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Morning Film Fans are the First in the New McHurley Film Center

Early morning film fans are the first in the McHurley Film Center.
John Palminteri
Early morning film fans are the first in the McHurley Film Center.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - After a ribbon cutting and open house on Monday, the new McHurley Film Center in Santa Barbara is fully open and already very busy.

The center was finished just in time for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which has about 25 movies a day at the state street location in the heart of downtown.

Film fans were in all of the five theatres starting as early as 8:00am, followed by a rotating lineup of films throughout the day.

As the first ones came out we got their initial reviews.

Mary Anne Contreras was with her friends that are the "Breakfast Club" of early film fans.

"So impressed. It smells good. It looks good. It feels good. I'm happy. Amazing. It was better than what's happening at the Riviera (theatre), and I thought it was noticeably incredible."

With her Marla Phillips said, "the sound quality is fantastic. It's really good and that's a 4k. I think that's a 4k screen. It's great about the seats, really comfortable."

It checked every box for Rendy Freedman. "Because of the sound, the seats and the screen. It was amazing and the popcorn!"

Outside of the Film Center is a large board showing the daily lineup of movies and special tributes. There are also special line up locations for each of the five theatres and for pass holders to keep everything orderly as people come and go.

After the festival the film center will have a variety of films showing year-round including documentaries, international movies, and family friendly films.

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John Palminteri

John Palminteri is senior reporter for KEYT News Channel 3-12. To learn more about John, click here.

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