayor, rank choice?” The idea was brilliant. For the next screening, he created the ballots and a ballot box.
After the lockdown, the event started to grow beyond the capacity of the roof. At times, we had fifty people on top of our three story walkup. On one of those packed nights, an audience member mistakenly entered the building attached to ours– this rang the alarm, literally, for our landlord. He did not approve. What was a funny mishap, actually was what propelled Seneca Cinema to become what it is today. It pressured us to get a space that was better suited for the amount of people who wanted to attend our DIY event.
Underexposed: As Seneca Cinema has grown, how has it evolved? What surprising things has it shown you about curating for an audience?
Katie: Seneca Cinema has taken on a personality of its own, shaped by both James’s and my own vision. James has great attention to detail and an eye for things. We both have a sense of humor. The combination of our personalities is what you see with Seneca Cinema today. But, we’re just beginning. You will see the event continue to gain confidence, humor, and a visual identity.
James: As for curation, it’s been satisfying to see that such a large crowd wants to watch the same off-kilter movies that we initially wanted to watch on our rooftop with close friends. We always try to have a wide-range of films from playful comedies to tragic dramas– while leaning towards films that are rarely shown in front of large audiences. One of my favorite parts of curating the film list is ultimately seeing which is picked.
Underexposed: How would you describe the vibe of the audience? Has that changed over time? / Have you noticed any unexpected demographics showing up?
Katie: I love this question. The audience is my favorite part of the event. Each audience is completely different and is largely determined by the movie list and the themes. I didn’t realize that would happen prior to opening it up to the public. Alien Night and Horror Nights were personally my favorite audiences. Everyone was so excited to be there.
James: Themed nights are always my favorite as well. We always wanted this to be a social event and there is something about a theme that creates a joyful atmosphere.
Katie: Yes, this is how we came up with the idea for our next theme night on June 13th: Karaoke and Musical Night. The more the audience is engaged and interacting, the more fun we’re having as organizers.
Underexposed: Is there a particular kind of film you feel especially passionate about championing through Seneca Cinema?
Katie: We just want to see films on the list that are diverse and mostly unseen.
James: They are always movies we would watch at home.
Underexposed: Are there movies you’ve put on the ballot that never get picked but you wish people would vote for?
Katie: Every list is completely different– films typically only have one shot. There was one exception to this rule and that was our Second Chances Night– when movies that didn’t win the first time had a second shot. But, I did mourn for Muppets from Space on Alien Night. I wanted that movie to win. I was championing it.
James: I would have loved to see Trash Humpers but it got last place.
Underexposed: What's been the most difficult logistical challenge so far?
Katie: This was when we could no longer do rooftop screenings. When we couldn’t host films on our roof anymore– we thought maybe that was the end of Seneca Cinema and we had a good run.
James: We explored different locations and even asked a nearby pizza shop if we could use their space. Eventually, we found the venue we’re in now. We were grateful to see our audience follow us there. The new space is much larger and allows more people to join us.
Underexposed: Based on your experiences, what advice do you have for those out there looking to start their own DIY cinema community?
James: Start with an idea that grows organically. See if it works out with friends, and if it's a success, invest your time into it.
Katie: With all the challenges we faced, I don’t think we would still be doing this if James and I weren’t friends. If you can find a friend to build it with, the challenges that come along with creating a DIY space will feel less burdensome.
News Reel
Earlier this month, the Trump administration fired the head of the U.S. Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter after her office issued a 113-page report raising the alarm over the rampant, unregulated scraping of copyrighted content to feed AI models: “Effective licensing options can ensure that innovation continues to advance without undermining intellectual property rights,” was the apparently unreasonable conclusion. In light of the Sun-Times scandal, one wonders if any meaningful opposition will emerge, or if we’re content to warm our hands at the pyre as the last artifacts of law and artistic sovereignty go up in smoke.
In happier news, My Father’s Shadow, the first-ever official Cannes selection from Nigeria, premiered this week to raves: “As the audience is taken in by this intimate and well-observed drama, the rug gets pulled from beneath them by revealing the violence and strife that was simmering underneath. It’s a trick so devastating that it completely upends the movie, elevating it into a deeply humanist narrative.” Can’t wait to see this one.
- reports in The Ankler that there has been one major player missing from Cannes this year - Hollywood: “Sure, we get it: You are hiding from Trump, and celebrating celebrity hedonism isn’t a good look when you’re in the throes of cutbacks. But being largely absent from the stage — when even Nigeria’s film industry is blossoming and Saudi Arabia is announcing a new studio in Riyadh — feels like a tremendous miss.”
That’s a wrap on this week’s free edition - but if you’re a paid subscriber, the real fun starts now. It’s time for the first-ever Underexposed Movie Quiz. Think you can spot the difference between obscure indie gems and fake AI-generated films? No peeking at IMDb. Take the quiz and prove it.
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Underexposed Movie Quiz
Whacked (2013)
Uptight accountant Joey Mancini (John Cusack) accidentally uncovers a million-dollar embezzlement scheme within the Carlucci crime family. His only hope is to team up with no-nonsense fixer Frankie Bello (Alec Baldwin), a once-feared enforcer.
Love & Gelato (2022)
A breezy coming-of-age romance set against the postcard-perfect backdrop of Rome, a shy American teenager travels to Italy to fulfill her late mother’s last wish - and discovers love, family secrets, and a whole lot of gelato along the way.
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