Peter Smith, owner of Starlight Cinema Taupō for 43 years (centre) with new owners Tammy Prince (left) and Charlie Prince (right). Photo / Supplied
The year was 1979 and a young Peter Smith took on the job as a projectionist at the local cinema.
Two years later, the owner sold Peter his third of the shares and after making an inquiry to the managing director, he was offered the remaining shares.
Peter says the key to his success was "just being there and being a people person", for 43 years!
"Offering a good service is key, and having a good selection of movies to show. Also, the staff have been critical to the success of the cinema."
Throughout that time, Peter has employed a lot of young people, many keep in touch and he enjoys seeing them make a success of their lives. He also has a core of senior staff, one has been with him for 19 years and two staff members have been at the cinema for 11 years.
The Starlight Cinema is locally owned and independent and Peter says he has never been tempted to sell out to one of the big movie chains.
"It wouldn't be the same if the cinema was owned by a franchise. They would operate it in a different way."
He is staunchly community-minded and the Starlight Cinema Taupō has sponsored the annual fireworks and laser extravaganza, which in turn donates tens of thousands of dollars back into the community, the annual hobby show, the local harriers club, women's golf and the community patrol, to name a few.
"The local cinema is the community. They support me and I support them."
Peter is going to help the new owners out for another couple of months and is looking forward to going on holiday with his wife Robyn when he finally gets to retire.
He estimates the building is close to 70 years old and says working out how to deal with the old building will be a challenge for the new owners.
Tammy Prince says she spent many happy hours of her childhood in the Starlight Cinema.
On Friday last week, Tammy and husband Charlie Prince bought the Starlight Cinema Centre from Peter Smith, who Tammy has known since she was 5.
When she was a child, her father Tom Clelland owned the business Xtra Clean which had the cleaning contract at the cinema.
"I worked in Dad's company in the holidays. The cinema would be my babysitter. In 1993 when The Lion King came out, I watched it 19 times over 14 days. I saw Titanic 22 times, I love movies."
Tom has sold his cleaning business now, but still keeps the carpet clean at the cinema. Tammy says Peter was more than an employer to her family.
"My dad was a single dad and so was Peter and they bonded. It wasn't like they were just co-workers."
Tammy's other childhood love was golf, moving to Texas when she was 18 on a golf scholarship to Oklahoma State University. She and Texas-born husband Charlie both have business degrees and Charlie is a big fan of superhero movies.
For a time they were both professional golfers but they didn't like the travel. During their last few years in Texas, Tammy raised their three young children while Charlie worked as a land and contracts analyst for an oil company.
"Charlie said to me 'what do you want to do?' And I said 'I want to own a movie theatre, it's so familiar to me'. We were going to either start one or buy one."
Fast forwards a few years, and the Prince family arrived in New Zealand on March 24, 2020, one day before the borders closed due to a State of National Emergency declared over the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the past few weeks, Tammy and Charlie have been learning the ropes at the Starlight Cinema, an immediate challenge being to get through this year "and make sure the business makes financial sense".
Tammy says if she and Charlie build a new cinema, people can expect something fancy but welcoming and cosy, and it will have a decent bar.
"We would keep the blockbusters but expand the boutique side. It will be a cinema designed for functions, such as birthdays."
Tammy says that dad Tom is now their primary babysitter.
"He is very excited [we have bought the cinema] and we have all been a bit terrified."
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