CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 31 young, who've come from distant places, people with a level of sophistication, open-mindedness, and curiosity about life's mysteries and the world's other cultures. These people make up the Cameo's core customers, the people who are members of the Cameo Film Society. The Film Society is but one of the methods the Cameo uses to build its customer base of support. Members may choose from levels of membership that offer discounts on tickets, or T-shirts with the Cameo logo, or a listing on the Cameo's donor board. As the Cameo has evolved, it has adapted to the vagaries of the economy and the market – as every business must – with some smart innovations. One of the first enhancements to the Cameo was the creation of the Loge, the small but comfortable upstairs screening room. With 38 comfortable stadium style seats in the loge, and 125 equally comfortable seats in the main theatre, the Cameo can offer two films at one time. The Cameo has also recently begun special showings on weekday evenings in the loge for groups of interested film- goers – one such group of professional women, who might be called Ladies Who Loge, meet on a weekday early in the evening, for a glass of wine and the screening of a film. Screenings of foreign films have taken place at the Cameo for the local Indian populace, who enjoy the Bollywood-style movies in their original language. Recently, a locally-grown film debuted at the Cameo, to sold-out audiences. The film, "Masquerade," was made by Jeremiah McLamb in association with Northwood Temple Academy, filmed in various North Carolina locations. And some of the really big blockbuster movies are being seen on the screens at the Cameo – the most recent Harry Potter movie is but one example. The Cameo Art House Theatre has been a labor of love for the three partners since it opened. The trio, who became acquainted in St. Petersburg, Florida, were all good friends as architectural colleagues during those years. When the Kuenzels came to visit their friend, Eric Lindstrom, in Fayetteville, they saw the possibilities for their profession and their lives, long before downtown Fayetteville was close to being revitalized. Nasim Kuenzel, in her softly-accented voice, smiles when she speaks of the rewards of being the proprietor of an art house theatre, saying, "I love to see the faces of people as they come out from one of the powerful films . . . sometimes they look at us and say, thank you, oh, thank you. That is a wonderful thing when it happens." CV Left | The Loge, an upstairs viewing room at the Cameo, is small with only 38 seats. The cozy comfort of the setting can contribute to an audience's sense of a shared experience. Often, one encounters groups of theatre-goers out on the sidewalk in front of the Cameo discussing the film they've just seen.

• Cover