Sophie’s cinema choice shows reel ambition

Sophie Barrott at her Small Cinema, which she is hoping to expand.

ENTERPRISING teenager Sophie Barrott swung into action when her college pals complained they had nothing to do.

The student declared she would find a way to keep them occupied, and harnessed her vision, enthusiasm and commitment to open her own small cinema.

That unstoppable drive, which resulted in her jumping through numerous hoops to found the enterprise has now earned her a Pride in Oldham nomination.

She grabbed the chance in a feat which would have proved daunting for many people twice her age, holding meetings with Oldham Council, applying for an Arts Council grant, meeting with the independent Manchester cinema Cornerhouse to get advice and securing movies from a film bank owned by Warner Brothers.

Sophie (18) has just left Oldham Sixth Form College and is about to embark on a three-year degree course in film-making at Manchester Metropolitan University.

But she has pledged to keep her Small Cinema Project alive, and is even planning to expand its 80-strong auditorium to 100 seats.

The cinema rolls once a fortnight at Gallery Oldham, with ad hoc showings at Playhouse 2 in Shaw, averaging around once a month.

They always play to a sell-out audience, with the £3 tickets going like hot cakes, but still providing a tidy profit for the canny teenager.

Sophie, of Brotherdale Close, Royton, originally tested her idea with a month-long project in an empty market hall unit in Albion Street, Oldham town centre, after securing a £2,000 Lottery grant.

She mustered a group of friends and family to help her turn it into a cinema, and showed her first film in August last year.

It was an outstanding success right from the start, and Sophie soon launched herself into talks to secure a more permanent — and bigger — venue.

The teenager’s success in bringing the big screen back to town has attracted audiences of all ages, and there is never a seat to spare as its reputation spreads.

Running her successful enterprise involves her working two or three days a week, but she vowed to fit it in among her studies.

Her unswerving commitment to turn her initial idea into a reality has set her on the road towards her dream of being a film or art director.

On learning of her Pride in Oldham nomination, Sophie said: “It’s amazing. I never expected anything like this at all.”

As for her future, she said: “I would love to eventually run the cinema full time, but I will just have to see how it goes.”


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