Hucknall cinema boss shortlisted for special unsung hero award

Mark Gallagher has been nominated for the UK Cinema Heroes Award being run in association with the new Sam Mendes film Empire of Light.

To celebrate the film’s release, the UK Cinema Association and Searchlight Pictures are looking for the unsung cinema heroes keeping the magic of the big screen alive for communities up and down the UK.

Over the past year, Mark and his team have held huge fan events and promotions for films like Top Gun, Elvis and Jurassic World, as well as staging the first Ashfield Film Festival, being a big part of the first Hucknall Pride, holding video game competitions and events and a whole lot more besides.

And the people of Hucknall have responded by voting for Mark in the online poll and helping him make the final top 10.

The winners will now be chosen by the production company with the top prize being a trip for two to Hollywood, along with a staff party for their cinema colleagues.

The two runners-up will win a pair of tickets to a Searchlight Pictures or Disney red carpet premiere event in London.

Mark said: “It’s crazy really, a couple of the customers who I’m friends with sent me screenshots of what they said in their nominations and it almost brought a tear to my eye.

"I’m a big film fan and I often say to my wife, if we lived in Hucknall and I didn’t work at the cinema, we’d think the Arc was mega because of all the stuff we do here and and that’s not me being big-headed, that’s just me speaking as huge film fan.

"The company’s slogan is ‘For The Love of Film’ and that’s why we do it.

"We hardly make any money on the big events we do, it’s purely about promoting film and cinema and making them family-friendly so everyone can be involved.

"This award is not a regular thing, it’s a one-off for this film and I had no idea it was going to happen and it was a shock to hear I was nominated.

“Of course, to win the top prize and go to a Hollywood red carpet premiere would be a dream, proper bucket list material

"But I genuinely don’t expect to go any further, it’s an honour just to be nominated.”