The deal with TodayTix, founded by the Broadway producers Fenty and his lifelong friend Merritt Baer (they met at theatre camp as kids), was supposed to provide the financial muscle – until Covid shuttered live events. Unfortunately, Covid meant its run was cancelled after six weeks.Īnd a freshly signed multi-year deal with Disney, which would ultimately lead to its production of the Guardians of the Galaxy, currently running at Wembley Park, promised to unlock a treasure trove of crown jewel franchises to drive expansion plans. Just before lockdown, Secret Cinema launched its first international event, taking Casino Royale to Shanghai, after a UK production with 120,000 attenders and an £8m box office.

Under the leadership of Max Alexander, the former telecoms executive and former managing director of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatre empire Really Useful Group, the UK-based cultural phenomenon had been on the brink of going global. Turnover fell more than 60%, from £15.7m to £6.1m, between 20, and slumped to just £452,000 last year, with pre-tax losses topping £12m over the last three years. Photograph: Jill Mead/The GuardianĪlong with the rest of the live events industry, Secret Cinema took a hammering throughout the pandemic. Brian Fenty, co-founder of the digital ticketing firm TodayTix Group, which now owns Secret Cinema.

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