DENNIS, MA August 13th, 2024 – The Cape Cinema, Inc. Board of Directors has named Pete Fasano the new Executive Director of The Cape Cinema.
Fasano’s background as an executive director, combined with a deep passion for promoting community-based arts programs, will help to further advance the mission of the organization which became a non-profit in 2023. “We are thrilled to welcome Pete as our new Executive Director,” says Eric Hart, Cape Cinema Board of Directors President. “He will bring experience, enthusiasm, great communication skills and a fresh air to our organization. We feel very lucky to have had Pete guide us through the re-opening of the Cinema and look forward to many successful and invigorating years with him at the helm.”
Following the community meeting on May 18th, which Fasano was in attendance, it became apparent to him that the Cape Cinema, of which he had a long affinity for, meant so much to so many people. “The Cape Cinema is bigger than any one person, it is an iconic Cape Cod institution that provides a sense of belonging, magic, and community to all who enter.”
The Board of Directors met with Fasano on May 28th to discuss how to re-open the Cinema for the summer. He offered one month of volunteering to get the theatre open and create the foundation that a closure would never happen again. On May 29th this endeavor began. Working over 100 hours per week, he learned every aspect of cinema operations from the projector to the website to daily operations. In early June, Pete was handed a post-it note with a woman’s number on it who wanted to volunteer. He reached out to Diane Depczenski and together they developed an army of 20 volunteers who have provided the heartbeat of the cinema concessions and box office. The Cape Cinema successfully re-opened on June 21st and did one of the biggest one-week box office since before Covid with the action comedy Thelma.
Fasano currently serves as the executive director of the Vinegrass Corporation, a non-profit music production company he founded in 2013 with his wife, musician Monica Rizzio. He is also the Principal Broker/Owner of New Cape Real Estate and has served on the Finance Committee and Board of Directors for the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors.
Fasano will utilize his Real Estate development and financial background to help bring back the Cape Cinema, built in 1930, to its glory and complement the other building on the campus, The Cape Playhouse, the Cape Cod Museum of Art and Encore Restaurant. “We have every confidence that he will bring a firm commitment to solidifying the Cape Cinema financially and artistically” says Rick Sigel, Treasurer of the board. “The Cape Cinema has committed to move forward as a vibrant and important regional cultural institution, and with our new Executive Director in place, the company can excel for the benefit of our entire community for years to come.”
Located in the heart of Dennis Village, Cape Cinema is on The Cape Cod Center for the Arts campus including the Cape Playhouse and the Cape Cod Museum of Art. The Cape Cinema was the first theatre in the world to screen the Wizard of Oz to a paying audience on August 11, 1939. Adorned with an iconic Rockwell Kent mural across the ceiling, the Cape Cinema is a destination art-house theatre showing the independent, repertory, and foreign films in addition to being a community space for special interests and productions.
Mission Statement: Our mission is to safeguard the legacy of the Cape Cinema while enriching Cape Cod through diverse film programming, community engagement, and educational initiatives, cultivating a space for artistic exploration and intellectual discovery.
For more information please email info@capecinema.com
