♪♪
-Harbor Island to me represents opportunity.
- An empty Seattle space turns into movie magic.
But survival isn't easy.
- Bruce Lee has earned this special tribute.
- A forever stamp gives martial arts legend Bruce Lee a lasting home.
- As you know, this is a beloved local movie.
- Fans cheer the return of a beloved theater rooted in a historic past.
These stories and more next on City Stream.
♪♪
- Hi, I'm Geena Pietromonaco.
Welcome to City Stream from the PACCAR IMAX Theater.
♪♪
Located at Seattle Center's Pacific Science Center.
This theater features a massive three-story screen
for eager moviegoers.
♪♪
Originally built for the Seattle World's Fair and part of the U.S.
Science Pavilion, the space showcased a film called the House of Science.
This is about what scientists look like.
The presentation used an innovative system synchronizing six projectors
to create a 12-minute immersive experience that introduced visitors
to the exhibits at the pavilion.
In 1979, the space was transformed into a full IMAX
theater, primarily screening documentary films.
By 2011, it transitioned to digital projection,
expanding its offerings to include both feature films and IMAX documentaries.
And decades later, another Seattle landmark
would be reimagined, this time not for audiences but for the filmmakers.
In 2021, a vacant mill was transformed into Harbor Island Studios.
The studio has created thousands of jobs in the region, provided
opportunities for local filmmakers and attracting major studios.
But it hasn't been without its difficulties.
Recently, King County
held a vote to defund the studio and potentially cut productions.
Producer Drew Highlands has more. Lights, camera, action.
♪♪
Harbor Island
Studios is a creative hub for everyone in the region
who wants a place to create films, tell their stories,
make their commercial content, get some work experience on a film crew.
It is many things.
- Built in 1911.
This mill stands as a monument to the faith
that its founders placed in the northwest as an industrial center.
- So we've known for a very long time that the film industry
was lacking the infrastructure.
It needed to be a full-blown film industry, that we had to have
a production facility in order for filmmakers and film crews
to be able to work, and for us to be able to land the kinds of films
and the kinds of productions that we would like to have in this region.
- Kate and I, we come down to this building
and we walk into the front of it.
We continued walking back, and we couldn't believe
that it was 117,000 square feet of building.
And what was really interesting was this sparked
an idea that has not stopped since.
- You know, we don't want to have to watch
any more films about Seattle when we recognize the streets
on screen being Vancouver or Portland.
- We went to Dow Constantine.
We could
literally have not done this without him and the support of the county council.
- Harbor Island, to me, it
represents opportunity and growth.
I could come and shoot something the way that I would,
and all these other places that I've had to travel to to work in the past.
I've worked in cities all over the US and Canada and,
all of them have some version of this. - Harbor Island
really put the region back on the map as a
as a premier film making city, region, area.
And, and then Seattle had to do something as well.
And that paved the way for the success of the Seattle
Film Commission establishment. -For many years
you know, when I would talk to producers or investors
that I try to bring to Seattle,
they would complain that Seattle doesn't have an actual soundstage.
We now have a place to shoot movies on a large scale,
which is a game changer for Seattle.
We really focus on do we have the capacity to help big productions,
and do we have open doors for the aspiring filmmakers in our region?
- It brings in jobs, whether it's commercial narrative, television, film. - I feel like
it has this huge benefit to local productions because it provides
all of this opportunity for people to work,
and that's really all anyone wants to do is just be working.
(audience cheering and clapping)
- Have some of my famous lemonade.
- I'd like to welcome you to the November 18th, 2025
meeting of the King County Council. - The King County Council,
and made a decision to cut funding for Harbor Island Studios.
And they decided that they were going to make a decision within 24 hours.
- I was shocked and heartbroken.
To be quite honest, and I cried.
- It just feels like the rug was being sort of yanked out.
- Finding out on short notice that the King County Council was not planning
to fund Harbor Island Studios before January 1st was really a shock.
And so then seeing within 24 hours the film community rally to go
tell the King County Council why it was so important to preserve this space.
Oh, be still my heart.
- Raise your hand if you work in film, please.
- In Harbor Island, Harbor Island Studios has provided
2,334 unique industry jobs
since opening in 2021 - At a pivotal moment in our creative growth.
My team, when we were ready to build a major set
and expand our production capacity and bring more artists into the fold.
Harbor Island became our blank canvas.
- I was really just impressed
by the people that came together and just moved to fight for their dreams.
- It was really inspiring to be one of the people who went down to King
County Courthouse and watched the testimony of the community,
who all came out on no notice to just talk about
how important this place is to them and to the community.
- I was sitting right here watching every bit of testimony,
and I just could hardly believe my eyes and my ears
because there was our film community in lifetime, educating our council
about the reality of what happens here.
And they won them off.
So now we do need to work on a new model to sustain this place.
- The vote would have gone very different had we not all
rallied and showed shown up, and that was reassuring.
And what that tells me is that we need to continue
to use our voices and to tell our stories.
- It's probably going to be an uphill battle to figure out how to make it work
in a sort of a long term way, but it does make sense to me that
the county should continue to support this space,
because it is going to be a revenue generator.
- Show everyone you know, what happens here at Harbor Island Studios.
That was what was apparent when we spoke to the council members.
They didn't know what was going on down here.
They didn't know that people whose livelihoods was at stake,
that people's dreams were coming true here, that productions were happening.
That could not happen anywhere else.
This place offers something special that most other places,
if not in another place, offers there.
- There is a vibe that this studio has that is pure heart and soul.
The county has gotten this off the ground and given us five years in this space,
and now we need to carve a model out that make sure this is here
for the future, for the film community.
- With the increase
in productions at Harbor Island Studios, a decision
to continue funding will soon be made by the King County Council.
To learn more about how you can get involved in Seattle's film community.
Visit HarborIslandStudios.com
We'll be right back.
Next ahead on City Stream, a forever
stamp gets a forever martial arts and movie legend Bruce Lee.
- We are the everyday storytellers of this great city.
We are Seattle Channel, a
gateway to everything Seattle.
The intersection between government, culture, news
and the ever unfolding story of the city we call home.
So follow your curiosity and come explore
Seattle with us.
Seattle Channel.
♪♪
For our next story, Bruce Lee, the renowned Chinese American
martial artist and actor, has been honored with a new forever stamp.
The United States Postal Service is recognizing Lee,
whose skill and screen presence captivated film audiences for decades.
Producer Pete Cassam shows us more.
[♪♪ lion dance drumming ♪♪​]
- An important goal of the Postal Service’s stamp program
is to honor the people, places
and things that represent the very best of our nation.
♪♪​ Oh, say can you see ♪♪​
♪♪​ by the dawn's early light. ♪♪​
- Each step is a small work of art
that has elements of the monumental
which connect us to the larger story of our nation.
♪♪​ Whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪♪​
♪♪​ through the perilous fight. ♪♪​
- Bruce Lee has earned this special tribute.
- The amazing stamp artist,
Kam Mak
Kam, where are you?
[clapping]
- For a long time,
I always wondered why there is not a Bruce Lee stamp.
And then I got a call...
[cheering and clapping]
I, of course, said immediately, yes!
Yeah, yeah.
I painted it. It’s not a photograph.
- He wasn't just an action film star who could fight.
He was a philosopher who could think and a teacher who inspired millions.
[ambient sound]
- I love everything about Bruce Lee.
Everything about him.
I love the way he made me feel when I was a kid.
Being bullied
as a little kid in elementary school.
It empowered me.
I wasn't bullied anymore after that.
-You know, the flying kick comes from the movie: The Big Boss.
And it was the most difficult job I ever did because because he is very famous
and everybody had an idea of what he's supposed to look like.
So. Yeah.
-My father wrote many letters.
It's how he communicated with his friends
when he was overseas, with his family, when he was away from his family.
So, I think it is just really fitting
that he is on a postage stamp
because he was a connector of people.
He brought cultures together.
-It’s amazing, amazing!
-The way he moved,
the way he fought, the way he spoke,
the way he looked at you,
and you still feel his presence
urging you to cultivate yourself.
♪♪​ And the home ♪♪​
♪♪​ of the brave. ♪♪​
[clapping and cheering]
- The stamps bold yellow
brushstroke is a nod to Bruce's iconic look in the film Game of Death.
Here in Seattle, where Lee's roots run deep, his tribute continues.
A new commemorative piece is on the way.
A Bruce Lee statue will soon be unveiled in the Hing Hay Park.
We'll be right back.
Just ahead, we take a look at IMAX technology,
then rewind to the history of a beloved downtown
Seattle theater.
♪♪
We return from the PACCAR
IMAX Theater at Seattle Center's Pacific Science Center.
People often wonder, what exactly is IMAX?
Short for Image Maximum, the format was developed in the late 1960s
by Canadian filmmakers looking to simplify and elevate large-format cinema.
Debuting in Japan in 1970, the massive
high-resolution image immediately made an impression.
Through the ‘70s and ’80s, IMAX found a home in museums
and science centers playing educational films.
By the ‘90s and 2000, it made the leap into commercial
theaters, with filmmakers like Christopher
Nolan helping bring IMAX into the blockbuster era.
Lead projectionist David Dukart takes us inside the projection
booth with a behind-the-scenes look at how the technology works.
- Hello, I'm David, and welcome to the PACCAR IMAX Theater's projection booth.
So here we have our amp system that basically powers our,
5.1-channel surround sound inside of the PACCAR Theater itself.
There are four amps on this side and then two amps on this side.
We have a dual projection system.
Each one of these contains a lamp that is 6.5 kW.
So when we play a digital movie, we get hard drives from IMAX.
You can see we got The Revenant here.
This is the SMS.
It is essentially the control center for the entirety of the IMAX system.
It tells it to use play, to pause, to stop what volume it should be at.
This is our old IMAX film system.
Essentially as opposed to the SMS.
Everything was controlled right here.
We get this all turned on.
Once it was time for the show, we'd press projector run.
We tell it was up to speed,
open the douser to let it run for the length of the movie.
So here we have examples of our IMAX film that we still keep on sites.
This one for in particular is Greece.
It was the last film that we ran
when we had the Pompeii visiting exhibit.
And this unit is called The Brave
because they're supposed to make sure
that the Platters are running
at a consistent speed because this up.
And then we would take this over,
run running through all of these reels.
So standard 35 millimeter film
is about the size of your thumb, roughly.
And then IMAX film,
a single frame is about the size of your palm.
So going back to the film itself,
this may look like a lot of film.
It is a lot of film.
This is only about 40 minutes worth of IMAX film.
The IMAX quality as far as image goes, is bar none.
I love it more than anything
I have ever seen on screen.
♪♪
-Seattle Channel--2025 Northwest Regional Emmy Recipient
for Overall Excellence.
♪♪
-For our next story,
we head across town to another cinematic
landmark, SIFF Cinema Downtown.
Seattle's love affair with movies runs deep.
So it was big news when the iconic Cinerama
Theater changed hands
as SIFF stepped in to revive the venue.
And yes, the chocolate popcorn lives on.
Feliks Banel has the story.
[ Projector whirring ]
♪♪
-When you start getting close to the screen,
you start realizing just how huge it is.
Now, this is a single, you know,
piece of fabric 97 feet wide.
-Tom Mara, director of
the Seattle International Film Festival,
or SIFF, is right. The screen is huge.
But that big screen is just one thing
that makes the old Cinerama --
now officially called SIFF Cinema Downtown --
a rare and beloved place for Seattle cinephiles.
-As you know, this is a beloved theater,
and not only folks love it,
but it also plays, I think, a symbolic role
in terms of bringing the city back into a vibrancy.
-To truly understand what this theater means,
you have to go back to the beginning,
to when movies were first taking the world and Seattle by storm.
-This is Seattle, Washington. A city in a beautiful region.
-Like any big American city in the early 20th century,
Seattle was home to dozens of theaters,
on the streets of downtown,
but also in many neighborhoods, too.
The Green Parrot,
the Colonial,
the First Ave,
the Coliseum, and so many others.
As vaudeville and other live entertainment faded away,
it didn't take long for movies
to become the dominant form of entertainment
for the middle class.
- That's interesting.
-But by the time TV arrived in Seattle,
many theaters were beginning to shut down,
since you could now watch movies at home.
Of course, all the movies on TV back then
were in black and white,
and the screens on those old TVs,
well, they were downright tiny.
And that's where Cinerama comes in.
- You are about to see the first public exhibition
of an entirely new form of entertainment.
We call it Cinerama.
- Cinerama was a brand name for a new technology
in the early 1950s to produce Hollywood films
to be shown on bigger and better screens
in theaters with bigger and better sound equipment.
- And this was technology that was developed to compete
with the television,
now, all of a sudden, in people's living room.
-Cinerama theaters require three projectors
and three separate projection booths
that work in synchronization to show an aggregate image
on the giant Cinerama screen.
It was gimmicky but impressive, too.
Cinerama first came to Seattle's Paramount Theater in 1956
and was a hit at the World's Fair
in the Boeing Spacearium.
-The world's largest movie screen.
-On the eve of the fair,
Cinerama announced they would build a showplace
at Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street.
It was the first new movie theater in downtown
Seattle in 30 years.
That three-projector format was cumbersome and died away,
but the theater ran regular movies instead.
Over the years, the place got a little rundown
until late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen bought it.
Allen did a major renovation and the Cinerama survived.
- So now we're at the back of the theater,
coming into the projector room,
and there's a lot going on in here. Come on in.
-And more than 60 years after it first debuted,
the Cinerama is still here, thanks to Tom Mara and SIFF.
-A number of different systems.
We've got the ability to do 70 millimeter.
We've got digital projection.
We have the Cinerama projector there.
We have this main booth.
Then, if you look onto the right-hand side wall,
you'll see another projector booth,
same on the left-hand side.
And those three projectors combine the images
onto this very wide curved screen.
-The technology may be a little complicated,
but the value in saving the Cinerama is easy to understand.
When Paul Allen died in 2018,
the Cinerama's future was in doubt.
Then, in 2020, it shut down and many people
thought the closure was permanent.
So when he took the job to lead SIFF in 2022,
Tom Mara's number one priority was clear.
-10 minutes of day one of my job at SIFF,
it was clear that we had a quest in front of us
to figure out how we ensure the future of the cinema.
- With support from the City of Seattle and King County,
SIFF reached a deal with Paul Allen's estate.
-And, so, we were really inspired
by how the community came together.
-One, two, three.
- And tonight you are here for the VIP preview
of SIFF Cinema Downtown,
the reopening of Seattle's historic Cinerama Theatre.
- Welcome to SIFF Cinema Downtown.
Thank you so much for your championship.
[ Cheers and applause ]
- While movie theaters had once been
strictly a for-profit business,
SIFF's role as a cultural nonprofit
means the future of the old Cinerama
is not only about the bottom line.
- We're an arts organization.
People care about art, people care about film,
and people want to come together
and be captured by the big screen.
- The more we can do to encourage people
to be here in person,
to go to cinemas, to really help the arts thrive, the better,
I think, our culture and our communities will all be.
♪♪
- The big screen, comfortable seats,
an incredible sound system,
and -- okay, okay -- the famous chocolate popcorn, too,
all add up to a unique cinematic experience.
But for Tom Mara, it's about the people, too.
- I just know, for one,
I'll always have fun hanging out in the lobby
and just watching people come in
and getting ready for the lights to go down,
which I think is one of the finest moments in life.
When the lights start going down,
you get ready for your adventure.
- And the transformation of Cinerama
to SIFF Cinema Downtown
is one adventure that movie lovers in Seattle
will be thrilled to enjoy for decades to come.
♪♪
- SIFF Cinema
Downtown is open for business
and the theater will be a part of this year's
Seattle International Film Festival,
running May 7th through the 17th.
For more information on the festival
and the theater, visit SIFF.net.
We'll be right back.
♪♪
That wraps up this edition of
City Stream from the PACCAR
IMAX Theater in Pacific Science Center.
To find more info and showtimes
for the theater,
go to PacificScienceCenter.org
and click on IMAX.
Now it's time to settle in and enjoy the full IMAX
experience on the big screen.
♪♪