A FILM manager looks set to be appointed in Bridport in a bid to get cinema back into the town.

And the Palace V which closed suddenly over three years ago V could still have a future.

The News can reveal that six options have been considered by the culture group of the Bridport Market and Coastal Town Initiative.

They were:

,,h Buy into Dorset initiatives - such as Moviola, which goes out into villages, and visits to the town by the 100-seater Cinemobile

,,h Bridport virtual cinema V employing a specific film worker to provide the leadership, time, expertise and dedication for cinema

,,h A cinema at the Sir John Colfox School

,,h A cinema at the Old Library, Bridport

,,h Build a new cinema in join use

,,h Refurbish and re-open the Palace

The list was drawn up by cinema consultant Phil Walkley, commissioned to find out peoples cinema-going habits and what they actually want.

He said: The point about the Palace is that the report says it should remain an option until it is proven beyond doubt that it is not recoverable.

What the study discovered is that there is not yet an adequate structural survey of the building.

The group has plumped for the Bridport virtual cinema option, to spend money on a worker with specific performance targets and finding and booking films, compiling a town film programme, promoting it and liaising with people who would like to show films.

Ideally the position would attract a graduate fresh out of a film production course or someone in the early years of an arts management career. It is hoped that they could be in post by December.

They would be provided with a set of state-of-the art digital projection, DVD/VHS sound system and put on shows at places like the arts centre, old library, the Lyric, youth centre, pubs, hotels V anywhere where licensing would allow a film show.

The film manager would also work with education groups to provide film education and he or she might also provide projection facilities for Bridport Film Society, possibly to help that organisation expand its activities.

It looks like something will be happening, Mr Walkley said.

If people really want a cinema then this will be an opportunity for people to come out and prove it.

Arts centre director Chris Huxley, who heads the culture group, said he felt that the option was the best one for the time being.

We now need to refine it, draw up a job description and find out where the money is coming from, he added.

The proposal will now go into the market and coastal towns rolling action plan to move the idea forward.