While touring into the late 1990s as a guitarist with alternative rock band Seaweed, film lover Wade Neal would visit arthouse theaters, never dreaming he would someday run one.
Music and film won the Tacoma, Washington, native’s heart and imagination early in life. He once considered becoming a filmmaker. “But I got into music,” says Neal. “I ended up playing rock music and getting a label and joining the circus and touring around the world. It was fun.”
Fun, for sure. But in hindsight, admits Neal, maybe the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle wasn’t entirely mentally or physically healthy. As the band wound down, he decided to get serious about a long-term career.
So, he became a lawyer and eventually made his way to a volunteer board position with the Grand Cinema, Tacoma’s version of Enzian, the art-house cinema in Maitland. When the executive director role opened up at Grand Cinema, it seemed tailor-made for Neal.
For the next 10 years, he helped to steer the theater and its well-regarded Tacoma Film Festival. He worked to promote the venue’s reputation, expand its repertoire of events and provide a plethora of educational opportunities. Recalls Neal: “I enjoyed every minute of it.”
To Neal—a fan of films by David Lynch, the Cohen brothers and Martin Scorsese—good movie houses are important cultural hubs: “I think it’s really important to have places like that in our world where we can gather and that can glue us together over something as beautiful as film.”
But they’re also about honoring each filmmaker’s intent and presenting his or her work in a way that viewers were intended to see it, “in its natural habitat.” In July, Neal left his natural habitat of Tacoma to become the first permanent executive director in seven years at Enzian.
“I realized very, very quickly that it was an incredibly beloved institution, just like I had come from,” says Neal. He was particularly wowed by community support for the theater: “What’s going on here is stunning. When we play a classic film on a Saturday morning, we often have 100 or 200 people.”
The self-proclaimed Enzian ambassador is evaluating “what we can do as a nonprofit for the community that we might have been missing” while also promoting even greater awareness. He adds: “It’s an incredible place that everyone should know about.”
Enzian is located at 1300 South Orlando Avenue, Maitland. For hours or a film schedule, call the information line at 407.629.0054 or the theater offices at 407.629.1088. Much more information is available at enzian.org.
