Rehoboth film society sets office relocation estate sale May 28

After 17 years, the Rehoboth Beach Film Society is moving its headquarters to the Cinema Art Theater in Lewes.

The society will host an estate sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, May 28, at 107 Truitt Ave., Rehoboth Beach. Sale items will range from everyday homeowner tools and kitchen items to office furniture, printers and plenty of Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival swag. Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted.

The relocation will bring together the theater operations staff with the society’s employees.

The Truitt house will be sold as is and turned back to the community as a residential property. Most film patrons and festival attendees are not aware of the dual locations. Combining the operations will have a positive impact on everyone.

In June, society staff will begin opening the Cinema Art Theater at 10 a.m. ,Tuesday to Friday to provide moviegoers with the opportunity to buy advance tickets, get help with creating a user account on rehobothfilm.com, renew annual memberships and answer general questions about the art house.

Bringing the organization’s staff together under one roof will improve workflow, reduce redundancies, save money and make the CAT more accessible to the community. As part of the consolidation of workspace, the CAT will undergo renovations to add two additional offices over the next 12 months.

“The board of directors saw an opportunity to reduce expenses associated with maintaining two brick-and-mortar facilities. The Truitt Avenue office has served the society well, but today it’s not the best use of the organization’s funds. This change is an investment in the next 25 years,” said Amy Grace, board president.

The renovations will not interrupt screening schedules, special events or other programs. Two or three staff members will be located in a smaller, off-campus leased space but will not be accessible to the public.

“As the society prepares to celebrate 25 years, today we can do more with a smaller workforce than the past 17 years. We will split work schedules and take advantage of technology upgrades to lower costs. COVID opened Pandora’s box for both employers and their employees. The resulting effect was an opportunity to reassess how businesses run their operations with so many improvements in cloud-based tools.” said Helen M. Chamberlin, executive director.

For more information, go to rehobothfilm.com.