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Fort Worthology
14 November 2009, 08:38 PM
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2572/4098774058_e024316124.jpg

The Citizen Theater is a new twin-screen independent art house theater being planned for the Near Southside urban district just south of Downtown, the steadily-redeveloping area formerly only known as the "medical district" that is becoming the heart of Fort Worth's indie urban creative class.

The Citizen is being developed by Amy McNutt and James Johnston, the husband & wife team that created Spiral Diner, the award-winning 100% vegan restaurant here in the Near Southside (with a second location in Oak Cliff now). From the Citizen's teaser web site:

"Your days of driving all the way to Dallas to see good movies are numbered, friends. In a city known for its love of art and world class museums The Citizen will be Fort Worth’s first twin screen art-house theater. In addition to showing amazing new and repertory films we will also serve fresh gourmet concessions from Spiral Diner’s treasure trove of dessert recipes along with a top notch beer and wine selection. At The Citizen we take the film going experience to heart and will show all films with state-of-the-art sound and projection. The theater itself will be designed in an art deco fashion just like the most beautiful classic movie palaces."

Amy & James are putting together investors now and narrowing down between a few different locations in the Near Southside. I expect Amy & James to knock this place out of the park - besides the Spiral Diner awesomeness, Amy has a film degree from The University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, and James is an accomplished independent filmmaker.

James dropped a few more bits of info in the comments of a post on Fort Worthology:

"We’ll be doing 2K digital 35mm (reel to reel the old school way.)"

"In addition to new releases we will be playing retrospectives of every ilk from classics to contemporary. Basically, anything that Amy and I think is awesome and we want to show people."

As news comes out, I'll post more details. Should be really, really cool. We have been hurting for a real art theater over here (The Modern shows films from Magnolia some days, but it's not exactly a full "theater" experience). The creation of the Citizen would be a huge boon for Fort Worth’s art and film scene, as well as further cementing the Near Southside as the home of the city’s independent creative class. The Citizen's teaser site is at:

http://thecitizentheater.com/

Recent news post at Fort Worthology:

http://fortworthology.com/2009/11/12/citizen-theater-coming-soon/

ericthegardener
15 November 2009, 01:14 PM
The Citizen Theater is a new twin-screen independent art house theater being planned for the Near Southside urban district just south of Downtown, the steadily-redeveloping area formerly only known as the "medical district" that is becoming the heart of Fort Worth's indie urban creative class.

Wow, sounds great! Good for Ft. Worth. Love their logo too!

Fort Worthology
20 April 2010, 10:16 AM
http://fortworthology.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/l_1600_1200_6CDBB3E9-A5FB-4009-B819-03F223954969.jpeg

Citizen Theater Coming To Near Southside

The Citizen has announced that they've secured a building to redevelop - 701 S. Main, a late-'30s building that's been vacant for some time.

http://fortworthology.com/2010/04/20/citizen-theater-coming-to-south-main/

vman
20 April 2010, 10:18 AM
Awesome and about time!!!! I've been to some viewings at the Modern, and they were always very sparsely attended.

Fort Worthology
20 April 2010, 10:33 AM
Awesome and about time!!!! I've been to some viewings at the Modern, and they were always very sparsely attended.

I really appreciate what the Modern does (and I have to say that when I saw "Let The Right One In" there it was pretty nicely attended), but it's going to be so great to have a dedicated theater for all sorts of films like this - one with a tasty (vegan!) snack bar and beer and such, and with a greater variety/frequency of films.

Not to mention that this one's within easy biking distance (and not even that bad of a walk) from my home. :)

vman
20 April 2010, 11:11 AM
I really appreciate what the Modern does (and I have to say that when I saw "Let The Right One In" there it was pretty nicely attended), but it's going to be so great to have a dedicated theater for all sorts of films like thishome
You really need to stop being so defensive. I wasn't knocking what the Modern does. EVERYTIME I WENT TO A SCREENING, it was sparsely attended. My conclusion was that lots of people in FW didn't know the Modern showed arthouse films. This included my friends who live in FW and come to Dallas all the time to see independent films . I (who lives in Dallas) had to tell them about the films at the Modern. They had no idea.

I love your blog BTW. I've been checking it out lately. :Banana09:

Fort Worthology
20 April 2010, 11:52 AM
You really need to stop being so defensive.

Err...I wasn't being defensive. I was agreeing with you, while saying that I do appreciate what the Modern does but it isn't a substitute for a dedicated theater.

Columbus Civil
20 April 2010, 12:05 PM
This sounds awesome. Another thing to check out when I go to Fort Worth.

jefffwd
20 April 2010, 05:59 PM
NBC5 ran a story on this...

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Fort-Worths-Coming-Attraction-91602029.html