Downtown Asheville is getting a cool new movie theater. Here’s the note from loyal reader Steve:

Steve White here. I’ve been a reader since day 1 and wanted to share with you our plans for the Grail Moviehouse.

My partner Davida Horwitz and I have been looking for a spot to build our theater for the past year and finally found what we think is the perfect location at 45 South French Broad. We’re just starting the plans and construction now and we’ll have two screens with combined total of around 250 seats.

We are planning on booking mainstream films and a variety of classics, documentaries, and art films and well as a few surprises like Bad Movie Nite. Plus, we are going to reach out to area media artists and filmmakers to program local content.

My background – I worked in several theaters including the Chelsea and Carolina in Chapel Hill for many years, before producing and directing the 35mm feature Immortal in 1995. I also worked on a couple of other indies during that time. Since then I’ve been a corporate producer working in film, video and digital media. I moved to Asheville in 2001.

The Grail takes its inspiration from several innovative cinemas popping up around the country like the Trylon Microcinema, Ragtag Cinema, The Moxie and LA’s Cinefamily. These smaller venues are bringing flexible, unique programming to a hungry audience. We hope to learn from their success and program films that give downtown audiences more choices. Plus, we want to involve the community in the process at every step, knowing that it will make the theater better. What we lack in polish, we hope to make up in a genuinely great experience.

45 French Broad is the former Industries for the Blind building that now houses Hopey and Co. grocery (formerly Amazing Savings), The Downtown Market, and Sly Grog Lounge. Charlie Ball is the owner and he has exciting plans for the building and additional tenants coming into space. We will be occupying much of the rear of the building, with the main entrance on French Broad.

We have 2016 as a rough target since the building and permitting process is just beginning and the schedule is at the mercy of the process. We are shooting for Jan. but if it is possible to be up and running this fall we’d be ecstatic.

We are also going to be reaching out to other businesses in the area to help bring a Classics series to downtown. We would love to have a different classic film every week and are working on a sponsorship program that we think will be a great deal for our partners.

Our Tagline is “Movies people love for people who love movies.” We hope to create a space where people go to enjoy a film together, where the experience is part of the show.

Let me know if you’d like any additional information about the project.

Thanks,

Steve White

www.grailmoviehouse.com