Who are we?

 UniMovies is a campus club afiliated with Wollongong UniCentre. Founded in 1971 as the Wollongong University College Film Group, the club's sole aim is to provide state-of-the-art presentations of popular mainstream and limited release films for the University community. We have a management committee consisting of some 14 people, mostly staff of the University and graduates working in the district who are still interested in supporting the University. This is the group of people who run every screening on a voluntary basis. The committee is elected from the members of the club who pay an annual fee.
Where are we? The University of Wollongong is located about 80km south of Sydney, NSW. Wollongong and environs has 19 commercial screens spread over 4 cinemas - three chain complexes (a 3-plex and an 8-plex both operated by Greater Union, and a 6-plex operated by Hoyts) and a twin independent(Gala). The city's other independent cinema, the Regent, closed in 2004.

UniMovies presents screenings in the University Hall, a multi-purpose venue built in 1993.
A map of the local suburbs can be found here, while the venue's relative location to the main road passing the university is shown here. It seats over 800 in cinema mode, and has three levels to provide the clearest sightlines possible in a flat floored venue. Pictured below are views looking towards the front and the rear and a computer-enhanced shot of the audience enjoying a recent show.
How often? From February to November, UniMovies screens every Wednesday night (usually a double feature, although with the general increase in running time of features, single features are becoming more common). We used to show art-house films on a regular basis on Fridays, but this was discontinued in 2007 due to rising costs and declining attendances.
How much? Admission to any screening is currently $4 if tickets are purchased in advance of the box-office opening, and $5 on the night of the show. Up to 2006, many screenings sold out (that's 800 tickets), sometimes before the box-office opened. Recently, due to changes in the university parking and funding, attendances have been about halved.
Front of house Our box-office opens about 30 minutes prior to the scheduled screening time. We have a computerised ticketing system which sells from the box-office or the UniShop. We also have a refreshment bar where our volunteers will serve you soft drinks, fresh-brewed coffee, hot chocolate, chips and Maltesers. We also sell imported ice-cream called Dippin' Dots (all the way from Paducah, Kentucky) exclusively in the area. Patrons are allowed to bring their own refreshments. However, hot food and glass containers are not allowed in the venue. Here are pictures of our foyer, box-office and refreshment bar.
Equipment Our projection equipment consists currently of a Ballantyne Pro-35 and a Kinoton FP-25E 35mm projectors (the latter recently replacing our older Pro-35). The Pro-35 has been used only once since 2005. We use 4000 watt projection lamps. Eprad make-up tables (film towers) and the integrated Kinoton film tower provide the facility to present all films as one continuous show, although we can present with changeovers (but have not done so for many years). The screen is the largest in the area at 15m with a height of 6.8m. We regularly check to ensure that our picture satisfies the standard brightness of 16 footlamberts (tested with our PSA-200 projection system analyser). Pictured below are our two projectors along with a shot of our Panasonic DW-10000 video projector (10000 lumen output at full HD resolution - 1920 x 1080) which is used for screening computer slides and music videos prior to the features. We also present some features electronically, using a Cine-X25 system (replacing a PanaMedia). These digital movies are not yet at full HD, but at 1280 x 720 generally.

Note that the projectors support all three digital systems (Dolby Digital, DTS, and SDDS) and we are the only cinema in the area with all three and the only one with SDDS. Pictured below is our sound rack with Dolby CP500, DTS-6D, and SDDS DFP-2000 along with a Panalogic SP-23 centre surround processor. Note also the "TLA" crossover/monitor unit - our sound/screen system was designed by "the company" but, at this time, we have not been able to be certified due to some reverberation time issues. Our amplifiers are 12 QSC 385-watts per channel stereo amplifiers feeding bi-amped ElectroVoice screen channel speakers (each with twin horns to cover the large venue), 6 ElectroVoice subwoofers, and 24 Krix surround speakers. Also below is a picture of our video rack housing source material from BetaSP, VHS, super VHS, LaserDisc, Blu-Ray player and DVD plus HD digital television. You can also see our volunteers breaking down one of our screenings from MUT spools to 20 minute spools on cores.