Compared to most major cities, Detroit is somewhat lacking in the movie theater department. Until recently, the only options were the Detroit Film Theater inside of the Detroit Institute of Arts or the Ren Cen 4 Theatre inside of the Renaissance Center. But in October, the landscape became a little brighter with the addition of the Burton Theatre.
Located on Cass Avenue just south of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the Burton Theatre is a one-screen independent theater that caters to the more eclectic side of the film industry.
“I went to film school,” Nate Faustyn, the main programmer, said. “Most of the movies come from my little bank of film knowledge. They’re usually things I really like and want to show.”
Many who frequent the Burton appreciate this and it’s one of the reasons the theater has become a success.
“The staff has the final say on what they show,” Neal Simms, a frequent patron at the Burton said. “It filters out a lot of the garbage.”
The theater, run by Faustyn, Jeff Else, Matt Kelson, David Allen and Joel Laundry, acquired its Cass Corridor location almost by accident.
“Matt (Kelson) had a roaming projection project and we did that for a while, and it kind of got us into the idea,” Faustyn said.
Located in a school formerly called the Burton International School, the group, before the addition of Laundry, had been looking unsuccessfully for a theater. Laundry, who purchased the Burton, joined the group and their dream became a reality.
“It closed down in 2002, and he had plans of making a movie theater,” Faustyn said.
The building, itself, is interesting. The parking lot next to the building is a fenced-in lot with a security guard. Filmgoers are then guided by small signs down a narrow corridor between the building and a fence to two plain-looking, black doors with the words “Burton Theatre” in gold paint.
Inside, there are movie posters and a makeshift ticket booth behind a brown door with small metal bars. The men’s bathroom is located directly downstairs in the basement. You have to walk down a narrow hallway with only old projectors atop green lockers to guide you. Inside the room is big enough to house a miniature pool table.
“We’re making money, we’re doing OK and things seem to be growing,” Faustyn said. “ If we gross over a certain amount we have to pay 35-50 percent back to the distributor, and the cost of electricity is like $100 a day to run these machines.”
On the second floor a hallway with lockers and classrooms is roped off. In the other direction there’s a concession stand complete with glass case selling movie-sized candy and a popcorn popper. There’s Faygo and Coke in glass bottles as well as a small display of “Pete’s Gourmet Chocolates.”
When asked where the projectors came from, Else, who at a point repaired film equipment, said he had a few connections in that world.
“My dad owns a steel fabrication shop and we built the frame for the screen. Other then that everything was garbage picked,” he said.
With showing of cult movies like “The Room,” “Dolemite,” “Videodrome” and “Taxidermia,” the Burton provides Detroiters a slice of culture that they might not otherwise find.
“There are certain expectations of the kinds of movies that were expected to play,” Faustyn said.
But Faustyn and Else both said that some movies they expected to lose money on have been extremely popular.
“'Black Dynamite' was the most popular; 'Taxidermia' and 'WR Mysteries of the Organism' were the most surprisingly popular,” Faustyn said.
The Detroit market proved that no matter what you do in the rest of the country, people here have an interest in them.
Patrons also come because of the quality staff.
“I like how I feel like I’m appreciated by the staff, I feel a comradery with them,” Simms said.
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