Saturday, May 25, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The Beverly Theater opened in downtown Las Vegas last year on a mission to provide unique cinematic, literary and live experiences with a platform.
The venue has since become a local favorite for its boutique theater with its inventory of classic-to-contemporary films and the rooftop hangout, Segue — where guests can catch free live jazz shows or readings by authors from all over.
“We believe intensely that education and the arts are the best ways to transform lives in Southern Nevada,” said Rory Reid, CEO of the Rogers Foundation, which founded the Beverly. “We set out to do things that weren’t being done here — to fill gaps. … There was no independent theater like the Beverly, and to have a city as big as ours that’s known as the Entertainment Capital of the World and not have independent cinema made no sense to us. And that’s why we did what we did.”
Now, the Beverly will continue to uplift artists through the venue’s new film distribution arm: Ink Films.
The offshoot is the “logical extension” of the Beverly, Reid said, and an opportunity to increase the reach of both the venue and the Rogers Foundation beyond just Southern Nevada, by bringing films that may otherwise not get seen to a wide audience.
“We want to inspire movie-going, obviously through what we do at the Beverly Theater, but also through Ink Films,” said Kip Kelly, founding creative director and chief experience officer at the Beverly. “And really try to focus on getting placements around the country and even into Canada for some of these films that do not have representation.”
Kelly said he and others at the Beverly already have relationships with theaters nationwide, every studio in Hollywood and a slew of filmmakers, whether because they’ve screened their films or worked with their distributors.
“The independent films we show — the first thing to go is the marketing budget,” he said. “That’s why most people don’t hear about them. So we take pride in being a powerful marketing arm for the films that get played here at the Beverly Theater.”
Ink Films is a natural fit to expand the Beverly’s and the Rogers Foundation’s footprint, while also uplifting filmmakers, Kelly said.
Even filmmakers who may successfully screen their movie during the industry’s “festival season” struggle to get theatrical placement, he said.
“I think what we’ve learned from the first 14 months and then also since this announcement is there’s no shortage of film inventory that needs representation — and really, really good film inventory,” Kelly said.
Ink Films joins a slew of other efforts by Nevadans to increase the state’s stake in the film industry, from a 34-acre movie and television studio planned for southwest Las Vegas to the Summerlin Production Studio complex, proposed in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
And actors like Mark Wahlberg testified in support of a bill before the 2023 Nevada Legislature that would seek to expand the state’s film tax program.
The best thing Ink Films can do for filmmakers in or out of town is build it to compete, Kelly said, and really stir up the film business in Las Vegas. If people happen to be in town or passing through and making films and hear that there’s already a shop set up to make or distribute film, that’s pretty powerful, he said.
“That’s a beacon to other people in other markets and other towns and other cities, but also from people who live right here in Las Vegas,” he said. “And so we hope that there’s a lot more of that to come. I think any type of movie business or music business is good for Las Vegas.”
Ink Films was named to be synonymous with storytelling, Kelly emphasized.
“Storytelling in our mind starts with ink,” he said. “And it’s a very humble beginning from ink to the big screen. And so in many ways, we are that humble beginning for people.”
When you’re watching a movie — whether on your tablet or at a theater like the Beverly — the world can feel endless, Kelly said. The theater’s programming and films, like the rest of the Rogers Foundation’s pursuits, are aimed at changing lives, he said.
He hopes Ink Films will do the same for filmmakers, he said, noting that “nobody’s going to get shelved and nobody’s going to get lost in the sauce,” and people they work with will have a plethora of resources.
It’s important that creating something makes your life a little bit better, Kelly said.
“I think if anybody talks about their life and their experiences at one point or another, one of the things they will probably talk about is a movie they saw and what it did to them,” Reid said. “We’ve all had those experiences, because movies transport you. They provide escape.”
There’s a lot of work to be done, Kelly said.
“We think all roads lead back to the Beverly Theater and to the Rogers Foundation, and Ink Films will be just one more road for that,” Kelly said. “And we hope, as a theatrical arm, it will figuratively and literally be able to reach other people beyond what we can do here just in the Beverly Theater. So we’re excited.”
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