ENTERPRISE

Four play: 941’s Doug Sakmann (from left), Jack Verrelli, Nick Esposito and Zafer Ülkücü. (Photo by Michael Persico)

Film Takes a Backseat

A new indie theater prepares to open in Northern Liberties.

by Cassidy Hartmann

“I went to film school at Temple, and I was really infuriated that I couldn’t show my thesis film in their fucking movie theater. It was showing Saving Private Ryan and not my movie,” says 30-year-old filmmaker Zafer Ülkücü, one of four producers who make up Backseat Conceptions, an independent production company that moved to Northern Liberties from New York five years ago.

Best known for their raucous indie-driven Backseat Film Festival, the filmmaking forces behind Backseat—which include Ülkücü and producers Nick Esposito and Doug Sakmann with partner Jack Verrelli—know all too well the uphill battle facing small-budget filmmakers. And with a little support from the Philly film community and a lot of persistence, they’re doing something to help.

In roughly two months Ülkücü and his partners will open the first independent movie theater in Philadelphia in more than 10 years—in a bare-bones former nightclub at 941 N. Front St. To get to the building—tentatively called the 941 Theater—patrons might have to cross under a highway or pass a few ominous abandoned buildings, one of which stands directly next door. But they’re hoping potential patrons won’t be daunted.

“There are hundreds of movies made every year that don’t make it to the Ritz, but are better than straight to video,” says Ülkücü, who programs the Backseat Film Festival and will be the head programmer of the new theater. “In New York there are four or five theaters that can show those movies, and in Philly there’s not.”

“It’s easier now to make movies and see movies, but it’s really hard to see films in the proper presentation, with good sound—not just a home theater,” adds Esposito. “We want to show excellent films, done by professionals, just on a small scale.”

That’s the main concept behind 941—a place for small-budget independent filmmakers to exhibit their work, and for film lovers to enjoy movies in a communal setting. The theater will show films hand-picked from all over the world, but it will also be open to local artists and filmmakers to exhibit their work.

But Backseat wants to make it clear: “This is not the drinking man’s theater,” says Sakmann, referencing their festival’s unofficial moniker. The theater will sell traditional concessions, and no alcohol—though complimentary drinks will be offered at some events.

“You’d never see that at the Ritz,” says Ülkücü.

Inside 941’s intimate screening room will be three levels of chairs, with barstools in the back, all facing a free-standing screen. Films will be shown on HD video, with the goal of purchasing a 4K projection system when the technology becomes more widespread—and affordable—a few years down the road.

With the theater, Backseat hopes to help cultivate a larger film production community in Philadelphia—a goal that undoubtedly attracted the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, which has worked closely with the company over the last year to get the business off the ground.

“One of the reasons why [so few people] want to make a $500,000 movie here is, where are you gonna show it?” asks Ülkücü. “We definitely feel like the production and theatrical exhibition communities in Philadelphia both have to grow. We’re trying to do our part.”

They’ve had some additional help—particularly in their efforts to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood. Councilman Frank DiCicco had two new streetlights put up outside the theater’s entrance, and is working to have the condemned building next door torn down. Owners of the parking lot behind the building have also agreed to open their 70-car lot to theater patrons.

“We’re taking this kind of scary cobblestone street, and we’re putting a bright space there,” says Esposito.

But attracting business remains a concern.

“I think they’ll be able to sustain themselves because they’re not trying to run a seven-day-a-week movie theater,” says Bernard Neary, owner of the Roxy—the last independent theater to open in Philly—and Backseat’s attorney. “The fact that they’re willing to take a flexible space and be flexible with the operation is going to help them.”

Neary says that because of distribution deals, it’s difficult for other independent theaters to show movies that are playing at one of the Ritzes, and those movies tend to be the most marketable independent films available.

“So we have one national company that has a stranglehold on the independent film business in Philadelphia,” he says. “And unless something drastic happens, that’s the way it’s going to be.”

Ülkücü and co. hope their new theater is just that drastic happening.