Letter from the Executive Director: Mark your calendars for November 7 – 16, 2014

Letter from the Executive Director:

Greetings OFS Members and Supporters! We are excited to announce the dates for the 31st Annual Olympia Film Festival. Mark your calendars for November 7 – 16, 2014.

As we welcome another spring, we also welcome a new staff member to the OFS Team! Harry Reetz joins our staff in a newly created role at OFS. Harry will be serving as our new Marketing & Events Coordinator. He comes to us with experience in radio marketing, event planning, and live music booking. Harry’s experience will, without a doubt, enrich our diverse programming and extend our advertising opportunities for years to come.

A big congratulations is in order as OFS is recognized in the 2014 Weekly Volcano “Best of Olympia” issue for Best Reason to Have a Party: Repeal Prohibition Day, Best Live Music Venue, and Best Movie Theater! One of many unique things that make us the Best Movie Theater is the addition of our state of the art digital cinema projector! Not only is the Capitol Theater the only cinema in Thurston County that can show 35mm film, but we are also one of the only theaters that has the capability of hosting movies in 4k DCP format! This format is 4 times sharper than most movies shown in cinemas today! Almost no films are released in this format….yet. So, we are “future proofed” for the coming days when all new movies will be released this way!

Eco Woodworks: Dave King (L) and Devin Markoff (R), Photo Credit: Bill Hillman (Mansion Glass)

The long awaited Raymond Nyson Stained Glass Preservation Project has come to completion. Thanks to the Thurston County Heritage Grant Program, OFS was awarded a small project grant to preserve and protect the stained glass muses and ironwork on the facade of the Capitol Theater. The stained glass muses were badly damaged from a projection booth fire in 1937. Cracked and covered in soot, their badly worn wooden frames barely keeping them in place, our team removed, repaired, and cleaned the stained glass, replaced the aged and rotting frames, replaced the missing iron center piece, then rewired and painted the light boxes that house them. Preservation on this project began in late July through the collaborative efforts of local artisans Bill Hillman at Mansion Glass, Dave King and his crew at Eco Woodworks, Mike Rathke at Studio 23 Metalworks, and Jimmi Davies at Craftsman Copper. This project would not have been possible for OFS to do this year if it weren’t for these dedicated craftsmen who treasure history and art. We have more in store for the future of our beautiful theater! OFS is dedicated to the preservation of the Capitol Theater: artistically, historically, and structurally. Don’t forget to look skyward the next time you visit the Capitol Theater and enjoy a newly restored and beautiful detail of Olympia’s rich architectural history!

See you at the theater,
Audrey M. Henley

Executive Director