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The latest movie theater news and updates
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July 18, 2007
Academy Theater memories
INGLEWOOD, CA — Do you have fond memories of the Academy Theater? If so, we want to interview you at the book signing and release party on November 9, 2007 in the lobby of the Academy.
Please go to the official website and register today or call 310-357-5462.
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July 17, 2007
Adult theater pioneer Jim Mitchell passes away
We don’t usually report on adult film theater moguls, but thought that this was rather notable. As owner of the O'Farrell in San Francisco and many other throughout the west, he created quite an empire.
Mitchell died Thursday night at his ranch near Petaluma, Calif. The cause of death was not immediately known, but foul play was not suspected, a spokesman for the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department said. An autopsy was conducted Friday, but the results were not made available.
The dramatic rise and flesh-and-blood fall of the Mitchell brothers has been chronicled in books, the Showtime movie “Rated X” and in countless newspaper and magazine articles.
From their offices atop the O'Farrell Theatre in San Francisco, a combination movie and stage show emporium that opened in 1969 and was called the Carnegie Hall of Sex, the brothers built an empire that at one time included 11 movie theaters, including two in Southern California, as well as movie and video productions, The Times reported in 1991.
Read the full story in the L.A. Times
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Fairborn Performing Arts & Cultural Center to begin Master Planning process
FAIRBORN, OH – The Fairborn Performing Arts & Cultural Center has contracted with Hardlines Design Co. to begin master planning services for the Fairborn Theatre. The 1948 Art Moderne theatre will be converted back to its original single screen and stage configuration.
The theatre will be a cultural arts destination for Greene County and surrounding communities. The theatre will be home to local and touring productions, classic and silent movies, art galleries, classrooms and meeting spaces.
Potential users of the theatre are asked to contact Jon Flynn at 937-469-1691 or through email at to participate in the master planning process.
(Thanks to Jon Flynn at the Fairborn Performing Arts & Cultural Center for providing the drawing.)
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Ed Mirvish dies at age 92
The man who saved the Old Vic theatre in London, built the Princess of Wales Theatre and owned the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, died early Wednesday morning at the age of 92.
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July 16, 2007
Music Box Theatre enters distribution
CHICAGO, IL — Reel Chicago reports that the owner of the Music Box Theatre is making a modest entrance into the realm of art film distribution, currently on his second of 5-8 releases this year. The films picked up so far are the foreign-language Tuya’s Wedding and O.S.S. 17 (via Chicagoist).
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Theatre for sale needs restoration!
INVERNESS, FL — The 228 seat Valerie Theatre built in 1925 is for sale with the owners hoping for someone to lovingly restore it.
It sits in a wonderfully busy historic downtown district with the ability to become a myriad of businesses.The roof and tongue-in-groove ceiling have recently been replaced,the original theatre seats are stacked on the stage and available for use. The building is double brick construction and is sound with two bathrooms,city water and sewer.
It has been closed since 1988 and is now being used for storage. Call Sarah Spencer at 1-800-476-2590 for more information.
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July 13, 2007
Classic lives on
With so many classic theaters in danger, just saving one is enough to be a hero. But what if you saved a bunch? What if you become a leader in preservation even when faced with a tough market and an age where movies are no longer the focal point they once were?
I’ve always admired the Chicago-area Classic Cinemas chain for their championing of such treasures as the Tivoli, Lake, and York Theatres and thought it was about time to see how they managed to put it all off. This morning, I got on the phone with the chain’s owner and founder, Willis Johnson, and he gave me some insights.
MZ: What got you into the theater business?
WJ: I owned the Tivoli building and one tenant happened to be a theater. Around June 1978, the person running the theater, Oscar Bortman, walked away from the lease. I needed the theater to operate in order to pay the rent so I started looking for someone to run it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too happy with the prospective tenants until Ed Doherty came to me and told me he’d run the Tivoli but only if he could just do the theater side, but not the business end. That was fine by me because all I knew was the business end. We reopened in August 1978.
MZ: There are many classic theaters in the Chicago area, many long since gone sadly. What are some of your childhood memories of those theaters?
WJ: Surprisingly, movie theaters weren’t really a big part of my life growing up. I’m sure I went. I just don’t remember much of it. There was the Don Theater in Downers Grove. They showed westerns. I don’t think I went though.
MZ: When did you know that your business was on the right track?
WJ: We got a good reception from the start. All it took was seven months and then we went from red to black.
MZ: When did you start acquiring other theaters?
WJ: After the Tivoli came the Park Forest on Christmas 1980. That was a great one cause it opened in 1950 so it was the last of an era. The York came after that, then the Lindo, all by 1982.
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‘Blobfest’ at Phoenixville’s Colonial Theatre
PHOENIXVILLE, PA — Nearly fifty years ago, the Blob literally appeared at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville (on-screen, at least), causing panic and terror as the gelatinous creature seeped into the movie house. The sci-fi classic was filmed in and around this Chester county town in 1957, bringing a little bit of Hollywood for a time to the Phoenixville area, including the film’s star Steve McQueen. The Colonial, which opened in 1903 as a legitimate and vaudeville house, later turned to movies, but declined in more recent decades. It was acquired by the Phoenixville Area Economic Development Corp. in 1995 and for the next several years, was closed for renovation and restoration. It was reopened in 1999, and today features independent and classic films as well as live entertainment. It has also, since reopening, been host to “Blobfest”, a yearly event honoring the film that made the Colonial and Phoenixville famous.
This year’s “Blobfest” is today and tomorrow, July 13th and 14th, and will include a scream contest, costume contest, street fair, live music, a “running out of the theater” reenactment, and of course, screenings of “The Blob” and other sci-fi films. Further information on “Blobfest” and other events at the theater can be found at the Colonial Theatre’s website.
See the related story in yesterday’s Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Possible Hollywood strike
The deadline is quickly approaching for writers in the entertainment to reach new contract agreements. The major dispute is over residuals writers receive from DVD sales.
As screenwriters near the start of pivotal labor talks with film studios and TV networks next week, concerns about a possible strike are running high in Hollywood.
Negotiations will begin next Monday on a new three-year contract between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers Guild of America.
The idea of essentially deferring a battle over the greatest potential stumbling blocks in lieu of a major study of those issues was floated on Wednesday by several industry chiefs during a briefing.
Read the full story at Reuters.