BY JT LEONARD Times Record Staff

BRUNSWICK

Being an independent movie theater owner is something of a misnomer.

That’s what Barry Norman has learned during three years operating the Eveningstar Cinema — a “purist’s” picture show in the lower level of the Tontine Mall.

He’s the boss — if one doesn’t count his ever-present dog, Scooter, who enthusiastically announces the appearance of visitors.

But there’s very little true independence being a small, niche-film moviehouse in the shadow of nationally-backed cineplexes.

Norman said he is beholden to film distributors who largely dictate to him which films he will be able to show, when, and for how long.

He’s also dependent on an industry that largely has forsaken domestic audiences and now caters mostly to foreign demand, Western culture obssessed China and Asia now being major players in film consumption, he said.

The challenges get harder after 2015, when 35-millimeter films — the iconographic reels that have fueled the American film industry for more than 100 years — no longer are available.

That’s caused him to take on an additional $50,000 expense for conversion to a digital projector.

“It’s like a giant car payment,” Norman said. “I’m a slave to the screen.”

Norman made the switch to digital in April, as celluloid films were becoming harder and harder to get. Every major distributor is phasing out the analog format, and his selection was getting spare.

Now 55, he still loves what he does. But he’s nearing the edge of insolvency and is hoping that crowd-funding will make the difference and allow the neighborhood cinema to stay open.

The idea of asking an audience to pay for its entertainment isn’t new.

However, the concept of asking them to do it in advance, and to benefit a forprofit company, is a little unorthodox.

Norman hopes that by asking a lot of people to contribute a little bit, the result will be enough cash — and a cult-like caché among the disparate donors — to keep Eveningstar operating.

“Crowd-funding has become de rigeur these days,” Norman said. “(Even) Spike Lee is doing it. My pitch is trying to connect the dots … It’s a local theater but a global thing.

“Yes, I’m in Brunswick, Maine, but the more of these (small theaters) we can save, the better off we all are.”

Contributors receive gifts depending on the size of their donations, from Tshirts and mugs to signed memorabilia.

Norman will screen his own film, “Sticky Wicket,” on Saturday to initiate the fund-raising campaign.

Filmed in Brunswick during five days in 2012, the semi-autobiographical film is produced and directed by independent filmmaker and industry legend Rick Schmidt, one of Norman’s friends. “Sticky Wicket” is the pair’s fourth collaboration.

Twice divorced, Norman bought the theater in 2010 after a career path that includes television production, professional wrestling, competitive bodybuilding and film festival promotion. His constant companion is his “schnoodle” Scooter, a 12-year-old schnauzer-poodle mix who is pretty sure that he, in fact, owns the theater and the “bat cave” above — a crammed-full loft office space where the confounded digital projector lives.

Norman does nothing to dissuade the toaster-sized watch dog.

“Well,” he said — Norman, not the dog — “if you think about it, I own the theater and Scooter owns me, then by proxy he actually does own the theater.”

Scooter’s relatively low altitude fits comfortably beneath the 5-foot, 6-inch ceiling height of the projection room.

But at 6 feet, 5 inches — unless sitting at his desk — Norman is in a constant state of stoop.

Three years of slouching and climbing the small ladder from concession stand to projection room/office have produced a corresponding number of hernias, as well as aggravated an existing vertebrae condition.

Due to the scoliosis, “my spine’s compressed and I’m shrinking,” Norman said. “I’ve lost two inches.”

Still, the conversion to digital is not without benefit. No longer are there 20- pound reels of film to carry, store, set-up and switch between projectors. Instead, the movies these days arrive stored on external computer hard drives, shipped in a hat box-sized cardboard case.

An encryption key is emailed later, which unlocks the movies to be loaded into the digital projector for a specific length of time. After that, the file is unaccessible and the drive is returned to the distributor to be reloaded and reshipped.

So with 108 minutes of running time and the nonplused digital projector and processor to manage the movie showing at the time, Norman Tuesday had time to peruse distribution lists and film release schedules, ponder ways to keep his theater open and chat with the local media.

His audience tends to skew older, which places an intrinsic limit on what he can show and realistically expect people to come watch. Unable to draw huge audiences for the latest summer blockbuster, Eveningstar instead appeals to critically-acclaimed films that require thought and patience, instead of endless chase scenes, computer-created special effects, gratuitous nudity or massive pyrotechnics.

If he can get the occasional younger audience in for a sleeper hit — as is the case with the currently-showing feature, “The Way Way Back,” now in its third week and still drawing well enough to keep on-screen — so much the better.

What he hopes for is four or five largedrawing films each year. Those tend to satisfy the distributors, as well as give him the financial cushion to gamble on lesser-known, art house or independent films that might later turn into hits or, at least, crowd pleasers that keep him in concessions and Scooter in dog biscuits.

Occasionally, he is able to procure a critically-acclaimed film that also brings huge crowds, such as 2012’s “The King’s Speech.”

“That was the biggest (drawing) film I’ve ever had here,” he said.

When that happens, it’s a happy windfall that he reinvests into the overhead costs and operating expenses.

Tickets for the screening of “Sticky Wicket’ are $15 and available at Eveningstar. A crowd-funding website, www.seed&spark.com, goes live on Friday.

Norman hopes for the best.

“I’ve done everything I can to make this the best theater possible,” he said. “But the reality is that it’s either convert to digital or close, and it’s a financial albatross. The accepted figure is that 1,000 small theaters nationwide will close because of it, and I don’t want to be one of them.”

jtleonard@timesrecord.com