THE SILVER screen at the Regent in Christchurch has turned to gold once again after the cinema was awarded Best Independent Exhibitor for last year.

The thriving independent cinema, theatre and concert hall situated in the heart of Christchurch’s High Street was given the award by The Event Cinema Association at an event in London on Thursday February 13.

Association members gathered at the Vue West End cinema in London to hear an overview of 2019 for the industry across the UK and Ireland, and to award trophies for outstanding contributions to Event Cinema during the year.

Regent Centre General Manager, Matthew Vass-White, was at the Vue West End to receive the trophy and warm congratulations from fellow ECA members he as was invited on to the podium to collect the trophy and ensure its safe delivery to the Regent.

Matthew said “I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of all the staff, volunteers and the Board of Directors at the Regent. It is wonderful recognition of all the hard work that everyone puts in as a team to make the Regent the success it is today.”

Event Cinema refers to the use of cinemas to screen a varied range of live or pre-recorded entertainment, such as sport, opera, musicals, ballet and comedy, which distinguishes it from traditional films and cinema releases.

Since its launch, starting in 2006 with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Event Cinema has helped broadcast thousands of events from a range of genres to screen across the country, including Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House and live musicals shows from the West End such as Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and Billy Elliot Live.

Last year, the Regent Centre has a record-breaking sell-out of Les Miserables - The Staged Concert on Monday December 2 when all 480 seats at the Centre sold out in three hours flat.

Following a second Encore showing of Les Miserables – The Staged Concert, the distributor, Dan Butler at Universal Pictures UK, contacted the management to tell them that the Regent “was the highest grossing independent cinema and have achieved a gross in line with some of the circuits which have multiple screens.

The Regent was also the highest grossing independent cinema in the UK & Ireland for Kinky Boots the Musical, 42nd Street and for the fifth year running, for Andre Rieu’s concerts.