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IQALUIT
Iqaluit's Astro Theatre, Nunavut's only movie theatre, will continue under new ownership as Bryan Pearson has sold the business to Piksuk Media Inc.

Bryan Pearson, shown here in 2010 at the Astro Theatre, is selling the business to Piksuk Media Inc. - NNSL file photo

The Clyde River-based, majority Inuit-owned company now owns and manages the Astro Theatre and Conference Centre as of last week after about nine months of negotiations.

Pearson started the Astro in 1996 out of an empty warehouse owned by the CBC, located in the Frobisher Inn adjacent to the CBC North building in the territorial capital. The Astro offers two digital movie screens, including one capable of showing 3-D movies, and a combined seating of 195. The theatre typically screens four movies every week.

For Pearson, the sale was a relief but he is sad to see it go.

"It was certainly 16 years of hard work and I guess it's time to take a rest from it. I was sad to see it go. It's my baby. But times are changing," he said. "I just wish them all the luck in the world for a very important institution, a morale booster for this community. And I hope it works well."

Piksuk Media knows Pearson well and decided to buy the movie theatre. The Clyde River company was aware Pearson wanted to get out of the business but wanted the theatre to continue, explained Ole Gjerstad, co-founder of Piksuk Media.

"The Astro is an important institution in Iqaluit and it would be a shame if there was not a good care to be taken of that in the future, somebody to take over from Bryan," he said. "We love films and would like to be involved in that business. And we believe the Astro is a good business opportunity and it can be a good business and an important cultural business in Iqaluit and in Nunavut."

The company would like to give the Astro's lobby a new look and change the seating in theatre 1, but the exact nature of the renovations and its timeline will depend on finances. But Gjerstad said the Astro theatre will keep its name.

"Bryan has been able to bring in first-run films. You can see them in Iqaluit when the people in Toronto and Calgary and Vancouver and Montreal can also see them," he said. "That is the backbone of the business and we're not going to change that."

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