Since 1947, the Aron Theatre has shown films to the rural town of Campbellford. Now run by a community-based co-operative, the cinema is a democratic enterprise with over 2,600 voting members.

Aron Theatre has a wonderful program, featuring new releases alongside a monthly schedule of Indigenous films and repertory favourites. Last summer, they had a sold-out house for their first Small Town Shorts Film Festival, featuring a birthday party for a local resident and the world premiere of a short film about his life. The venue also hosts live music, comedy and ‘Aron Talks.’

For this Member of the Month feature, we chatted with Aron Theatre general manager Russ Christianson to discuss this important community venue.

And if you’re currently wondering why it’s spelled ‘Aron’ and not ‘Aaron’…read on!

What makes Aron Theatre Co-op unique?

The theatre was opened in 1947 as a purpose-built cinema, in the small rural town of Campbellford, in eastern Ontario. There were three theatres in town at the time. The builder and owner, Aaron Rappaport, took one A off the name of the cinema to save money on building the marquee.

In 2011, our theatre was saved from closing by organizing the community-based co-operative. As a not-for-profit co-op, we are a democratic enterprise with over 2,600 voting members. We have over forty regular volunteers who act as movie hosts and special event organizers. We have a board of directors with seven co-op members who are elected at the annual meeting. We have seven part-time staff, and four contractors who help us keep the theatre going.

What sort of films do you show?

We show on-release Hollywood movies every week, and we have an Indigenous film every third Thursday, a classic movie on every second Thursday, and a Retro movie on every fourth Wednesday. We also show TIFF movies and have live music, comedy and Aron Talks.

What are Aron Theatre Co-op’s greatest challenges?

We were closed for 18 months during the pandemic, and the combination of diminished Hollywood product, increasing streaming services and people’s changing social habits have made it difficult to rebuild our audiences. We are still losing money from operations, and without memberships, grants and donations, we would be out of business. We are diversifying our revenue sources and providing a social and cultural hub for people in our community to build their sense of belonging.

What are your favourite compliments that Aron Theatre Co-op receives from your audience?

From young children who see their first movie on the big screen, “this is the best day of my life”, to people who grew up going to the theatre and now bring their grandchildren, to families and Indigenous people, we regularly receive thanks and appreciation from people for keeping our doors open. This saves them a round-trip of 100 km to Peterborough or Belleville to Cineplex, and our ticket and popcorn prices are half of Cineplex.

We also have a new laser projector and screen, and an amazing sound system, for which we received many compliments. As a small theatre (140 seats) we have a wonderful listening room for live music, and musicians and audience members love our theatre.

What’s a memorable film screening or event you hosted?

We have had many memorable films, from Indigenous films like Singing Back the Buffalo and Wilfred Buck, to restored classics like The Godfather and Seven Samurai, to on-release films like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Oppenheimer, to TIFF movies and documentaries.

Last summer we had a sold-out house for our first Small Town Shorts Film Festival, and a birthday party for a local old-timer and the world premiere of a short film about his life.

What are your most popular concession items?

Popcorn is over 50% of our sales; people rave about it, and we keep it affordable while also having a healthy margin. We also sell a variety of drinks (non-alcoholic) and candy. It’s a pretty simple product mix. We’ve tried other products and most of them just didn’t sell.

What projects are you considering for the future?

We are in the process of negotiating a commercial mortgage with the Community Foundation of Campbellford/Seymour and Northumberland. When we purchased the theatre in 2011, we sold Aron Theatre Co-op bonds to raise money. Over time, some people have donated their bonds and now we are going to payback the outstanding bonds with the proceeds from the mortgage. Our community foundation has been a key supporter for the theatre, and without it, we would not be in business.

Tell us about yourself; how did you get your start in film exhibition?

I am a long-time movie lover. I grew up in Camrose Alberta, and we had two independent movie theatres: The Bailey and the Kam. I went to the Saturday matinees when I was younger and enjoyed the cliff-hanger serials, the cartoons (especially Looney Tunes and Woody Woodpecker) and the movies. We also had a drive-in theatre that we loved to attend as teenagers on those balmy summer nights. Going to the movies, was and continues to be a magical experience.

When we moved from Toronto to Campbellford in the 1990s, it was great to have a local cinema, and because I am a professional co-op developer, when our theatre was going to close, I organized the community to save it, and buy it from the retiring owner. I became the founding President of the volunteer board, made up of people in our community.

During the pandemic, I became the General Manager, and worked hard together with the board and co-op members to save the theatre again. We re-opened in September of 2021 with a full e-commerce ticketing and concession system (we were cash only before the pandemic). We also installed energy recovery ventilation, UVC air purification and deep pleat air filters to ensure our theatre was a safe indoor environment for people.

We have an amazing team of volunteers, staff and contractors who all love our little theatre, and are so happy to keep it going.