Nottingham has long had a thriving cinema scene, but there’s one man in particular who goes above and beyond - Mark Gallagher. Having worked at Arc Cinema in Hucknall for the past three years, Gallagher has recently been recognised as a UK Cinema Hero. Our writer Josephine Ruffles catches up with Mark about his love for cinema and what this achievement means to him…
The year is 1987, the fourth and arguably worst Superman movie has just come out, and yet out of it, in a quaint cinema in Lincolnshire, Mark Gallagher’s love for the art of film and cinema was born.
Mark has only been in the cinema industry three years; however, he has transformed the two Nottinghamshire branches into nationally recognised cinemas where people visit knowing they will be fully immersed and share the love of film with like-minded individuals. To him the cinema is not just about going to watch the film, it’s the build-up, the discussion about it afterwards, the comradery, and the awe it leaves you in.
His love for cinema and films is shown through the unquestioning passion he puts into events for new movies such as Top Gun: Maverick, Batman, and Jurassic World just to name a few. In these premieres, customers can expect the full immersive experience alongside the film, leaving them with the same love of the industry he gained in 1987.
It’s not just about films in The Arc cinemas in Nottingham though, as seen through the airing of the Men’s and Women’s European football finals, the Love Island final, and soon enough, Eurovision. He regards this transition and dimensional change as necessary to cinemas in order to stay with the times and tend to different types of customers. Things like the Euros have never been streamed at a cinema by the company before, and it is not that common among other cinemas either. He found it brought more families out to enjoy watching with others in a less rowdy environment than otherwise found in pubs. That’s not to say there wasn’t still an atmosphere though, as he mentioned it is nothing like the normal streaming of new movies where there’s complete silence, and all you can hear is the munching of a bit of popcorn! The success of this diversion spoke for itself as tickets to watch it sold out in twenty minutes.
In these premieres, customers can expect the full immersive experience alongside the film, leaving them with the same love of the industry he gained in 1987
As we all know during the time of COVID-19 lockdowns, the cinema industry took a hit. Streaming grew and the shift back to what it was before this time has been slow. This is especially true for those who have a “COVID hangover”, where the habit of watching a movie at home hasn’t quite worn off. Nonetheless, the release of No Time to Die and Downton Abbey: A New Era, have brought the older crowd back in. In some cases, they’ve also been found to bring in new customers of the older generation too!
The issue of streaming has taken on the talk of the cinema world for the last decade and it grew exponentially during lockdown. However, Mark’s take on the issue proves to be very optimistic as he explains that streaming is slowly declining. Cinemas are also branching out and putting streaming platform movies on screen. For example, Netflix’s Glass Onion, starring Daniel Craig hit the theatres two weeks before appearing on Netflix. This time period before hitting streaming platforms has begun to lengthen for other movies too. As seen through Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick and soon to be Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Top Gun, in particular, reinforced the shift back to cinemas, as Steven Spielberg recently stated Tom Cruise “saved Hollywood’s ass” and “Top Gun: Maverick may have saved the entire theatrical industry”. By big directors arguing for a longer period, more people will be watching films in the cinemas, and the streaming platforms will have to cater to that rather than the other way around.
Top Gun in particular reinforced the shift back to cinemas, as Steven Spielberg recently stated Tom Cruise “saved Hollywood’s ass”
Mark’s passion and devotion for the film and cinema industry has been recently recognised. In conjunction with the release of Empire of Light, the UK Cinema Association wanted to recognise people in the industry who strive and deliver above and beyond for customers. Mark said although he knows he puts in extra effort for customers to experience a film in a special way, he was taken back by being recognised on such a national platform. He has only been in the industry a small amount of time, so to be placed in the top ten, let alone top three alongside others who have been running cinemas for forty years, was unbelievable to him. It made him “wonder in 37 years’ time what I would have achieved and done” for the cinema industry. When asked what he would like to strive for, he stated he just wanted more recognition for the Arc in Hucknall, and his team who work above and beyond to put on events.
As part of his prize for coming runner up, he has been awarded a night in London, attending a premier. He has not heard yet which film he will be attending, but he’s sure to ask for a night where all the stars will be present. Movies that came to his mind were the New Guardians of the Galaxy, Indiana Jones, or maybe even a new Disney movie! We will be sure to look out for him on the red carpet!
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