What to expect from the new Everyman Bristol

When the Whiteladies Picture House first threw open its doors back in 1921, much was made of its luxury and comfort. This was a beautifully designed picture palace for the nobs, a place of refinement and elegance “worthy of the status and traditions of Clifton”, where art and education were as important as entertainment. Not only was it the first cinema to be built in Clifton, but it was also the first in the city to incorporate a restaurant, café and ballroom.

The nascent industry was going through the first of its many moral panics at the time, with movie-going seen as a decidedly downmarket and disreputable activity. So the great and good behind the project were eager to distance themselves from the frightful, rowdy lower orders who feasted upon pigs’ feet while enjoying vulgar entertainments at such ghastly fleapits as the Magnet down the hill in Newfoundland Circus.

Nearly 95 years on, the language is different but the essential message remains much the same. As a premium ’boutique’ brand, the Everyman network of independent cinemas prides itself on offering a very different experience to that of those anonymous out-of-town multiplex barns. Yes, you’ll be paying a couple of quid more for tickets, concedes Everyman’s head of marketing Hoss Ghonouie, and the chain doesn’t take part in Meerkat Wednesdays or run any price promotions. But just feel that luxury.

“The approach is to make it feel as special, intimate and indulgent as we can,” Hoss says. “But it’s also an inclusive space. There’s not a super-niche programme of films. There’s something for everyone. We talk about ‘value for time’, which is so precious now. If you’re going to spend that one night a month that you have free with your partner or family and you want to go to the cinema, you want to feel that it’s a real evening out.”

During the restoration process, the original marble steps and some of the pillars in the lobby have been uncovered. The mirror from the upstairs ballroom (used as office space for much of the last half-century or so and now converted into flats) has also been retrieved, restored to its former glory, and relocated to the lobby bar area. “We’ve been through the same process a couple of times in the last year with some Odeon cinemas that we’ve converted,” says Hoss. “It’s amazing what you find beneath blue carpets. You tear it up and there’s all the original beautiful flooring. This one is really special. I’ve got my favourite cinemas throughout our network, but Whiteladies has just taken top place.”

The cinema’s post-conversion configuration that will be familiar to anyone who went there between 1978 and 2001 has been retained, though the capacity is much reduced to accommodate Everyman’s trademark armchair and sofa seating.

The main auditorium, formerly the balcony, is upstairs and seats 240. Beneath this, in the former stalls, are two smaller auditoria, seating 90 and 100 punters. All three have Sony 4K digital projection with 7.1 digital audio and are HD satellite equipped for event cinema screenings. They also boast at-seat service of food and drink.

So where’s their audience going to come from? In a letter to your correspondent (as film editor of Venue magazine) back in 2001, Odeon’s then chief executive Richard Siegal insisted that “the cinema going public of Bristol voted with their feet and turned their backs on this cinema.” He went on to say that it was “most unlikely” that any developer would wish to retain the building for cinema use as “this would be an illogical way forwards”.

Was he wrong or have circumstances changed dramatically? “I don’t think he was wrong,” says Hoss. “I think he was right for the Odeon business. What we do is very, very different. We’re a tiny business in comparison to the likes of Odeon, Vue and Cineworld. Our cinemas are unique and intimate. We don’t have any fears about whether that audience is there, but it’s there for a different offering. When we opened in Birmingham, we found that we were either growing a new audience of people who hadn’t been going to the cinema before or they were going in addition to where they’d been before.”

That should come as some relief to the Watershed. Unsurprisingly, the biggest hit across the Everyman chain last year was Spectre. But also in the top ten were upmarket mainstream titles with crossover appeal, such as Amy. This was a big hit too for Bristol’s leading arthouse cinema, which also had second-run screenings of another Everyman top ten film, The Lady in the Van.

Watershed’s cinema curator Mark Cosgrove told us: “I’m sure there will be crossover on the kinds of indie/art house films we programme at Watershed. It will be interesting to see how audiences respond, and it is something we will of course be keeping an eye on. But I’d hope that its impact will be to grow the appetite and audience in Bristol for these kinds of films. There are increasing amounts of films released in cinemas every week and very few get the space to breathe. Having Whiteladies back up and running will also hopefully create opportunities for the city’s festivals like Slapstick, Afrika Eye and Encounters to expand into another part of the city.”

Of course, there are naysayers who insist, as they did in the 1950s with the arrival of TV and 1980s with the advent of video, that cinema is doomed in the digital download age. This would make opening a new one somewhat foolhardy.

Hoss is quick to nail such nonsense. “It’s about going out. You can cook at home as well. But people still go out to eat dinner, because we like to find something new and because we’re social creatures. That’s the important thing we focus on when we’re building everything around the film screenings.”

Who are Everyman Cinemas?

Everyman Cinemas was founded in 2000 with the acquisition of the original Everyman in Hampstead. The chain expanded quickly, acquiring and refurbishing historic sites across London, including the 100-year-old Screen on the Green in Islington. Everyman then moved further afield, acquiring a cinema in Leeds and, most recently, the Mailbox in Birmingham. It currently operates 16 cinemas. The Whiteladies Picture House, Everyman’s first west country venture, will be number 17. The mix of plush surroundings with food and drink and carefully chosen film programmes has also proved financially successful. In January, Everyman reported that anticipated profits would rise to £1.5m from £1.3m.

Read more: 15 places in Bristol that once were cinemas

Read more: The history of the Whiteladies Picture House