Silky Otter comes to Queenstown
Queenstown's new luxury cinema is now open.
Silky Otter, located in the basement level of the $45 million Research & Innovation Queenstown centre in Remarkables Park, screened its first movies on Boxing Day.
The cinema features eight auditoriums, each fitted out with state-of-the-art laser projection screens, 48 leather electric recliner seats, and small tables for in-house food and drinks. It's the seventh venue in New Zealand for the Silky Otter chain.
Auckland-based founder and managing director Neil Lambert says the aim is to ensure the next generation love going to the flicks as much as their parents did.
"I'm just a move geek and I want people to have an amazing experience when they go to watch a film," he says.
"There was a time when you could just pack people into an auditorium and throw popcorn in their hands and they were satisfied, but times have changed. Families have 80-inch LED TVs at home, films are available a little quicker than they used to be now we have streaming, and there's piracy out there as well."
Lambert says parents don't want to sit in crappy seats, with poor food, to watch a movie they aren't really interested in seeing.
"They aren't taking their kids to the movies as much, so we have a generation that don't really know how to watch a film. They're distracted and less engaged with what's happening.
"So what we've tried to do is create a hospitality experience, because when you go to the movies, you watch them on a completely different level."
Silky Otter Queenstown is showing seven different movies this week including Moana 2, Gladiator 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Wicked.
Prices are similar to Queenstown's other two cinemas, Reading downtown and Dorothy Brown's in Arrowtown. Tickets are $22 for adults, $16.50 for children and seniors, and $19 for students.
There's also a higher quality food offering with a menu including sliders, bagels, shareables such as the Silky Otter Signature Fried Chicken with pickles and chipotle mayo, platters, cheese boards, deserts, drinks, alcohol including a choice of wine, beers, cocktails and spirits, and of course popcorn - flavoured with truffle and parmesan if you like. There's also a kids menu.
"We've got to make sure people are getting a better experience for their dollar, because we want them to come back. We want them to be frequent visitors."
Lambert says one of the auditoriums will be available for private hire, featuring a bar and standing area, as well as seats.
"So you can hire it out to watch the All Blacks, or for a corporate function and screen your own content."
And the name?
"We wanted to create a brand and have a name that didn't really mean anything but gave you an emotion. Silky was the concept and 'otter' just felt friendly and homely. We ummed and ahhed for two and a half years and it just grew on us."
