I like Korean movies. They’re taut and dark and funny in a specific way and, at least once, someone will entertainingly eat food while talking. But really? I like the Korean movies I get to see in Missoula, Montana, after hopping on my bike and pedaling to the Roxy Theater. To a lot of us, the Roxy has become home, the one that’s not our house with chores and stuff. Everything about it is familiar and special in equal measures—still.
Ten years ago, when the Roxy became more than the host of the International Wildlife Film Festival, it very intentionally morphed into Mike Steinberg’s version of community cinema. It still is where the IWFF lives and Mike’s still in charge, but it belongs to so many others now, too. This version launched us—as Korean movie lovers, as filmmakers, and as people who get that “triple-organic” popcorn is in a different league than that crap you get at the mall. If you go to arty movie houses in any other city, you know that none of them compare, really, to ours.
The Roxy’s long tale started in 1937. Seriously! It was in the University District then and offered showtimes for (maybe not-so-great) Westerns. By the ‘70s, it was, well, kinda porn-y. The Roxy of the ‘80s, when some of us alive then were probably roller-skating, was a “dive,” in the words of The Pulp’s own Erika Fredrickson. She elaborated in a quote on the Roxy’s website: “Some of the most memorable moments included beer fizzing from cans purchased at the nearby gas station and the clanking of bottles rolling down several aisles during the show.” The lowest low was the gutting fire in 1994, which was probably arson? But still unsolved and definitely terrible.
I’ve skipped over so much of the Roxy’s fascinating history for a reason: We want to celebrate what it has become for Missoula right now, a 10-year evolution we want around for another 100.
–Jule Banville
Roxy member, journalism professor at the University of Montana, movie dork
To mark the Roxy’s first decade as Missoula’s cinematic home, The Pulp reached out to a few people we wanted to wax on about it. Some of them did.
Jeri Rafter
Roxy supporter, producer, dog mom
The Roxy to me is an incubator, a meeting place, where handshakes and hugs happen. It is a place for celebration, where artists present their work to audiences and we all bask in the light of the screenglow. The physical place that is the theater is the heartbeat and the soul of filmmaking. I’ve witnessed lifelong friendships being made in the lobby, love springing under the marquee, tears falling on cheeks while eating popcorn. The Roxy is everything that film is—it makes us laugh, cry, feel and opens us up to what is new and what is old. Long live the Roxy!
Charlotte Macorn
Trash Vault horror hostess, general weirdo, mercurial icon, and the voice of your generation
In today’s age of endless streaming options, it’s now more essential than ever to have a place that curates films. Movies shouldn’t just be something you put on to kill time before going to bed; movies are vital to our society, ourselves and our local community. The Roxy’s staff is made up of so many people who truly love cinema, and, more importantly, love bringing cinema to Missoula.
A.P. Creighton
Former rentals coordinator at the Roxy; currently in charge of making directors and producers go to meetings about making cartoons at Netflix
Selfishly, the Roxy is the reason I have my current job. At the first Montana Film Festival, I got to work with Jeri Rafter, who then got me my first gig on a real life movie set, “Wildlife,” featuring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal. Since then I have worked on film and television sets/offices all over the West, a stop-motion studio in Portland, and, for the last four years, at Netflix.
The Roxy is this place where I got to see what true community means. It brought together so many wonderful people who love film, art, and helping one another out. For me, it is the best representation of Missoula. It is kindness and art. Community and film. Welcoming and unbelievably weird. And the popcorn is top notch.
Ian Carstens
Filmmaker/writer/curator, past Roxy Theater and Roxy Film Academy staff
When I think of community cinema, the Roxy is my standard. The interior of my mind is probably the same orange as those walls. It’s a permeable membrane, an arthouse cinema where people passing in, those working to hold its shape, or those remembering it fondly make it what it is. No other theater has given me the skills to run screenings in three auditoriums while caring for a geriatric theater cat. I probably wouldn’t have met any cowboys (especially not my favorite who can rap), and I wouldn’t have had the ego-splitting joy to witness an impression of me that made me laugh so much I forgot who I was. I’m a better filmmaker, a better parent, a better citizen because I went to the movies and made them possible for others there. So many directors, editors, actors, writers and super-fans in one special place feels almost radical. The Roxy shows that “arthouse,” “cinema,” and “theater” all are mere mortal buzzwords compared to true community. Méliès’s moon will always belong in the big sky over the Roxy.
Marshall Granger
Filmmaker, film editor and former Roxy staff member
From the day in 2013 that Mike Steinberg asked me to help out with this little project of reopening an arthouse theater, The Roxy was my second home, my second family, my education, and my favorite place to be. I quickly saw what “community cinema” meant as my world began to shape and expand around the people and conversations happening at the Roxy.
I have so many beautiful memories of my time there, and they all kind of blur together into this very cinematic dream sequence: the first big event we had—screening “Winter in the Blood” to two packed rooms, hoping the whole place didn’t explode from the sudden burst of life; watching the new marquee light up for the first time as a lot full of people counted down across the street; gathering with the staff, late at night after a long day, so we could all get a sneak peak at our friend Lily in “Certain Women;” or even just selling concessions to a dad taking his young son to see “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time on a Sunday afternoon.
Having the Roxy in Missoula means more than just one more great community hangout spot (not to downplay the importance of having many of those!). Moviegoing, especially in 2023, is by and large an isolating experience. It’s something that happens at home. The concept of a community cinema is only going to become more vital as the Roxy enters a new decade and Missoula is unbelievably fortunate to have such a resource.
Keila Szpaller
Roxy member, Daily Montanan staffer, former staffer at the Missoula Independent
The marquee glows. The silver popcorn bowls sparkle. The kernels pop.
Butter. Salt. Brewer’s yeast.
Yum.
A couple of cards in my wallet give me great joy.
The annual pass to Glacier National Park opens the door to the beauty of Montana, the bluest blue on Earth in a glacial lake, the perfect bloom of bear grass.
The yellow membership card to the Roxy Theater opens the door to other worlds, connects Missoula to different places and ideas, and to itself too. The theater delights.
When the Roxy brought the rollicking “Everything Everywhere All At Once” to the screen, someone(s?) stuck googly eyes around the lobby.
When the theater showed “Triangle of Sadness,” the barf scene made me laugh so hard I cried—and it took me back to the touching nostalgia in “Stand By Me.”
In “Belfast,” when Dame Judi Dench tells her family “Go, now. Don’t look back,” The Roxy helped me understand the ache in the hearts of my own grandmothers.
An empty lobby is a win, a quick ticket, fast popcorn. A full lobby is a thrill, a community abuzz in one room in Missoula.
Clint Connors
Roxy member, filmmaker, law student, host of “Pass the Popcorn” on KBGA
My first week in Missoula wasn’t going well. I had yet to make any friends, and this new thing called “college” was a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, I discovered a little place called the Roxy that, for two hours, allowed me to escape to somewhere that I always felt at home: a movie theater.
I’ve had a borderline unhealthy obsession with the art of cinema since I was in diapers, and the Roxy spreads film love unlike any other place I’ve been to. With movies fresh off the festival circuit, as well as several film festivals of its own, the theater showcases artistic voices one can’t always hear at a chain theater, or in my case, a small hometown.
Of course, the Roxy also prides itself on fostering community, a fact I didn’t appreciate until I attended a screening of “Shrek.” Although I have that film close to memorized by now, it was a joy to laugh along with people who had never seen it before, as well as recite quotes and songs with longtime fans. That’s the magic of gathering together with your peers in front of the silver screen. And that’s the magic of the Roxy.
Anne Hughes
Local government gal who will have gone online and renewed her Roxy membership by the time you read this
The Roxy is everything I love about Missoula. It’s inclusive, creative, and funny. It somehow manages to be nurturing? Not sure how they pull that off, but they do. My favorite movies always end up being movies I’ve seen at the Roxy. Taking myself to a movie at the Roxy is peak self care…with a bowl of popcorn and a can of wine. It’s always my happy place.
Chris Shields
Roxy Cosmic member, film critic for the Montana Kaimin, cook at Tandem Bakery & Cafe, filmmaker
As a theater, the Roxy opens my eyes to global cinema and social issues represented in film that I otherwise may not have seen. It provides me what I otherwise couldn’t get in a big chain theater, but the folks at the Roxy know just how important it is to represent those types of movies. As a theater, it also serves as my getaway from otherwise boring afternoons and quiet nights that I should spend sleeping. As a theater, it provides me entertainment and a means to intake my favorite artform. It helps me relive old memories and create new ones.
But the Roxy is more than a theater to me. The Roxy is a social event. It’s where I met some of my closest friends and it’s where I got to know the ones I didn’t meet there. It’s where I feel most at home as I get to know most of the staff members personally and they greet me with smiling faces and questions about my latest life events. It’s an experience filled with good snacks, quality entertainment and great people. It’s my link to my local community and the whole world around me. I can count on the Roxy to show most, if not all, of my anticipated new releases as well as some of my favorite cult classics. I haven’t quite decided on where I want to go or what I want to do after I finish school at UM, but my biggest reason to stay planted in Missoula is this wonderful theater.
Alana Waksman
Filmmaker, former Montana Film Festival co-director, former Roxy Theater community outreach coordinator and programmer, former Montana Film Festival Roadshow producer, writer/director/producer of the Montana-made feature “We Burn Like This”
I first moved to Missoula in the fall of 2014 with an idea for a feature film I wanted to write. I moved from L.A., having just completed my MFA at USC in film production, and I shot from the hip and moved to Missoula to better understand the story I was trying to write set in Montana. I quickly started working for writer/director Andrew Smith and his wife Courtney Saunders as their assistant and nanny. Through them, I was encouraged to go check out the Roxy, and I remember feeling shocked to find that the programming was so in tune with the new exciting independent films that were coming out. Having just landed from L.A., I was so excited to find I could stay in the loop with having access to the films I would want to see. I even found that I was finding out about new films before some of my friends in L.A. were.
I loved going to the theater, both because of the programming, and because of the conversations I would get into with the managers on staff after the films. More than likely, staff members such as Andrew Rizzo, Marshall Granger, or Adam Miller would be working, and I would linger after the films to chat with them about what I had just seen, and then from there all kinds of topics around art and life, etc. etc. I felt very quickly that the Roxy was my second home. It was a place where I could find like-minded, open hearted, connected people who were creating a community space that I wanted to be a part of, and gave me access to the kinds of films I wanted to see, expanded my awareness and point of view, and found to be meaningful. An early experience that I loved was seeing Sean Baker’s Tangerine with lead actor Mya Taylor in attendance for the 1st Annual Montana Film Festival. I couldn’t believe that the theater had brought in such an amazing guest for one of the most exciting and innovative films of that year. I couldn’t believe that I got to attend what felt like a very special screening at the time and hear from one of the lead actors—all in the middle of Montana.
I worked as an employee of the Roxy Theater, Montana Film Festival and the International Wildlife Film Festival from 2017 to 2020. My position on the staff allowed me to grow into the aspects of understanding meaningful community connection that I didn’t have prior to it. I experienced what the Roxy was as an audience member, and then got to help create the magic with the most wonderful team. Through my work for the Roxy, I found great meaning and great joy.
My experience at the Roxy is now a large part of the foundation of the work I continue to do as a filmmaker as well as my work for Film Independent in Los Angeles. As a team, we were always trying our best to assess the work we were doing, and how to best walk the talk the theater stood for as an inclusive community cinema. Through the theater, I gained lifelong friends. It’s the location where I first met Marshall Granger, who is now my husband. The Roxy will forever be a very special place to me.
Now that I live back in L.A. once again, I certainly feel nostalgic for the special years I worked at the Roxy and the team I got to work with. The Roxy is an incredible presence in the Missoula community. It has been incredibly meaningful in my life, as I know it has been for so many. These kinds of true community spaces that are welcoming and inclusive are so important. The Roxy gives Missoula (so far away from the major film centers of NYC or L.A.) a window into the most powerful, entertaining, and creative filmmaking and storytelling that is happening in cinema. It allows for important cultural conversations, and provides a meeting place for community members to connect in meaningful ways.
I will forever be grateful to the special community space the Roxy is—started by Mike Steinberg and his small team to create a daily arthouse community cinema not long before I moved to Missoula. I hope the community continues to support and value the work of the Roxy, and the Roxy continues to service the community in meaningful and impactful ways.
