An article appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald
Friday 26th November 1999

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Colour television and the VCR were still years away when the big screen went blank in Kyogle. But it is a testament to the enduring magic of film and to the passion of cinema aficionado Mr Stuart Everett - that the movies have at last returned to the northern NSW town.

For Mr Everett, whose lifelong fascination with cinema began in front of Wuthering Heights at the Kyogle Roxy in 1942, the renaissance is the source of great pride. "It is very satisfying for the town, and for me personally, to bring cinema back to Kyogle," he said. "I think a cinema's important to a country town because it not only provides entertainment, it provides social mingling and a certain amount of culture that can't be obtained any other way."

Less than 50% of NSW towns with fewer than 15,000 residents have cinemas.

From a vintage Cinema housed on a shed on his farm, Mr Everett expanded Kyogle's entertainment options dramatically in September when he opened a three-screen complex in the old RSL hall. Two theatres show new releases with he third continuing Mr Everett's passion to explain the beginning of cinema.  His collection includes more than 300 films, a lantern used for slide presentations in the 1870's and a Pathe projector made in 1906. Mr Everett is certain to add to it next year when, as a Churchill Fellowship winner, he travels to Europe and the US researching techniques used in early cinema presentation.

From the moment he saw his first film, Mr Everett was drawn like  a moth to a projectionist's bulb. "It was the fascination of it, that little light at the back of the room that seemed to dance around and the image on the screen and the effect of the story and the total ambience of the cinema" he said.

His first job was a 12 year old "spool boy", and he showed his first films at 15. In his mid 30s he operated as a picture show man on the Kyogle-Evans Head-Casino circuit.

Now, at 62, Mr Everett has finally fulfilled his ambition of running a commercial cinema, making some money from what has always been a labour of love. The challenge today is, as ever to obtain prints in the best films. "I can get the good product but I am a little bit behind the majors, simply because they have a bit more control the system," Mr Everett explained. "I can be three weeks behind them but sometimes I am equal, depending on how many prints the company has got. With all the multiplexes going up, most of the prints are snapped up pretty quickly."

And his advice for the country cinema would-be's?  "Be very careful. It's fraught with danger - you've got to know the industry."