Gilford Cinemas to reopen soon

GILFORD — Less than two weeks after Gilford Cinemas 8 closed, its former manager signed a lease with the owners of Gilford Airport Plaza to reopen the local theater.

Ryan Hinchey, who grew up in Meredith, and worked in the food and beverage industry before returning to the Lakes Region during the COVID-19 pandemic, served as general manager of Gilford Cinemas 8 until the lease was terminated Oct. 8. He hopes to reopen the theater by early November.

In a “wildly accelerated” process after the theater closed, Hinchey formed his own business — Gilford Cinemas — and set about obtaining all the permits and inspections necessary to reopen.

“These processes typically play out over the course of months, with communication and handoffs, and things like that,” Hinchey said. “I’ve essentially taken a building that was shut off, and I am very close to reopening it, both in a licensing aspect and inspections.”

Previous operators of the theater, Belmont Capital and Scene One, were headquartered elsewhere. Hinchey lives with his wife and children in Laconia.

“This is the first time that this location will be locally family-owned and operated,” said Stuart Scharff, co-owner of Gilford Airport Plaza. “Ryan is intimately familiar with it and, frankly, he’s really impressed me, because he’s moved very quickly to establish relationships with film buyers and take advantage of the slate of movies that are coming up in November and December.

“I’m comfortable because, having seen how detail-oriented Ryan is and how passionate he is about the business, now that it’s owned by somebody with a real tie to the community, I just think he’s going to be on fire with it, and he has a real commitment to the community.”

“I pride myself in the ability to give people and internship programs opportunities to integrate into work environments and take next steps,” Hinchey said. His efforts have included the development of unpaid and paid internship programs for Laconia, Gilford, and Meredith.

With the theater, he said he wants to make attendance an “extension of their living room” — a concept that includes comfortable chairs and expanded food and beverage offerings.

Hinchey said the lighting has been updated, and he’s looking to modernize comfort and technical aspects.

“My intention would be to rehire my entire staff and offer further opportunities for the community. This is a launching pad for a lot of people, and there are plenty of opportunities here.”

Hinchey said taking the general manager’s position when he returned to the Lakes Region was his first experience in the role, but he has had a lifelong passion for movies.

“This is the first theater I came to when I was a child,” he said, recalling watching “Titanic” with his family in 1995.

Now 42, he said he feels ready for the challenge of ownership, but admitted, “I’ve also never owned a business before.

“There are a lot of first-time conversations, but the consistency of me being here, and having done what I’ve done here for as long as I have, is making it approachable and digestible.”

A 2007 graduate of Inter-Lakes High School, he attended the University of New England. While living in Meredith, he worked at Giuseppe’s and at Hart’s Turkey Farm restaurants, “dishwashing, working my way through the ranks, eventually getting to sauté chef.”

After moving to Westerly, Rhode Island, he became food and beverage director at the luxurious Ocean Cliff Hotel in Newport.

“I have extensive white-glove restaurant experience,” Hinchey said, noting overall, he has 16 years of restaurant experience.

It was in Westerly he met his wife, Julia. The couple now have two daughters, ages 5 and 9. When the pandemic hit, they moved back to New Hampshire and he took over as general manager of Gilford Cinemas 8 when the theater reopened.

He also has used his private time to make movie trailers and do video editing. “It’s always been a passion of mine.”

Viewing the theater as a community extension of the living room, Hinchey said Gilford Cinemas 8 also will continue offering senior discount days, birthday party packages, and private events.

“My goal,” he said, “is to be a first-run movie theater with all the AAA titles that any other major movie theater would have, [with] a wildly expanded food and beverage program.”

“It was our goal to have a neighborhood theater back in operation quickly,” Scharff said. “There were a number of other operators out there, and I have no doubt we would have gotten it done with one of them, but I’m just really pleased that Ryan’s getting the opportunity to really turn this into something that’s as locally connected as it is.”