IFC Center is an art house movie theater in

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. Located at 323 Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) at West 3rd Street, it was formerly the Waverly Theater, an art house movie theater. IFC Center is owned by AMC Networks (known until July 1, 2011, as Rainbow Media), the entertainment company that owns the cable channels

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary seri ...

(49.99% stake and a joint venture with

BBC Studios BBC Studios is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Worldwide. ...

), IFC,

We TV We TV (stylized as WE tv) is an American pay television channel. Owned by AMC Networks since its September 1997 launch, it is oriented mainly towards lifestyle and entertainment programming. As of February 2015, approximately 85.2 million Amer ...

and

Sundance TV Sundance TV (formerly known as Sundance Channel) is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and, w ...

and the offshoot film company

IFC Films IFC Films is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC owned by AMC Networks. It distributes mainly independent films under its own name, select foreign films and documentaries under its ...

Current use

AMC Networks has positioned the theater as an extension of its cable channel IFC (

Independent Film Channel IFC (formerly known as the Independent Film Channel) is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks, originally launching in 1994 as a TV channel devoted to independent films. The Independent Film Channel originally operated as a com ...

) because IFC was to take over the building. IFC has converted the historic building, originally built as a church in the early 19th century, into a three-, and eventually five-theater facility. Each theater is equipped to screen 35mm and high-definition digital video. The complex also includes digital editing suites, a meeting area, and a restaurant called The Waverly, in recognition of the site's past. In addition to regularly scheduled films, the Center plays host to special screenings such as premieres, educational programs and television broadcasts. IFC's weekly series, formerly titled "At The Angelika" (filmed at the nearby Angelika Theater) relocated to IFC Center and thus the show has been retitled "At The IFC". IFC Center opened on June 17, 2005 with the film ''

Me and You and Everyone We Know ''Me and You and Everyone We Know'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Miranda July. She also acts in the starring role, opposite John Hawkes. The film was the first major studio production for July, who had b ...

'', distributed by

. The opening was not without controversy; for the first several weeks, patrons were welcomed to the theater by a picket line and a giant inflatable rat. The center had opened employing only non-union projectionists prompting a protest from the

IATSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...

local 306. It currently hosts the DOC NYC festival, and co-hosts the

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

Film Festival.

In popular culture

The Waverly Theatre is referenced numerous times in the 1968 Broadway musical Hair (musical). It's in the song "Frank Mills" sung by the character Crissy at the end of Act One. The Waverly was also known as the original home of the midnight audience-participation screenings of the movie version of ''

The Rocky Horror Picture Show ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' is a 1975 musical comedy horror film by 20th Century Fox, produced by Lou Adler and Michael White and directed by Jim Sharman. The screenplay was written by Sharman and actor Richard O'Brien, who is also ...

'', which ran there for many years, spawning similar showings in other cities. ''Back to the Well'', the making-of documentary for ''

Clerks 2 ''Clerks II'' is a 2006 American comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, the sequel to his 1994 film ''Clerks'', and his sixth feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse. The film stars Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawso ...

'' has a scene filmed at the IFC Center where a test screening is held for ''Clerks 2'' with

Bob Weinstein Robert Weinstein (born October 18, 1954) is an American film producer. He is the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, all of which he co-founded with his older brother, Harvey. He ...

in attendance.

References

External links

IFC Center

a

*Gimme Danger, Gimme Great Films: Both at the IFC - 2016 review and history

Other art cinemas in Manhattan:
Cinema Village

{{AMC Networks Cinemas and movie theaters in Manhattan AMC Networks Greenwich Village

Current use

In popular culture

See also

References

External links