KINGSTON — A letter from 20th Century Fox recently informed Craig Smith the company will stop making 35mm film reels by the end of the year. He was told Disney is on the same track.

What this means for Smith and owners of movie theaters around the country is, the only way to show a movie by those companies is to convert to digital projectors.

Smith, the owner of the Firehouse Theater in Kingston, has been told more than 1,000 theaters around the country will close in a year or sooner. He didn’t want to be one of them.

“I, of course, didn’t want to close up and go bankrupt because I had nothing to show or I was showing movies that were already out on DVD,” Smith said.

So, on the morning of April 25, Kingston’s only theater was getting an upgrade — a $134,000 upgrade, to be exact. The theater, which boasts two screens four blocks from the Kingston ferry terminal, is now using digital Christie projectors. The projectors have the capability of showing 3D movies at an extra expense to the theater. They also have the built-in capability to show films at a higher frames per second than traditional movie reels and older projectors.

Smith is holding off on showing 3D versions of movies, for now; he said 3D does not add much to the story. However, movies such as “Hugo” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” are examples of reasons to purchase 3D capabilities.

“When that becomes a regular thing, I will be open to it, but I don’t want to have it as a gimmick,” Smith said. “I want it to be part of the enjoyment and the art.”

Being able to show films with higher frames per second could make a huge impact on the film quality — kind of like the difference between regular TV and HDTV. “The Hobbit,” which will be released in December, can be shown 48 frames per second.

Traditionally, film is viewed at 24 frames per second. With more frames comes a more realistic viewing experience. So real, in fact, it can be distracting at first, Smith said.

Smith and his employees will no longer have to break down reels of film. Instead, a hard drive is plugged into a server, which downloads the ilm. Each film will come with a secure key, which is needed to unlock it.

That’s not to say Smith won’t miss 35mm film. And, while digital projectors make some aspects of the business easier, with the addition of computers come other possible problems. Smith will hire technicians about twice a year to perform maintenance on the server and equipment.

Physically working with film is becoming a lost craft, he said.

“It’s like I can work on my ’69 Ford pickup, but I can’t work on my Honda with all the computers in it,” he said. The Kingston theater isn’t the only one making the switch in the area.

Beginning in mid-January and ending in the first week of April, Rocky Friedman held a fundraising campaign so he could converting projectors at Port Townsend’s Rose Theatre to digital. Both auditoriums will have digital projectors in the second week in June.

Friedman said the switch to digital is critical.

“It’s either you do it — if you’re showing movies from major studios — or you won’t be showing movies much longer,” Friedman said. Many theaters are still figuring out ways to make the switch, he said. A total of $200,000 was raised for the Rose Theatre, which will show 3D movies. More than 500 people donated, Friedman said. “It’s a great relief,” he said.

According to the two technicians of American Cinema Equipment installing the digital projectors at the Firehouse Theater April 25, there has been an increase in movie-theater business. There may be a few smaller studios sticking to traditional film print.

Firehouse Theater, located at 11171 NE State Highway 104, employs three staff, one of which is almost full time. Smith works seven days a week, and is there most of the time — unless he’s out coaching the Kingston High School soccer teams.

Smith tries to make going to the Firehouse Theater different from chain theaters. Before a movie begins Smith will give the audience a short introduction and answers questions. He’s taken three days off in the last four months.

Along with blockbusters, Smith also likes to bring in more limited release, independent movies when he can.

Firehouse Theater showed its first movie May 15, 2009. Since that time there have been community events, such as fundraisers for the Boys & Girls Club, Christmas concerts, a wedding and birthday parties.