THE boss of Dereham's cinema is celebrating a bumper year despite the recession.Hit movies such as the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, which was directed by Danny Boyle, helped attract people to the cinema in their droves in 2009 despite the nation being in the midst of the credit crunch.
THE boss of Dereham's cinema is celebrating a bumper year despite the recession.
Hit movies such as the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, which was directed by Danny Boyle, helped attract people to the cinema in their droves in 2009 despite the nation being in the midst of the credit crunch.
Trevor Wicks, owner of Dereham's and Fakenham's Hollywood Cinema which also has screens in Norwich, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, said the recession had helped boost audiences, particularly in terms of families where Ice Age 3 and Up were notable successes.
He said: 'Our audience has gone up because we're better value than the bigger venues. Last year there was a huge increase in families as it's only �3.99 for them each. It's been a big, big bonus for us. As families haven't got much money they're looking for a better deal so we're quite pleased with that.'
Mr Wicks said last year had been a 'decent year' but said it could have been even better but for the dry summer and a dreadful winter which made it difficult for people to get out of their homes.
He said: 'Unfortunately we were hit by two acts of God - the driest summer for 20 years in August and September which had an impact on leisure activities outside and the worst winter for 30 years.'
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