Stony Brook Film Festival Has Roots at PJ Cinemas

When Staller Center director Alan Inkles conceived the Stony Brook Film Festival 18 years ago, he encountered one hitch: No one at the Staller Center knew anything about the mechanics of showing films.

That's when the long-standing relationship between PJ Cinemas and the Stony Brook Film Festival was born.

Phil Solomon, owner of PJ Cinemas, stepped in to give Inkles and his crew a tutorial, even donating some equipment to jump-start the festival. 

"I ran an arts center, I ran an international theater festival, and 20 years ago I decided to start doing movies," Inkles said. "I made a couple of calls. People were saying, 'Well, you’ve got to kind of figure it out on your own.' [Phil] was the guy who opened his arms to us. He said, 'Come on down.' We just hit it off."

Solomon recalls that Inkles "came in with this incredible enthusiasm." He said he provided the Staller Center crew with floating hub reels, a large reel that could hold around four smaller reels and a splicer. He said he explained how to examine a film to make sure the sprocket holes were intact, and how to splice the reels together.

"We gave him the knowledge and some of the material necessary to show the product in those opening days," Solomon said. "Once we did that, he was on his own and he did great."

Fast forward to 2013, and films aren't even shown on actual film anymore: Most movie houses, Staller Center included, have made the switch to digital cinema projection systems.

But the relationship remains strong. Even though the two venues, PJ Cinemas and Staller Center, sometimes compete with each other for patrons when Staller screens films on some Friday nights during the year, not to mention during the 10 days over which the Stony Brook Film Festival runs.

"These are his regulars. These are people who are not going to his theater these 10 days," Inkles said.

But Solomon said there's plenty of room in town for both the Staller Center and PJ Cinemas.

"I think the community is large enough to live comfortably together and enjoy each other’s company," he said.

Inkles gave Solomon a shout-out during his remarks prior to some of the screenings during the festival.

"It’s very important to me that our audience who comes here, if they’re going to go to a local movie theater, to support a guy who’s been really supportive of us," Inkles said.

Solomon returned the shout-out, saying the Stony Brook Film Festival is wonderful.

"There are just so many different dimensions that Alan has to be able to interweave to make this all happen. I just think he’s a genius," Solomon said. "It’s a wonderful thing for the community. It generates a lot of enthusiasm for movies and that’s good for all of us."