Indie cinema The Projector to do away with daily screenings at its Golden Mile Tower site
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The Projector's Golden Mile Tower location will host interactive film experiences, live music showcases, corporate venue hires and other events.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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SINGAPORE – Indie cinema The Projector has announced that from May 5, it will no longer hold daily screenings at its Golden Mile Tower location.
In a statement, a spokesperson says it will shift its focus to “eventised screenings”, interactive film experiences, live music showcases, corporate venue hires and other events. The Projector at Cineleisure in Grange Road will continue to screen films daily.
The Projector co-founder Karen Tan calls the move a strategic pivot that helps the company plan for the future, as owners of units at Golden Mile Tower in Beach Road continue en-bloc sale talks with developers.
The move comes as a surprise, as since the cinema’s founding in 2014 at Golden Mile Tower, the site has been held up as the flagship, with its heritage design a part of the brand’s identity.
Ms Tan says: “With the en-bloc conversation ongoing, we’re choosing to be proactive. While The Projector at Cineleisure will continue to host daily film screenings and a variety of events, our Golden Mile Tower location will now focus on special and curated experiences. This way, both venues complement each other, ensuring The Projector keeps delivering exceptional moments for our community.”
She adds that with the chances of an en-bloc sale increasing in the coming months, and the cinema’s lease at Golden Mile Tower ending at the end of 2025, the time was right to enact longer-term strategies.
Ms Tan explains that the move helps patrons and supporters associate Cineleisure with the cinema’s core activity of film screenings, and lessen the confusion and dismay should the en-bloc sale take place.
“The idea is to keep our daily programming focused at Cineleisure and let Golden Mile Tower become a space for special events,” she says. “We look forward to working with corporate clients and other communities to host events at Golden Mile Tower.”
In January, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) offered bonus gross floor area in the complex’s redevelopment if owners conserve the cinema block.
The complex comprises an 18-storey office tower on top of a six-storey retail and carpark podium that houses the cinema block. The move comes as part of the agency’s plan to conserve large-scale strata buildings.
In a Straits Times report published on Jan 8,
Retaining the cinema block will “allow it to continue to be a familiar marker” to the area, added the spokesperson. In addition to The Projector, the cinema block also houses Carnival Cinemas. The current cinemas use the space left by Golden Theatre, which opened in 1973.
Golden Mile Tower’s neighbouring block, Golden Mile Complex, was conserved in 2021.
Since its founding, The Projector has used its Golden Mile Tower premises as its anchor location. Billed as Singapore’s last retro-style cinema, it has been a space for screenings, film festival parties, comedy nights, exercise classes and food and beverage-related activities.
More changes are afoot for the indie cinema. From April 17, it will raise movie ticket prices to account for rising operational costs, according to an Instagram post on March 25.
Standard weekday ticket prices will increase from $11.50 to $12 or $13. Standard weekend, eve of public holiday and public holiday prices will rise from $16 to $16.50 or $17.50.
Under the post’s comments section, the news of the increase has been met with mostly positive messages of support, with many fans of the cinema pledging to continue their patronage.
