May 19, 2008

Thank you to S. James Snyder and the New York Sun for their coverage of the recent changes in my work.

But I need to clarify a few things.

The Pioneer is still open.  My departure from the Pioneer did not close the Pioneer, nor did the two things coincide.  Indeed, my successors booked the three films mentioned in the first paragraph of Mr. Snyder’s article.  Clearly, the Pioneer can do interesting things without me.  Hopefully they continue to.  Good luck to them.

Moreover, the Lower East Side’s gentrification did not cause me to leave the Pioneer.  I have never claimed it did.

I left the Pioneer because professional opportunities emerged at the Queensbridge Theater - which is not a movie theater but a performing arts club, and which is now where the bulk of my efforts have shifted.  Meanwhile, in film related endeavors, I felt I could be more effective as my own boss.  That is why I founded Cinema Purgatorio LLC.

However, while gentrification did not cause my shift to Queens, that shift does coincide with the general trend of Lower East Side arts people relocating to the outer boroughs.  For example, several of my colleagues in Queensbridge have tilted much of their work to the outer boroughs. 

Nonetheless, they still sometimes put on shows in the Lower East Side and elsewhere in Manhattan.  Many will continue to do so; from time to time, I know I will, too.

Thank you again for the attention. 

Best wishes,

Ray Privett

p.s.
I am posting this personal statement through Cinema Purgatorio to share the information most effectively.  However, the statement reflects my own personal stance, and not that of the company.

p.p.s. December 2008: The Pioneer closed at the end of October, 2008, seven months after I left.

(c) Ray Privett