Palm Theatre and SLO Film Fest collaborate to present the SLO Film Center
The Palm Theatre and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival (SLOIFF) announced that they will unite and launch the SLO Film Center in July at the Palm, according to a press release.
Owners of the Palm, Jim and Patty Dee, will retire and lease the theatre to the SLOIFF organization after running the Palm since 1988. Jim and Patty first began hosting screenings around various locations in San Luis Obispo with a film club called the “Cinema Zoo” in 1973.
“It’s one of those things where I’ll miss doing it. I’ve been doing it since about 1973, for over 50 years. I’ve had a great run,” Jim Dee said. “To keep the business alive and well for that amount of time, it’s been pretty gratifying.”
Jim Dee said that he is excited about the future of the Palm Theatre, and it is in good hands with SLOIFF executive director Skye McLennan in charge of the film center.
“I feel really good handing the baton to Skye because she’s very creative,” Jim Dee said. “I think she has the right energy and the right creativity to really make it happen, so I’m excited.”
McLennan, who grew up going to the Palm, said her vision for the new film center is to expand the historic movie theater while ensuring that the Palm remains loyal to its community and branding.
“At the end of that day, it’s still going to be that independent movie theater that you know and love,” McLennan said. “It’s also one of the only independent theaters in the whole county, so that also is crucial. A really big part of our ethos is to make sure that we are still showing new independent film and celebrating that.”
The SLO Film Center will provide year-round opportunities for filmmakers to showcase their work as they can in the yearly festival that SLOIFF hosts.
With showings available throughout the year in addition to the six-day festival period, McLennan said that the structure of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival may change.
“It definitely might mean that the festival will be a little bit smaller, but it also means we’re going to just have more opportunities for filmmakers beyond just the six days of our festival,” McLennan said.
“Right now, it’s very limited in the scope of what we can offer and having our own venue is really going to expand on that.”
Besides screenings, McLennan said the film center will look to host various kinds of events in the future, from poetry readings and live music, to drag shows and special guest Q&A’s that are film adjacent.
“As composed to a mainstream theater, we can afford to be a little more experimental and push the envelope,” McLennan said. “Show some things that maybe you won’t see at your everyday theater.”
McLennan said she hopes the film center can be a place where anyone can feel seen while enjoying film.
“In San Luis Obispo, we’re very limited on what we have from a diversity standpoint,” McLennan said. “So, film really is the portal to the world and it can bridge and start these conversations that we might be afraid to have.”
McLennan said the idea of the center is to have a place for people who are looking to learn more about film and experience film in San Luis Obispo. She added that she wants to make sure it’s a space for the community as a whole while offering affordable entertainment.
While he may be retiring, Jim Dee said he’ll be on the lookout for what the film center does and is excited to see the unique programming they will have across the year.
“I think it’ll be great and I just hope the folks of San Luis Obispo and San Luis Obispo County will embrace it,” Jim Dee said.
For more information and to sign up for SLO Film Center updates you can visit slofilmfest.org and to share any programming ideas you may have, contact the film center at info@slofilmfest.org.
