Woodland Park movie theater working to rebound

TELLER CO. — It’s likely been almost a year that many of us have gone out on a Friday night to catch a movie, but a local theater is bringing in business in a unique way.

Gold Hill Theatres in Woodland Park partnered with a Studiotown, a film company based in Colorado Springs. The film company produced a movie in Teller County and are now showing the movie at the theatre.

“It’s really helped bring in more income, which any little bit of business helps a small theatre like this stay open,” Robert Morgan, the manager at Gold Hill Theatres.

Making new movies came to a stand-still during the COVID-19 pandemic, which means the movie industry changed drastically and so did business at the theatre.

“A lot of production was put on hold and pushed to later in the year, then pushed to this year,” said Robert. “What’s really kind of saved us is playing older movies so we can stay afloat.”

The new movie is called “Rook.” It’s a 70-minute film about a gold heist among a group of friends in Colorado. It was shot and produced in Teller County, with many of the scenes filmed in Cripple Creek or Victor.

Stephen Morgan directed the film, which even has local actors. That’s why he wanted it to show in a local theatre.

“It’s about this community, it only makes sense to provide it to these guys because they need movies, and we have a movie,” said Stephen. “Seeing the movie, they (the viewers) get to point out all the places they go and eat, there’s a lot of casinos in it, and it’s just a lot of the community stuff.”

The project has been four years in the making, with the final year presenting the biggest set of challenges.

Bobby Lee Black, an actor for the film, said despite the industry being hit hard, the community stepped up to support one another.

“It’s been a little difficult being an actor but we’ve managed to get through it,” said Black. “This is a local film, this is local people doing stuff together.”

The film will be showing at Gold Hill Theatres this weekend, Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.