One of the things that makes the Electric Palace such a great place to visit is our fabulous, dedicated volunteer team. 

So, who are the people who welcome you when you head up the stairs to the cinema? Find out in our Meet the Volunteers series...

Name: Dani Brown

What prompted you to volunteer at the cinema?

I’d been doing the Hastings to London commute (bleurgh) during the week for some time, and didn’t feel I was part of the Hastings community at all as was tired and grumpy all the time! I thought volunteering at the cinema would be a grand thing to do, get involved in Hastings stuff, meet some lovely people, get to watch some ace films and be inspired. I don’t volunteer as much as I would like due to work, but I really value being involved with this great little cinema.

[Update January 2021 - Dani has now joined the team as a part-time marketing assistant.]

If you could go on a date night at the cinema with anyone living, dead or fictional who would it be and what would you watch?

Han Solo – pre Disney. We would make out on the back row, so don’t mind what film is playing. Hah!

Tell us about favourite films of yours.

E.T. because it portrays childhood so beautifully and makes me weep and my heart soar at the same time. It’s mind boggling perfect to me. Or Star Wars – A New Hope, I think it was one of the first films I ever saw at the cinema with my dad and it blew me away. And I can watch the film Magnolia over and over again and never get bored.

Tell us a good film to watch that makes you laugh out loud or blub your eyes out.

Films that make me blub – E.T, The English Patient, Dead Poets Society.

And a film that has made me laugh a lot recently is Florence Foster Jenkins. Otherwise my go to ‘laugh’ movie is Trading Places.

What's a great soundtrack you listen to?

I am very fond of The Sound of Music soundtrack. In my dreams I have the singing voice of Julie Andrews…

Otherwise, The English Patient sound track is beautiful.

Finally tell us something unusual about yourself.

I can play Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes on the kazoo and I once worked in the largest envelope factory in Israel.