The Great Neck Arts Center’s screening of Baz Lurhmann’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” was a coup for the nonprofit group, according to executive director Regina Gil – but the center could not have done it alone.
“I have to give huge credit to the team,” said Gil. “This was a team effort.”
The center hosted the screening, which was attended by Luhrman, May 8 at the recently opened Clearview Cinema in Port Washington – two days before the film’s U.S. opening, and a week prior to its screening at opening night of the Cannes Film Festival.
The opportunity to screen the film was a privilege for the center, said Gil. Sponsors and friends of the nonprofit were invited to the private screening, and a well-turned-out crowd took the festivities to an after party at Hempstead House later that night.
“We knew that it was going to have to be letter perfect because we were being monitored by Warner Brothers,” Gil said.
The screening depended on a range of supporters, from volunteers who excitedly donned their best flapper duds to get into the film’s Jazz Age spirit to Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman.
Gil thanked the managers of the historic Hempstead House in Port Washington for hosting the after party, saying “without their sponsorship this would not have happened.”
And Gil highlighted the screenings role in showcasing the Gold Coast to corporate sponsors, including Starbucks.
“We want them to understand that we are a region where there are consumers and there are people who are sophisticated,” Gil said.
As for Luhrman, who attended and spoke at the screening, Gil had nothing but praise.
“Baz is just a treasure in his own right,” Gil said. “He is all about the work. He is all about the project.”
Lurhman, Gil said liked the symbolism of his film moving from the North Shore of Long Island to Cannes – much like Fitzgerald began writing “The Great Gatsby” while living in Great Neck and finished it in France.
“It was poetic for him, and it was poetic for us,” Gil said.
