Nibble Nook

How would we watch films in the future? Henry Hayward was a cinema pioneer in New Zealand (and uncle of Rudall, director of Rewi's Last Stand). In 1914 he joined forces with the Fuller's company, and together they operated 60 theatres throughout the country.

In 1930, shortly after his competitor Thomas O'Brien opened the Civic in Auckland, Hayward made a prediction about the film-going experience:

“The day will come when the whole of New Zealand theatres will be simultaneously supplied with sight and sound from one central station in Wellington. Every theatre from North Cape to the Bluff will have identical fare, with probably nightly changes supplied like today's radio, to every private home that cares to pay for them. But humanity being gregarious will no doubt continue to gather in theatres.”