Meet the man who manages a cinema-on-wheels
At the heart of The Moving Cinema is a truck like no other. It’s a clever piece of engineering that allows a normal-looking truck to magically expand outwards: floors and walls move, turning it into a surprisingly large and completely equipped cinema, fully air-conditioned and carpeted with 100 seats – 10 by 10 – and two aisles. The result is a perfect little cinema that unfurls like a mechanical butterfly.
A Christie digital cinema projector illuminates the 100-seat theatre.
The trucks are purpose-built by a French company Toutenkamion and, according to Chris Peters who has managed The Moving Cinema for over a decade, “They are a rare beast in the UK with only a couple in the country. People have never seen anything like it before and can’t believe the quality and size inside.” Chris is a general manager extraordinaire. Not only programming, dealing with contracts and clients, promoting and maintaining the cinema, he drives it to destinations across the UK – setting it up and being the projectionist. Chris is supported by a small ad hoc team that lends a hand on the longer jobs.
The Moving Cinema, along with Abbeygate and the King’s Theatre cinemas in Suffolk, UK, form a small independent group of three cinemas owned by the UK cinema pioneer Lyn Goleby.
From corporate events to the festival trail
Aside from adding an extra screen for other cinemas if needed, to corporate events, The Moving Cinema is adaptable. “We work with companies to provide staff incentives, like setting up in a car park after the workday has ended. Or, for example, we did staff training sessions for a bank call center - staff on rotation came and watched a customer training video,” he says.
“A lot of the time we run within badged festivals such as the Kendall Mountain Festival or Cambridge Film Festival where we provided an extra screen for their film program – which works really well for the client,” says Chris. “One of our big jobs this year was doing a multi-site tour with Bradford 25 UK City of Culture. We visited five or six different sites, doing a day or two of screenings in each. Bradford 2025 were already doing outdoor pop-up screenings, and they wanted something extra – something with a different angle -so got in touch with us.”
The Moving Cinema literally takes the show on the road.
Chris explains that The Moving Cinema is experienced in meeting the challenges and timelines of different clients. “It's just about possible from arriving on site and setting up for film to be on screen in an hour – but that is pushing it to be honest,” shares Chris. “We power up to make sure everything works, run a quick test on screen, and then we're good to go. Once you've got the sides extended, the screen flips round, and then you effectively unpack the projection area because the rear walls to the auditorium fold in around the projector when you're in truck mode.”
Projection, technology, and connecting to people
“We have a long relationship with Christie – the CP2210 projector was initially fitted after a recommendation by Omnex Pro-Film. We replaced that unit after the pandemic with another CP2210 projector but this one has the integrated Dolby IMS3000 server, which makes it a little more compact and even easier to operate.
We went with the same model because it was perfect for our requirements - compact enough for the tight space, with an excellent picture for its size, and great audio,” explained Chris. Reliability and resilience had been proven, “Because basically we are operating a projector in exactly the wrong kind of environment!” jokes Chris. “It is either too hot, too cold, it's damp, and it gets vibrations obviously when we're travelling - you know, all these things projectors don't like. But we found that the CP2210 is a is a hardy beast and can deal with what we throw at it.”
A happy result of The Moving Cinema is the direct interaction with visitors as they pass the little projection booth on the way in. “Everyone likes to have a look because the projection door has a window in it, and usually guests haven't seen what a projection set looks like. So one of the regular chats that we have with people is to show them the projection kit and explain this is the same as what's in your local multiplex or your local art house, for example. We get into talking to people about how it works and, although you’re about to sit down in a truck, you are experiencing full cinema quality picture and sound.”
Chris speaks continually with visitors, and a few memories stand out. “In a project with Sudbury Town Council we had a number of families with small children experience going to the cinema for the first time, which really touched me. We have wheelchair access in The Moving Cinema and had a lady who had not gone to the cinema for some years because it was too far away and difficult, but as we brought the cinema to her, she was able to visit,” Chris shared.
Chris is already making plans for 2026, and how The Moving Cinema can create magical experiences such as a winter wonderland. “We have done this before and are looking to repeat it. We set up a winter forest trail that ends with a film and hot choccy in the Moving Cinema,” explains Chris. Quite simply, what’s not to like?
