Village Theater Orange
1200 N. Tustin Avenue,
Orange,
CA
92667
1200 N. Tustin Avenue,
Orange,
CA
92667
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Functions: Church
Previous Names: Villa Theatre, Captain Blood's Village Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Opened as the single screen Villa Theatre on August 5, 1966 and has always remained an independent. The opening program was Bob Hope in “Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number” & James Garner in “Duel at Diablo”.
In 1995 it was taken over by Todd and Cathy Blood and family who have become one of Orange County’s largest independent operators by leasing venues left vacant by larger chains.
In November of 2000 the Bloods reopened the Main Place 6 Theatre in Santa Ana which had been abandoned by AMC Theatres a year before when they opened a 30-screen stadium about two miles away. The Bloods also compete with a Century Theater 25-screen stadium located about two miles away from their Santa Ana and Orange Locations.
In April of 2001, the family also became the operators of the Woodbridge 5 in Irvine, which was a former Edwards Theatres location, leaving them to compete with five other Regal-Edwards locations in Irvine. Their latest venture in early-2003 was the Brea 5, a former Edwards location, just about a mile away from a Regal-Edwards 22-screen stadium.
Their theatres play the same first-run films as the chains but they remain competitive by charging lower prices. The Village Theatre has grown to three auditoriums of different sizes with a total seating of about 300. The largest auditorium has stadium seating plus a balcony while the smallest is like a screening room, seating just 34.
The theatre was closed on 28th August 2006, but reopened, now known as Village Theater Orange. It had closed by 2022 and became a church.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 42 comments)
I single handedly kept that mans business running and the only thing i got was a thank you, and it was from his daughter, not him.
Hey cmk email me your num at do you know anything about our w-2?s
The theatre is currently (9/07) being remodeled in to a live performance theater by the same ministry that operates the Curtain Call Dinner Theater in Santa Ana, CA. A banner hanging under the original theatre signage advertises “Biblical to Broadway” as the future programming.
Looking in the windows, it appeared they were conducting a major remodel on the venue.
Looks like the Captain is in need of a job.
http://www.resumebucket.com/toddblood
We are open and booming www.villagetheatrearts.com free movie nights classic july 17th 7 25
The Villa Theater was closed for 9 years. Me and my wife and family worked for two years to get that great little theater opened. We opened with Gone with the wind. Eric and Andrea were our only employees. Eric helped me build the theater while he was on a mission here in Orange. He was from Alaska.
Getting this theater opened was a miracle. We started at .50 a ticket. worked our way to $2 and $3. We went from closed to 3rd run to 2nd run and then 1st run. We broke a 70 year clearance issue in Holly wood by doing this. Nobody ever played with the Cinedome. Ever! Not even the AMC Mainplace Mall. Which we eventually took over.
The best of times were when we ran the theater ourselves and helped co-found the New Port Beach Film Festival. We worked 7 days a week 365 days a year for about 7 years.
Notice there are no complaints in those first ten years. It was after we grew and hired people to do what we had been doing. The customers Loved the CLEAN little theater at a great price that played 1st run movies, no R rated films and ran like a top.
Try it I dare you. Nobody has run a small independent since. Think about it. They can’t even get the Fox Fullerton opened. 25 years so far, millions of dollars and 100’s of people and still not opened. My wife, Larry our kids and I opened Captain Blood’s in 2 years. Then Cathy and I opened 3 more theaters with little to no help and no money.
Thank You, to all the great people that came all those years. Thanks to all the good employees and their parents. (you know who you are)
This was a labor of love and it was great when it ran right. Advice to anybody that is growing a business and doing well. Too big is bad. Always Train Train Train your employees your self. Don’t let anybody hire for you. You have to fire the rotten apples. I fired 1 person in 12 years. Can you imagine that. Only one. I was way too nice. People will lie and steal. They will break your heart. And the public can be evil.
All in all it was the American Dream in action.
Till the leases we up, work mans comp insurance Quadrupled, The Electric company ripped business owners off to cover their butts. Gray Davis runs the state into the ground and 60 to 70 % of all theaters closed that decade. How do you like $12 tickets now. Where can you rent a theater for a $100 nowadays? Nowhere.
We lasted longer than most over ten years.
It makes me sad that I can’t go see a first run movie in any of the 4 theaters we ran. Think about how hard what we did was.
And for the gay guy that hit on my employees that keeps yapping on this site. Don’t be such a coward. I’m easy to find. We should have a talk face to face!
Todd (Captain) Blood
I personally know Todd Blood and he is an incredibly gifted human being. He does work insanely hard and perhaps this is a detriment to him as he expects no less from his employees. He is self motivated and a genius in his own right. But just like all humans, he isn’t perfect, none of us are. He is forever creating and I am excited to see what he comes up with next.
First LA Times listings started on August 5th, 1966 as the Villa.
Appears to have closed and is a church now.
Grand opening ad from the OC Register posted. The Edwards Cinema West in Westminster also opened on the same day.