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Industry
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May 5, 2009
Possible funds next session for Iowa theaters
Maybe not this year, but one Iowa lawmaker is still fight for funds for small theaters.
An eastern Iowa lawmaker says he’ll try again next year to pass legislation to help Iowa’s struggling small town movie theatres. Jeff Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, wants to tap economic development loans to help theatres convert to new state-of-the-art digital projection systems which theatres nationwide will be adopting in the coming years.
Read the full story at Radio Iowa.
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Vue inks deals for London theaters
LONDON, ENGLAND — Vue Entertainment has announced an ambitious deal for new high-end theater complexes.
U.K. exhibition chain Vue Entertainment is kicking against the economic doom and gloom, announcing a deal with retail property group Westfield to build a pair of state-of-the-art movie theater complexes in London.
The U.K.’s third-largest chain also said Thursday that it plans to build and operate another six sites by 2011 here as part of “an aggressive development plan.” The two sites will go into retail property sites in London and Stratford, a London suburb that will play host to the 2012 Olympics.
Read more at the Hollywood Reporter.
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May 1, 2009
Gary Culver, owner of Scotts Valley 6 Cinemas and the 41st Ave. Cinemas has passed away
Gary Culver, owner and operator the the Scotts Valley 6 Cinemas and the 41st Avenue Cinemas in Capitola, CA has passed away Wednesday morning (4/29/09) after a long illness. Business will continue as usual under the watchful eyes of his business partner, Don, and Jackie, his Operations Manager.
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April 30, 2009
Theater chain on the brain
The upcoming sale of National Amusements certainly seems to provide a unique perspective on the current state of the exhibition industry.
The sale of the National Amusements circuit, the first major movie theater chain to come on the market in years, will test the depths of goodwill for an exhib biz whose stellar perf during a severe economic slump has given it newfound status.
National Amusements, owned by Sumner Redstone’s holding company and run by his daughter Shari Redstone, is the nation’s sixth-largest chain with well over 1,000 screens in the U.S. and Canada plus theaters in Latin America, Russia and the U.K. NAI is offering to sell its U.S. and U.K. businesses separately but wants to hold onto 17 locations in the Northeast, where it’s headquartered.
Read the full story in Variety.
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Let’s go to the movie theater for some radio
LOS ANGELES, CA — We’ve seen all sorts of events migrate to movie theaters and now radio is trying to boost its profile.
Movie theaters are no longer just for the movies. Now, thanks to digital technology, you can go to your local multiplex for concerts, sports events, opera — even, as strange as it may seem, a radio program.
Radio aficionados will convene around the silver screen tonight when Ira Glass hosts a special two-hour edition of his weekly public-radio series “This American Life,” which will be beamed via satellite to more than 400 theaters nationwide. It’s the second time the show has been offered in movie theaters by NCM Fathom, a division of National CineMedia. The first was last May.
Could another fading medium like print move to theaters somehow next?
Read the full story at the Los Angeles Times.
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April 28, 2009
Flu outbreak closes theaters in Mexico
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — With the swine flu quickly spreading, local theaters are closing in Mexico.
The swine flu outbreak in Mexico has forced the nation’s top movie-theater chains to shut down dozens of cinemas throughout the nation’s capital.
Market leader Cinepolis said Sunday its theaters in Mexico City, the surrounding state of Mexico and the northern state of San Luis Potosi will be closed “until further notice.” Cinepolis rival Cinemex also has closed numerous theaters in the region until at least Tuesday.
Read more at Yahoo News.
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April 22, 2009
AMC and Cinemark might merge
According to an article on Variety’s website, there are rumors that the two of the three largest theater chains in America, privately held AMC Entertainment, Inc., and publicly owned Cinemark Holdings, might join forces and compete against Regal Entertainment Group.
Both circuits have hired new head film buyers — and both used to work together at Loews Theaters. Their boss at Loews was Travis Reid … who now sits on the board of AMC.
Bob Lenihan, most recently at Century Theaters, will head up film buying at AMC under the circuit’s new chief, former Starbucks exec Gerry Lopez.
Read the full story in Variety.
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April 21, 2009
ShoWest Profile: Alamo Drafthouse
We had the pleasure of sitting down with John Martin, the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, at ShoWest and hearing more about how the company, and its franchise concept, continues to grow to the delight of food and movie connoisseurs. Now, if you haven’t heard about Alamo, or have never been to one of their theaters, you’re really missing out on a unique moviegoing experience.
Alamo Drafthouse, as the name implies, is a chain of movie theaters that serves both food and alcohol. And while there are many other theaters that do this, Alamo does an especially good job at it. Their food is delicious, and they’ve come up with a nice way to serve drinks without impacting the movie experience too much.
But the Alamo is more than just food and drink. They do an awesome job with their programming. Special events. Special screenings. Film festivals. Retrospectives. There’s always something cool happening at the Alamo.
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“American Theatres of Today” special reprint edition update
The numbered, limited edition reprint of the historic book “American Theatres of Today” is now available through the Theatre Historical Society but is selling quickly!
Only 400 copies were printed and more than half are already sold, but you can get one while they last AND receive a special Cinema Treasures discount of $20 off the regular price
“a savings of 15 to 25%!” The discounted price of the Standard Edition is $75, plus shipping and handling, and the Deluxe Slipcase edition is $125, plus shipping and handling.To order you copy, go to www.historictheatres.org To receive your special discount, you must order online and enter the promotional code CT2009.
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April 20, 2009
ShoWest Recap – Part One
This was our first official ShoWest visit and the following is our first report of day one at the convention:
We rolled into ShoWest on Monday, March 30, following the successful Monsters vs. Aliens opening weekend. All eyes were on DreamWorks Animation and those much heralded 3-D screenings. (To get in the proper spirit, I drove up to the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara two days earlier to catch an afternoon matinee of the film in Real D with several hundred other moviegoers.) The film had just opened to $59.3 million, a hair under the much hoped for $60 million gross. It was certainly close enough (and more than many had expected). Jeffrey Katzenberg and many exhibitors were elated.
At the 3:00 seminar, “How to Stay Ahead of the Curve as the Industry Confronts the Future,” much of the discussion was centered on the two key words of the week: “digital” and “3-D.” Along with Cinemark Chairman Lee Roy Mitchell; Harkins Theatres CEO Dan Harkins; Rory Bruer, President, Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing and Distribution; and Andrew Cripps, President of Paramount Pictures International—and other panelists from Rising Star Media and Vue Entertainment—a surprise panelist garnered much of the attention: Jeffrey Katzenberg. With domestic box office having a record year so far (up 11% in its first ten weeks of 2009, according to MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman), talk of tough credit markets—which have stalled new construction and some of the 3-D rollout—was overshadowed by the excitement surrounding the growing numbers of digital projection systems nationwide and by the recent 3-D frenzy. Exhibitors and distributors on the panel pledged their support for 3-D, the higher revenues these films can earn from ticketing surcharges, and the unique theatrical experience they provide. According to the panel, 3-D and digital, and plenty of good “product,” will keep theaters humming throughout the year.