Boulder, Colorado: Outdoor Cinema Up in the Air

. For 14 years, the Boulder Outdoor Cinema has played classic movies in the parking lot behind the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. But its future is threatened because the museum needs the storage space the cinema uses for its projectors, speakers and other equipment, the longtime manager of the film series said Wednesday. Jeanine Fritz, film series manager who also is a freelance film critic for the Camera, has been in discussions with owner and producer Dave Riepe about taking over the Boulder Outdoor Cinema. Fritz said this time of year she normally would start preparing a schedule and securing distribution rights and sponsors for movies. But she learned Wednesday that BMoCA wants the outdoor cinema out of its storage space by April 11. Riepe runs outdoor films in several other Denver metro-area towns and does not have the time or resources to keep up the Boulder series, Fritz said. The outdoor cinema has had chronic financial problems, nearly shutting down several times in recent years. Riepe could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening. "It's going to be hard enough for me to get it going on my own without having to find space," she said. "At the very least, we probably won't be having the outdoor cinema this summer. I don't think they're ousting us, not at all, but I don't see how we're going to make this work." Erica Meltzer Read more....