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Industry
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June 8, 2004
Madstone Theaters Chain Closes
NEW YORK, NY — The Madstone Theaters company has folded, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune and Indiewire.
Madstone, which laid off 180 people, announced simply: “The company was not able to achieve its business goals.”Madstone has now closed its theaters in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Ann Arbor, MI, Cary, NC, Chandler, AZ, Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Diego. According to Indiewire, its Tampa location will remain open under new management and a similar deal may be in place for its San Diego theater.
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April 2, 2004
Do Movie Ratings Work?
ANCHORAGE, AK — Today, the Anchorage Daily News takes a look at the effectiveness of the MPAA rating system.
Designed in 1968 by MPAA head Jack Valenti, the system has been used by Hollywood for decades to help parents have more informed choices about the movies they’re children are watching. But, in today’s media environment, is the system still an effective tool for reducing childrens' exposure to sex and violence?
With lax enforcement policies at theaters, video chains that don’t check for age, and cable television channels that serve up popular (and violent) content like the “Sopranos”, are we really protecting children from things they haven’t seen?
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March 30, 2004
ShoWest Coverage
LAS VEGAS, NV — Coverage of last week’s ShoWest convention, a gathering of exhibitors, vendors, and other industry personnel, is covered by the following media:
Las Vegas Business Press
USA Today
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Miami Herald
Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter“ShoWest is the largest annual convention for the motion picture industry. As the only international gathering devoted exclusively to the movie business, it attracts as a matter of course the most powerful people in filmmaking: the stars, directors, producers, and studio executives responsible for creating the most successful motion pictures in the world. It is also the single largest international gathering of motion picture professionals and theatre owners in the world, with delegates from more than 50 different countries in attendance each year.” — www.showest.com
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March 26, 2004
MPAA Head Jack Valenti to Step Down
LAS VEGAS, NV – In what will likely be his final appearance at the ShoWest exhibitors convention, Jack Valenti, venerable head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), announced plans to step down within the next few months.
Valenti, who is now 82, has served as president and CEO of the industry lobbying group since 1966, when he accepted the position after leaving a stint as a staffer in the Johnson administration.
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March 12, 2004
Microwave Popcorn Harmful to Your Health?
Microwave popcorn may be harmful to your health according to a report that appeared on the Fox News website on Thursday.
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March 9, 2004
Odeon Cinemas Up For Grabs
LONDON, ENGLAND — Nigel and Terry Green of Entertainment Group are angling to buy a controlling interest in Odeon Cinemas, according to a recent report in the Evening Standard. The chain is reportedly for sale for less than the current owner’s original purchase price.
More information can also be found in the Telegraph.
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March 8, 2004
Resurgent Cineplex Eyeing AMC Forum 22 Theaters
MONTREAL, CANADA — Cineplex Galaxy Theatres LP (formerly Cineplex Odeon), owner of several Montreal area cinema complexes, plans to open a 16-screen theater and is eyeing the AMC 22 theaters at the Pepsi Forum (formerly the NHL home of the Montreal Canadiens), according to this report in the Montreal Gazette.
Cineplex is also lowering ticket prices at the flagship Latin Quarter theatre complex. Starting Friday, full-price tickets will drop $2 to $9.50 and tickets for midweek shows, children, and seniors will be a flat $7.50. Prices at the Cote des Neiges theatre will drop $1.76 to $5.74.
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February 27, 2004
Woman Dies Viewing ‘Passion of the Christ’
WICHITA, KS — A radio sales manager suffered an apparent heart attack during the final scene of The Passion of the Christ, during the first showing at the Wichita’s East Warren Theatre on Wednesday, February 25.
For all of us whom own theaters, I sincerely hope that this is just an isolated occurrence and not something that this film stirs “that” kind of emotion in. Reportedly the woman, 57, was described by co-workers as not suffering from any health-related problems prior to the incident.
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February 24, 2004
Jack Loeks Sr., Movie Theater Innovator, Passes Away
GRAND RAPIDS, MI — According to a report from the Grand Rapids Press, Jack Loeks Sr., the creator of a Michigan-area theater chain that helped popularize multiplexes, has passed away at the age of 85.
With his Studio 28 theater, which he opened in 1965, Loeks was the first to offer 12 screens in a single venue and, when he added another eight screens, the world’s first theater to have 20 screens.
“It predated other megaplexes by 20 years,” according to Bob Goodrich, president of Goodrich Radio & Theaters Inc., a Kentwood-based theater chain. “The large lobbies, large screens, great service, quality picture and sound — they were the hallmark of Jack Loeks.”
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February 10, 2004
Movie Popcorn Creator Dies
BOYNTON BEACH, FL — Samuel M. Rubin, who was the first movie concession stand operator to incorporate popcorn into his product line, — and, thus, the creator of the decades-long tradition of popcorn at the movies — has died at the age of 85, according to a report on Yahoo! News.