(Radio Iowa) – What started as a dream for two friends growing up in the Quad Cities is now a reality. Hollywood filmmakers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods welcomed audiences to the grand opening of their movie theater, The Last Picture House, in their hometown of Davenport over the weekend. Woods says they wanted to be able to screen movies that might not otherwise come to the area, and share the experience with locals. “We were always kind of bummed that ‘Parasite,’ one of our favorite films of the year, was impossible to see in the area and we felt like that’s not doing the Quad Cities justice,” Woods says. “So we want to make sure that we’re providing some really excellent brand new films for people to see that they might not catch at the multiplex.”

On Saturday, the theater screened “The Iron Claw” from the independent film studio A-24. This Iowa venue is one of a select few in the country to show that movie before its wide national release later this month. Woods says the summer hits “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” proved the power of going to the movies.  “We’re so excited to be part of a lineage of theatrical exhibition that’s been such an important part of our process as filmmakers,” Wood says. “When we write movies and direct movies, we’re always thinking about the big screen and we’re always thinking about the communal experience of moviegoing.”

Beck and Woods wrote the 2018 horror film “A Quiet Place” and directed the sci-fi thriller “65,” which was released earlier this year.