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Maidstone film fan Zac Thraves bringing the movies to woods, weddings and museums thanks to pop-up cinema venture

A cinema could be coming soon to an unexpected location near you thanks to one film fan’s new business venture.

Zac Thraves, 43, has set up a pop-up cinema company, Splintered Cinema, and started taking bookings to show movies – including a classic horror at a wedding.

The 43-year-old said: “The idea is to set up a cinema in places that you would not normally have a cinema in.

Zac Thraves, who has set up a pop-up cinema company
Zac Thraves, who has set up a pop-up cinema company

“I have got a screen which is an old bedsheet and I also have an old wooden ladder which I put the projector on.”

The projector is HD quality, though, and Zac, who lives in Sutton Road in Maidstone, is keen for what’s being shown to be centre of attention.

“I want it to be that the film creates the atmosphere,” he said.

“The idea is to set up a cinema in places that you would not normally have a cinema in" Zac Thraves

“I did a test run last year at the Battle of Britain Museum where I showed Battle of Britain and that went very well.”

Now Mr Thraves has got his first two bookings, one of which is to show the sci-fi horror film Predator at a wedding.

Jade Wilson is marrying Tom O’Leary on Saturday, July 30 at Squirrel Wood, near Lenham, and the idea behind the screening was to inject some fun into proceedings.

“It’s because we’re getting married in a woodland,” explained Miss Wilson. “It was Tom’s idea.

“At first I though it was because one of our first dates was going and seeing Predator at a flashback to the eighties night.”

However it turns out her fiance chose the film because it’s one of his favourites.

Many wedding guests are camping at the venue, so the screening will begin around midnight.

The other booking for the pop-up cinema so far is to show the film Trash at Maidstone Museum to tie in with an exhibition titled Treasures from Trash. The exhibition runs from Saturday to Saturday, September 10, at the St Faith’s Street venue.

In the long-run, Mr Thraves is keen to work with local filmmakers to screen their work in the style of old-fashioned b-movies.

He explained: “What I would like to do is show local films before the main event."

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