The main impediment to reopening Osio Cinemas in downtown Monterey has been resolved, but the future of the indie theater remains uncertain. A partnership of former employees, Le Prince Cinemas, has been making progress on reopening, but some of the 621 donors to their Kickstarter campaign, which raised more than $76,000, worry a lack of communication doesn’t bode well.
“It’s been very frustrating,” says Arlene Krebs, president the Arts Council of Monterey County. She co-contributed $750 to the Kickstarter, enough to get a private film screening for friends. “We did this as a gesture to support the Osio and throw a party for friends. Now there’s no communication.”
After weeks of not responding to inquiries by Krebs and others, and declining to comment to the Weekly, Jirko Senkel, a former general manager at Osio and co-creator of the Kickstarter campaign, sent donors their first update since Oct. 21.
There’s currently no timeline for the reopening of the theater, Senkel said, but they are negotiating a lease. Le Prince Cinemas has also applied for a beer and wine license and purchased a new point-of-sale system that will allow people to buy tickets online, Senkel said.
The former owner of the Osio Cinemas, Central Coast Cinemas, finalized Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings in late November. All assets within the theater will remain in place, and the new team can now move forward.
With many supporters rooting for the Osio, Krebs wants to see the new owners capitalize on the community’s skill sets by creating an advisory committee to help them through the daunting and expensive opening process.
But for the team trying to reopen the Osio, they say all they need is time.
“People think we are being dodgy and we’re not doing that,” says Brandi Lamb, who’s in the Le Prince Cinemas partnership. “We’re going to give concrete information when we have it.”