Art House: Pondering the Future of Film Following a Pandemic

The latest episode of Art House isn’t about movies so much as about the business of making and showing movies in the age of coronavirus.

Put simply, it’s a thriller.

Screenland Armour Theatre co-owner Adam Roberts and Kansas City filmmaker Anthony Ladesich ponder the future of film creation and exhibition in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s so much that’s unknown, and so much at risk in the movie business these days that it could be a movie in itself.

“Cinema is our church,” declares Roberts, who is going to extraordinary lengths to make sure the Screenland Armour survives the pandemic.

Surviving lean times naturally comes with the job description for independent filmmakers such as Ladesich. But this one definitely feels different.

“I go back and forth between everything is going to be cool, there’s going to be an avalanche of work” when the pandemic ends, Ladesich says. “And the other part of me is scared to death the phone is never going to ring again.”

This is real life drama, affecting local folks right now. Watch more in the attached video. You can also watch the episode on KCPT this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Cliffhanger: Boulevard Drive-In Open to Anything for 70th Season Could it be that, in a plot twist straight out of Hollywood, the coronavirus could suddenly make drive-ins the hub of popular culture again?