AMC Buckhead Backlot Cinema & Cafe

Presentation wise, a terrible place to see a movie. As Jack said, small shoebox shaped auditoriums and even smaller screens. In its day, 6 theatres was considered a megaplex and it did play first run movies for the most part, so business was acceptable even though it had to compete with the Lenox Square 6 and the Phipps Plaza 3. (That would be the Cineplex Odeon operated original Phipps location.)

Two things I remember best about this place. First was the aisle lighting. This was in the days before Tivoli lighting and the aisles were lit up by tiny spotlights in the ceilings which were focused so as to shine only on its own section of the aisle. Not only did this cause the carpet strip of the aisle to be lit up in an otherwise dark theatre, but when anyone was walking up the aisle during a show it seemed as if there was a spotlight on them all the way to the lobby. Second was the projector setup. Individual booths for each theatre and just as small in their own right as the auditoriums. The ceilings were low and the ports for the projector beam were located at the very top of the wall without enough overhead space for the rest of the projector. The solution was to have the projector aimed at the front booth wall and into a periscope which bounced the picture off of mirrors and up to the port where it could be shot out onto the screen.

AMC tried several times to get out of this location but they must have some kind of long term unbreakable lease. On at least two occasions the site has been run by independent operators, once as a $ house. These seemed to be borderline if well intentioned efforts, and in each case, AMC was soon back on site. After AMC contracted to run the new 12 (later 14) screen theatre in the rebuilt Phipps Plaza they converted Tower Place to the Cinema and Drafthouse style Backlot that it is today.

A couple of years ago I was at the Tower Place office tower and a very friendly staffer let me in to see all of the changes. The auditoriums have been renovated and a wet bar / serving station setup installed in the rear of each one. Part of the seating has been removed and replaced by tables. I did not get to see into the booths, but he told me that the periscopes were gone. Other than the type of upgrades you would expect from an almost 30 year old operation the entrance and lobby are almost unchanged from opening day. The theatre is located on the ground floor of the 30 odd story Tower Place office building. Boxoffice and entrance open onto the outdoor plaza in front of the building.

Buckhead TowerPlace 6 was the ORIGINAL multiplex in Atlanta. I was the projectionist during the Dollar Day theater operation of Metroplex theaters in Buckhead Tower Place 6 ... there wasn't any periscopes/mirror set up when I was there... and that was right after AMC moved out from their Dollar Days set up they had going... they left because of all of the construction that was occurring in TowerPlace during the Pre-Olympic set up of the town. The crackpot independent that ran Metroplex let us do our thing and during the time I was running the screens, its was selling out all screens. Not much else helps movie houses more then to have nice looking screens presented to their patrons. After I was ripped-off by the indy-owner (funny how theater owners don't understand the concept of a properly presented movie), I left and so did the business from what I understand, till finally Metroplex went under, or just out of that site, and AMC moved back in... nothing much was changed booth-wise Century projectors and Christy Platters (they did add DTS sound systems) but they sure polished up the lobby really nice, lots of brushed aluminum wall panels, new colorful carpet, and cool "club" seating (cut to a third or its original capacity) from 160-200 to about 60 - 80 people per theater. They turned the back storage room into the Kitchen prep area. The theaters are small though, but then again, it is a Parking Garage that has been converted... so not much room to renovate that.

Conceptually though, 10 years ago, they started what most majors are now turning to to save their businesses... Luxury seating, Real Food, and Customer Service in the way of waiters and waitresses. Classier then the "Cinema and Suds" second run joints that "come and go"... by giving the patrons some luxury surroundings to see their first run movies, redefining the term "Dinner and a Movie" AMC has a vision that is now being copied around the nation by ALL major movie chains.

The best run theater in Buckhead and around the local area ..very good pic and sound ..My #1 choice in this area...

Saw the RAT here tonight sold out ..love this theater

Currently closed for renovation. Should reopen mid-summer.

Have you been since it reopened???

is this closed????/

ANYONE...............

This theatre re-opened on July 11th as the new AMC Fork & Screen Buckhead. They did a full renovation including: new decor, new seats, new kitchen, full bar, new projection & sound equipment, new menu, etc.

THEATER NEEDS A NAME CHANGE!