By Janice Malone
The Fisk University Movie Theater & Multipurpose Room is now officially open and ready for movie patrons. The grand opening took place week last week in the Spence Hall building of the campus. To commemorate this event, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by the showing of a holiday movie. The Fisk University Movie Theater has a partnership with Swank Motion Pictures, Inc. that was founded in 1937. Swank Motion Pictures is a major non-theatrical movie distributor, online CE/CME education distributor, and public performance licensing agent in venues where features movies are shown publicly. As of now films are being shown from the Tyler Perry’s vast collection of films and other popular Black movies.
The whole idea for the new movie theater originated from Jason Merriweather, vice president of the Fisk Student Exchange department. “Mr. Merriweather had a vision for this project about two years ago,” says sophomore Mariah Fair, president of the Student Activities board. “It’s taken a lot of hard work from students and other faculty members to get it launched but the grand opening weekend finally arrived,” says Ms. Fair. The admission is free for students, with concession stand goodies only costing $1.00 and $2 bucks for nachos. According to Mariah, the opening day turnout greatly exceeded their expectations.
The Fisk University Movie Theater & Multipurpose Room will provide a space for great entertainment that will enlighten, spark discussion, and raise awareness when coupled with events, holidays, and issues that matter most to the student body. The movie theater and the multipurpose room will be available for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to schedule events and activities. Early next year films from student film makers from Fisk and other campuses will be shown. But they’re also extending an invitation to other outside local independent film makers who may want to rent the facility for movie screenings or similar events. The movie theater is currently open on weekends (Friday – Sunday), from 12 noon until 11:30pm. Plans are to extend the days to Monday – Friday, and will show a different film every other day. During the month of February, plans are to show various films with a Black History Month theme. For more information or to rent the facility please contact: 615.329.8710 or 615.329.8768.
