Brenda Moe
ADMINISTRATOR/CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORAL GABLES ART CINEMA
“We provide one of the only entertainment and cultural options in the city [besides restaurants and bars]. Thankfully we have Books & Books across the street!”
Brenda Moe is now in her third year as the person who runs the Coral Gables Art Cinema, the city’s super successful downtown indie movie house. She’s in charge of everything from staff and budgets to grant acquisition and the cinema’s relationship with city officials. With a background in film and TV production (she produced a series of short films with such potent directors as David Frankel of The Devil Wears Prada and Marley & Me fame), Moe was one of the original team that created the Art Cinema in 2010. She also oversaw the launch of the Miami International Children’s Film Festival in 2013. Before rejoining the Art Cinema in 2016, she produced the fourth annual edition of the children’s festival and spent three years creating a planetarium film library for distribution nationwide.
LATEST ACHIEVEMENT
Moe is currently negotiating with the city to expand the Art Cinema to adjacent city property, to include two more small theaters with 60-70 seats each (the main theater currently has 141 seats) for additional classic and indie titles. Current target date: Late 2020. Also, pushing for more films to be shown from 70mm reels rather than digitally.
WHAT SHE SAYS
“I love the art form of cinema, and I love the process [of filmmaking]. It’s really an incredible process to get something up on that screen; the amount of time and people and creativity really blows me away,” she says. As for the Art Cinema’s role in the city, she says, “When I look at Coral Gables and think about what there is to do at night that is not going to a bar or restaurant – and I’m talking about in the evening – there is not a lot. We provide one of the only entertainment and cultural options in the city. Thankfully we have Books & Books across the street!” As for the Cinema’s ambition to expand: “We are coming to the city not with a problem but with an opportunity to expand the opportunities for people to enjoy the cinema.”
Photo by Jonathan Dann
