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Arts & Entertainment

Major Upgrade at the County Theatre

After a successful fund-raising campaign, the County Theater now has digital projection capability.

Yesterday afternoon, an unveiling was held to announce the installation of a new, state-of-the-art digital cinema projection system at the County Theater. It was the culmination of a lengthy campaign to raise money needed to ensure they could show movies the best way possible.

And in truth, they needed it to continue showing many new movies at all, as according to their website, their new projection system is, “also equipped with the stringent copy protection for first run films. We cannot use our current projectors for the industry-approved standard. We must add Digital Cinema equipment to continue to show current theatrical films.”

The campaign in total raised $310,000, including $60,000 from the Argus Fund. This is viewed as a tremendous success, as the base goal was to achieve only two-thirds of the amount received.

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Theater Executive Director John Toner said this day was the culmination of a two-year long journey. He added the system has been installed for about two weeks, with previews given during that time, and stated that everyone at the theater is "really happy with the way it looks."

He also explained that due to the $100,000 surplus, the County’s conversion isn’t merely to digital, but they’ll be able to offer 3D on one screen as well. This also provides some funds for inevitable repairs, upgrades, and replacements down the road.

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Board President Dick Patterson spoke next, thanking the community for their overwhelming support of over 1,000 individual donations. He singled out the Argus Fund and Mr. Mark Dibner.

Mark called the County Theater, "one of the diamonds of Doylestown."

Dick also expressed his proudness that the County is looked to nationwide as an example of how a small, art-house cinema can succeed.

The event closed with a visually dramatic presentation of the size difference in media needed to hold the classic West Side Story. John carried eleven large film reels, with an employee holding another over their head; Dick and Mark held a small digital drive about the size of a typical paperback book.

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