Victorville Film Center
The Victorville Film Center was a second-run movie theater operated by Gregg Turkington, with significant investment from Tim Heidecker. It was burned to the ground by an electrical fire.
History
The theater was located in Victorville, California, about a mile from the Victorville Film Archives. It had been boarded up and abandoned for several years before its acquisition by the On Cinema crew, and Gregg used to walk by it frequently and reflect on its potential revival. After the seventh season of On Cinema, Tim ran into issues with the operators of On Cinema's regular studio, so he and Gregg decided to acquire the abandoned theater. The purchase was made possible partially by a loan from Ayaka Ohwaki's father.
The Victorville Film Center became the shooting location for season 8 of On Cinema at the Cinema. Gregg also opened it to the public for screenings of classic films from the Victorville Film Archives, showing one film per night. For the screenings, he made use of a “VHS projection system” consisting of a VCR connected to a portable projector. The Center's 35mm projector was not usable, due to its wires having been chewed up by rats while the theater was boarded up. The concession stand was run by Mark Proksch, with the assistance of a coworker named Alex.[1]
Trivia
- Tim wanted Gregg to turn the theater into a mixed-use facility capable of putting on concerts as well as screening movies, but Gregg did not like the idea.[1]
- The address of the theater is 16856 C St, Victorville, California.