Swansea's only city centre independent cinema is having to transform after struggling to adjust to life after lockdown.
Anna Redfern started the business originally as a pop-up event but decided to develop it into a social space hosting classic movies and screenings alongside music shows.
Now the venue wants to move in a different direction and primarily focus on food and drink after having to frequently cancel screenings over the past few months because too few people wanted to watch them.
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"The whole film industry has ground to halt, we have opened and offered a few screenings but we have had to cancel due to low turnouts"
"We have had to lose a lot of our stock because of cancelling shows, we were operating at a loss and I could not afford to keep doing that" said the 45-year-old.
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With Cinema&Co scheduled to not program any shows until September, Anna decided things had to change for the space.
"It's the wrong time of year for cinema and my motto has always been improvise, adapt and overcome. This is our way of dealing with that. It's been such a challenge and waste of time and energy trying to put on films that just haven't had the viewer numbers since the pandemic" she said.
The venue has been a busy and vibrant social space where people can come together and enjoy themselves, but Anna admitted the number of visitors had not been the same since before lockdown.
"I have been really hesitant about re-opening again, there's so much uncertainty and you can't make plans. We have had to leave everything to the last minute and you can't do that as a business, especially cinema" said Anna.
With the venue officially re-opening as a daytime venue, Anna hopes to encourage more contact into the city and "humanise things when it's been a challenging time"
The venue is now offering gourmet sandwiches and toasties alongside all the caffeine fixes, including Iced options, with an emphasis on local produce and suppliers.
"We're keeping the same ethos as our cinema, supporting local independents and encouraging others to do the same"
She added: "We want to encourage more people into the city and show there is a lot that Swansea has to offer, people have developed habits in lockdown of staying home and doing everything online."
"There is a culture of fear surrounding Covid and it's a shame. Hospitality is hard to do behind a mask and it's not a pleasant experience to go out anymore, me and my wonderful staff are trying to change that."
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