News & Insights
Fall In Love With Cinema Again
4th February 2025
Conversation between Amanda McCulloch and Matt Buchanan, Chief Executive Belmont Cinema
Intro
What attracted you to the Chief Executive role at the Belmont Cinema?
Having spent the last few years helping to open and then run the award-winning Montrose Playhouse I have developed a passion for community based, independent cinema and all the cultural and well-being benefits they deliver. Jobs like these are rare so when the role came up the opportunity to come home and be part of the team that brought the Belmont back was too exciting an opportunity to pass up.
Aberdeen doesn’t just need its own independent cinema, we deserve it!
As recruiters, we often talk about the value of transferable skills. Talk us through the skills that you'll bring to bear in this leadership role from your career in hospitality, retail and latterly, independent cinema.
There is nothing I find more satisfying than building an organisation where the team is empowered, engaged, delivering great results and happy.
Throughout my career I’ve made so many mistakes and failed so many times and the biggest lesson I learnt was this is totally normal!
So, the biggest transferrable skills I bring are resilience, self-awareness (with apologies to the teams I’ve led whilst I was working on this!) and to embrace failure, dust myself off and do better the next time.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing CEOs in the independent cinema sector?
People talk about the rise of the streamers, energy costs, cost of living, delays in production post-COVID and the SAG-AFTRA strike, and they are all valid concerns but the biggest challenge for me is how to balance commercial viability against community and cultural benefits. How can I keep the doors open and still put on a programme that caters for all tastes? Which compromises should I make, and where and when?
Engagement with TMM Executive
Describe the benefit you felt from engaging with TMM Executive during the application, interview and offer process.
I'm not just saying this because I got the job but Amanda and the rest of the TMM team I engaged with were professional, friendly and supportive. Any questions or issues were dealt with efficiently and the initial interview I had with Amanda was one of the best interviews I’ve had.
She is incredibly skilled at active listening and getting the pertinent information within an organic conversation.
Were there any learnings or observations from your recruitment experience that you'll be mindful or, or integrate, to hiring practice at The Belmont Cinema?
I'm definitely going to up my active listening skills! Also just ensuring that we strive to be as professional, friendly and supportive to all candidates as TMM are.
Impact and Results
There are many stakeholders invested in the success of Belmont Community Cinema, what are your strategic plans for the first 12 months in post?
After 4 weeks I’m clear that my main focuses will be: supporting the fundraising effort; establishing organisational clarity; working with the relevant parties on the refurbishment plans and ensuring all strategic partnerships are ready to go. But, fundamentally most of my efforts are focused on getting the doors open!
What influences your selection of films and events to ensure they resonate with local audiences?
During the refurbishment we will conduct extensive audience research through both internal work and in collaboration with industry experts, so we are programming what people want to see, challenging our audience and ensuring we are relevant and exciting for our guests.
When is the cinema scheduled to re-open and what can people expect from their first visit?
As soon as humanly possible!! I’m aware that’s a terrible answer but it’s also true, everyone involved in the project is putting absolutely everything into getting the doors open.
Perhaps most importantly, a welcoming home-from-home ambiance delivered by an engaged and empowered team.
As for people’s first visit, an amazing, stunning venue, state of the art projection, brilliant films, comfy as heck chairs (with cup holders!), brilliant facilities including a reinvigorated bar and concessions area and perhaps most importantly a welcoming home-from-home ambiance delivered by an engaged and empowered team.
What do you love most about film and cinema?
The roles I have had recently are pretty all consuming, so to be able to switch off my phone and lose myself in a great story is the definition of happiness!
Films let you walk a mile in someone else's shoes, to have experiences you would never have and as the late Roger Ebert said, “For me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy.” and I couldn’t agree more.
This interview features in the TMM Executive Linkedin Newsletter: The Executive Brief. Subscribe and stay informed.
