A film fanatic couple have brought their passion to a small gallery in Twickenham.
Chris Jones and Sun-kyung Lee Jones, who started their business 10 years ago, have been running an independent shop called Flicks Film Posters for a year on Church Street where they sell and restore vintage movie posters.
Many posters are in demand, for example they sold a Taxi Driver poster last weekend, which Chris described as ‘one of the jewels in our crown’.
After quitting his job as a customer experience manager Chris now collects these posters – as he has been doing for the past 40 years – alongside Sun, a former interior designer who Chris described as the store’s USP, as she restores them.
Chris has sourced his collection from an online company in America for 30 years run by Bruce Hershenson who he describes as the ‘world’s foremost expert on movie posters’.
Chris said: “We never set out to make a load of money. We did this because we love what we do.
“People buy posters because it is related to their lives, rather than from a collectors point of view.”
The couple said: “I think we realised quite quickly what we had was a little bit special.”
Chris’ passion for film and poster collecting ignited when he would go to cinemas asking for movie posters as a young boy.
In the late 80s and early 90s, he said he would pick up rare Belgian posters from film fairs happening in Camden Town.
Chris said: “The film always came first, and it still does.”
Also being woven into the world of film, Sun contributes to the love in a different way by backing posters given to her with linen or cotton to preserve and restore their quality.
Her husband said: “Very few people, at least in the UK, can do what Sun can do.”
The pair also explained the importance of appreciating vintage, physical movie posters in this day and age where the internet and accessibility is on the rise.
Cherishing movie posters for their artwork has been significant for them, such as acquiring a rare French poster of the aviation drama Ceiling Zero from an auction, which survived from between the World Wars.
Chris said: “As I was growing up, I was always looking for the poster, the artwork, the best artwork that I could afford, on the title.”
Alongside their business, which has been visiting by the likes of Gavin and Stacey star Rob Brydon, they breathe life into the world of posters by hosting monthly film screenings at The Patch in Twickenham, where Chris holds speeches on the presented film.
Flicks Film Posters also recently collaborated with The Brewery Market and its owner – Linda Birch – on Church Street on Thursday October 16 to hold a movie quiz night.
You can find out more about the business here: https://www.flicksfilmposters.com/
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