Landmark didn;t abandon the Tower. Reading/Angelika, a partner elsewhere with the circuit that holds the master lease, insisted that that Landmark’s lease not be renewed because they wanted to expand their Angelika brand and Landmarkwas forced out. Interestingly it was about the same time that specialized film business in Sacramento took a dive. Now the circuits force any specizlied film with potential crossover business into a multiple. The Crest is in many way the most threatend by this new multiplex, especially since Century is moving into their Cine Arts program in many places.
You are right…I shouldn’t maker knee-jerk responses. But, as a founder of Landmark Theatre back in 1975 (I left left a few years ago to do other things), we learned a lot about audiences and locations for foreign and independent films. People “tell” you one thing but their actions are what keep theaters alive.
The Gateway/Copernicus is a special situation. Being a Polish Cultural Center it is supported by a wide range of community related events including films. Some outside groups also rent it for programs like the Silent Film Festival which are destination events.
Being a beautiful palace helps in the appeal.
But obtaining the rights to show foreign films that don;t have US distribution isn’t easy. Copernicus hooks up with other Polish cultural groups and they share the costs of bringing the prints in. They have a minimal cost way of letting the core audience know what is showing. They may also be screening films on video/DVD below the radar of the actual rights owners. This happens a lot but a more public facility can’t do it.
But even ethnic communities can be hard to bring out. I operate a 1926 neighborhood theater in San Francisco, the Balboa. We are in the heart of the Russian and Chinese communities. Attempts to show films to these audiences, with help from within the community, have been mixed at best. We have been trying to arrange something with Russian contacts to show Soviet films but they can;t get a committment from the suppliers to give them a steady flow of product. Another neighborhood theater, the 4 Star, is owned by a Chinese American whose family has been showing Chinese and Hong Kong films for decades. But the theater now survives by playing a mix of first run commercial movies and second runs with some Asian special series and fests. There aren’t enough films to fill it year around and the audiences will appear for the high profile titles and highly publicized festivals but not as a steady diet.
The Balboa wins “Best of” awards and people are talking about how we have turned it around in the past 3 years but people constantly tell me, “I love what you are doing but I just don;t want to drive the 20 minutes to get there.” Those megaplexes are closer and usually have parking, a tight commodity in neighborhoods.
Meanwhile San Francisco is losing some of its oldest theaters as Regal sells them off. The Alexandria just closed and the Coronet goes next. Both the Voge and Metro are for sale and the asking prices can’t be justified for running them as theaters. More housing and retail to come, leaving neighborhoods with fewer (if any. Our Neighborhood Theatre Foundation keeps close tabs and we try to figure out ways to save or reuse old theaters. I have done several feasibility studies on creative reuse not unlike the Gateway.
Now I hope I am proved wrong. I haven’t paid close attention to the Chicago art market in years. I know Landmark and Century have built new art complexes and the heroic Music Box and Facets do their things. Someone closer to the marketplace knows better than me. Contact the Music Box team.
The Alex property was purchased by a group of Chinese businessmen who speak no English. Discussions with their realtor have gone nowhere but we do hope to save the fixtures and murals and find a home for them.
Some kind of retial and residential development is certain to be planned. They are rumored to have paid between 6-7 million dollars for the real estate. Saving the theater can’t be economically justified.
I have been watching the weekly box office receipts for several years and first runs films were not doing well most of the time, grossing maybe 1/10 of the Metreon on opening weekend and falling fast from their.
Sadly, the Richmond district is not a big supporter of its own theaters. The Balboa and 4 Star will presumably see some increase in attendance though the Balboa plays arty product as did the 4 Star which has decided to cash in on the loss of the Alex by going first run.
The etched glass light fixtures and the bas relief mural mentioned in the first posting have just been lovingly restored. Wow. We are really proud of them.
As the Balboa approaches its 78th Anniversary, a big birthday bash is planned for Thursday, Feb. 26. WINGS will be screened with an original score performed by Nik Phelps of Sprocket Ensemble. It will be preceded by Melies A TRIP TO THE MOON, Felix the Cat in ASTRONOMEOWS, silent trailers, a vaudeville show with classic magician James Hamilton and San Francisco’s own “It” girl, Suzanne Ramsey as Kitten on the Keys plus prizes and birthday cake.
ADA upogrades are apace and the stunning paint job in the lobby higlights the interior deco detail. The broken etched glass lamp shades are being replicated and little by little the Balboa will become a deserving gem.
Audiences already love the theater for its good movie selection, low prices and friendly staff. It publishes a weekly email newsletter (subscribe at website: http://www.BalboaMovies.com.
I programmed the Nuart from 1976 until I left Landmark (a company I co-founded)in 1993. I also did the Fox Venice, Rialto (Pasadena), Vista and Sherman, all at the same time (and many others around the country including the late lamented UC Theatre in Berkeley). Imagine what it was like to keep them all showing different kinds of programming, hopefully doing decent business and not overlapping. The festivals were my favorites, especially at the Sherman. Also bringing in filmmakers for tributes and discussions with audiences was memorable as was having John Waters join us for the 10th anniversary of PINK FLAMINGOS and create the “No Smoking” trailer.
Though I co-founded Landmark with Steve Gilula and Kim Jorgensen, Kim has been part of group that first ran the Fox Venice based on a policy created by Mike Thomas and myself at the Times Theater in San Francisco…a film lovers' grind house changing daily double and triple features for 99 cents in the late 1960s.
Mr. Van Bibber’s comments can also be found on Landmark’s website where they provide a history for each theater.
PINK FLAMINGOES was far from the first midnight movie. Mike Getz ran them at the Presidio from the early 1960s. That had been a leading art film theater until the success of I AM CURIOUS YELLOW moved the owners, Art Theater Guild, in the direction of more films of a sexual nature (from Belle de Jour to Radley Metzger to hardcore). Mr. Getz (who still operates cinemas in Grass Valley) programmed a mix of underground shorts, cult features and camp classics each weekend. He expanded his clever programs into a national circuit, providing audiences and film rental for independent and experimental filmmakers.
Soon the North Beach Movie was also showing weekly midnight programs as was the Gate Theatre in Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge. And of course the Cockettes were accompanied by movies at midnight at the Palace from 1969 (when John Waters lived in San Francisco and was inspired by those events).
Now midnight movies go back much further. I don’t know how far but in the 40s-60s there were always horror films screened at the witching hour in both drive-ins and walk-ins. Often a traveling magician would accompany with a magic, hypnotism and spook show. They played at many neighborhood houses.
Landmark didn;t abandon the Tower. Reading/Angelika, a partner elsewhere with the circuit that holds the master lease, insisted that that Landmark’s lease not be renewed because they wanted to expand their Angelika brand and Landmarkwas forced out. Interestingly it was about the same time that specialized film business in Sacramento took a dive. Now the circuits force any specizlied film with potential crossover business into a multiple. The Crest is in many way the most threatend by this new multiplex, especially since Century is moving into their Cine Arts program in many places.
You are right…I shouldn’t maker knee-jerk responses. But, as a founder of Landmark Theatre back in 1975 (I left left a few years ago to do other things), we learned a lot about audiences and locations for foreign and independent films. People “tell” you one thing but their actions are what keep theaters alive.
The Gateway/Copernicus is a special situation. Being a Polish Cultural Center it is supported by a wide range of community related events including films. Some outside groups also rent it for programs like the Silent Film Festival which are destination events.
Being a beautiful palace helps in the appeal.
But obtaining the rights to show foreign films that don;t have US distribution isn’t easy. Copernicus hooks up with other Polish cultural groups and they share the costs of bringing the prints in. They have a minimal cost way of letting the core audience know what is showing. They may also be screening films on video/DVD below the radar of the actual rights owners. This happens a lot but a more public facility can’t do it.
But even ethnic communities can be hard to bring out. I operate a 1926 neighborhood theater in San Francisco, the Balboa. We are in the heart of the Russian and Chinese communities. Attempts to show films to these audiences, with help from within the community, have been mixed at best. We have been trying to arrange something with Russian contacts to show Soviet films but they can;t get a committment from the suppliers to give them a steady flow of product. Another neighborhood theater, the 4 Star, is owned by a Chinese American whose family has been showing Chinese and Hong Kong films for decades. But the theater now survives by playing a mix of first run commercial movies and second runs with some Asian special series and fests. There aren’t enough films to fill it year around and the audiences will appear for the high profile titles and highly publicized festivals but not as a steady diet.
The Balboa wins “Best of” awards and people are talking about how we have turned it around in the past 3 years but people constantly tell me, “I love what you are doing but I just don;t want to drive the 20 minutes to get there.” Those megaplexes are closer and usually have parking, a tight commodity in neighborhoods.
Meanwhile San Francisco is losing some of its oldest theaters as Regal sells them off. The Alexandria just closed and the Coronet goes next. Both the Voge and Metro are for sale and the asking prices can’t be justified for running them as theaters. More housing and retail to come, leaving neighborhoods with fewer (if any. Our Neighborhood Theatre Foundation keeps close tabs and we try to figure out ways to save or reuse old theaters. I have done several feasibility studies on creative reuse not unlike the Gateway.
Now I hope I am proved wrong. I haven’t paid close attention to the Chicago art market in years. I know Landmark and Century have built new art complexes and the heroic Music Box and Facets do their things. Someone closer to the marketplace knows better than me. Contact the Music Box team.
Why do you think art and foreign films would work. Middle and working class families are not traditionally the right audience.
What kind of neighborhood is this in?
The Alex property was purchased by a group of Chinese businessmen who speak no English. Discussions with their realtor have gone nowhere but we do hope to save the fixtures and murals and find a home for them.
Some kind of retial and residential development is certain to be planned. They are rumored to have paid between 6-7 million dollars for the real estate. Saving the theater can’t be economically justified.
I have been watching the weekly box office receipts for several years and first runs films were not doing well most of the time, grossing maybe 1/10 of the Metreon on opening weekend and falling fast from their.
Sadly, the Richmond district is not a big supporter of its own theaters. The Balboa and 4 Star will presumably see some increase in attendance though the Balboa plays arty product as did the 4 Star which has decided to cash in on the loss of the Alex by going first run.
The etched glass light fixtures and the bas relief mural mentioned in the first posting have just been lovingly restored. Wow. We are really proud of them.
As the Balboa approaches its 78th Anniversary, a big birthday bash is planned for Thursday, Feb. 26. WINGS will be screened with an original score performed by Nik Phelps of Sprocket Ensemble. It will be preceded by Melies A TRIP TO THE MOON, Felix the Cat in ASTRONOMEOWS, silent trailers, a vaudeville show with classic magician James Hamilton and San Francisco’s own “It” girl, Suzanne Ramsey as Kitten on the Keys plus prizes and birthday cake.
ADA upogrades are apace and the stunning paint job in the lobby higlights the interior deco detail. The broken etched glass lamp shades are being replicated and little by little the Balboa will become a deserving gem.
Audiences already love the theater for its good movie selection, low prices and friendly staff. It publishes a weekly email newsletter (subscribe at website: http://www.BalboaMovies.com.
I programmed the Nuart from 1976 until I left Landmark (a company I co-founded)in 1993. I also did the Fox Venice, Rialto (Pasadena), Vista and Sherman, all at the same time (and many others around the country including the late lamented UC Theatre in Berkeley). Imagine what it was like to keep them all showing different kinds of programming, hopefully doing decent business and not overlapping. The festivals were my favorites, especially at the Sherman. Also bringing in filmmakers for tributes and discussions with audiences was memorable as was having John Waters join us for the 10th anniversary of PINK FLAMINGOS and create the “No Smoking” trailer.
Though I co-founded Landmark with Steve Gilula and Kim Jorgensen, Kim has been part of group that first ran the Fox Venice based on a policy created by Mike Thomas and myself at the Times Theater in San Francisco…a film lovers' grind house changing daily double and triple features for 99 cents in the late 1960s.
Mr. Van Bibber’s comments can also be found on Landmark’s website where they provide a history for each theater.
PINK FLAMINGOES was far from the first midnight movie. Mike Getz ran them at the Presidio from the early 1960s. That had been a leading art film theater until the success of I AM CURIOUS YELLOW moved the owners, Art Theater Guild, in the direction of more films of a sexual nature (from Belle de Jour to Radley Metzger to hardcore). Mr. Getz (who still operates cinemas in Grass Valley) programmed a mix of underground shorts, cult features and camp classics each weekend. He expanded his clever programs into a national circuit, providing audiences and film rental for independent and experimental filmmakers.
Soon the North Beach Movie was also showing weekly midnight programs as was the Gate Theatre in Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge. And of course the Cockettes were accompanied by movies at midnight at the Palace from 1969 (when John Waters lived in San Francisco and was inspired by those events).
Now midnight movies go back much further. I don’t know how far but in the 40s-60s there were always horror films screened at the witching hour in both drive-ins and walk-ins. Often a traveling magician would accompany with a magic, hypnotism and spook show. They played at many neighborhood houses.