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Author Topic: Madstone Theaters Going out of Business? Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 06-14-2004 12:20 AM                        Here is some more: A cool 3D picture of the main concession stand in the lobby. The manager liked to play French music CDs ad nauseum. Fortunately I did not have to listen to them much. But it drive the staff and assistant managers absolutely NUTS! The music was piped not only into all of the auditoriums, but the lobby, lounge, bathrooms, and even the phone line! There was a little hole in the wall near the CD player. Here you see a CD that one of the assistant managers tossed down because he was sick of it. Fortunately it was only a CD-R and not a store bought CD. I think in the end there had been at least 3 CDs tossed down there by the assistants. I asked for new platters to replace the crappy orange ORCs we had. This is very typical of what I was sent. Yes, I was loved. Yet another shot of a random Strong platter that I was sent to install. Great times! We had a power supply that would burn up diodes about once a month or so. Here are the diode leads. This happened all the time, and the power supply was never replaced. The entire lamphouse was, in my qualified opinion, very unsafe. I was finally able to get all of the Strong platters running good as new. Here a movie is running in theater #C. Also be sure to check out the Madstone Tamarac Square Picture Page here on Film-Tech.  |  IP: Logged Nate Lehrke Master Film Handler Posts: 396 From: Denver, CO Registered: Oct 2002 posted 06-14-2004 03:25 AM                     I do love the "we must be different" policy of Madstone. I mean the lettering of the auditoriums opposed to numbering them. Makes it simple to find your auditorium when you have to say “that will in theatre C, as in Crap. Enjoy your show” Thanks for the great picture Joe!  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 06-16-2004 04:07 PM                     I heard this story about one of the Madstones that closed down. I am sure you can guess which one. Looks like there were 3 quick thinkers who made the best of a bad situation. The night before shutting the doors, the projectionists were told to break down the films as they were shutting down the next day(looks like they had at least overnight notice). The three projectionists/asst managers said "Fine , pay us $200 each to do the job". The powers that be said "f*** no" or something that implied that. They took a break and asked them to think about it. When they came back, the powers that be relented and our guys got paid.  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 06-18-2004 03:23 PM                     Well, it looks like business could not have been that bad for Lefont to take over the Atlanta location so quickly. On the upside, Lefont has a good reputation locally with a passion for independent cinema. He is also seems to be guy more into European movies and unfortunately, less into asian flicks. However, this is not out of line with the taste of the suburbanites. On the downside, his theaters suck in terms of projection and sound quality. I do not see any improvement in technical quality at the madstone location. FROM THE ATLANTA JOURNAL(www.ajc.com): Lefont takes over, renames Madstone Less than three weeks after the eight-screen Madstone Theaters Parkside in Sandy Springs went bust, longtime Atlanta art house guru George Lefont is picking up the pieces. He has taken over the theater's lease, and in the coming weeks will reopen it as Lefont Sandy Springs Theaters. "The papers were inked today," Lefont said Thursday. "I've got more screens now, and I feel like I'm back." Lefont also operates the single-screen Garden Hills Cinema and the two-screen Plaza. With Sandy Springs, he'll now control 11 art house screens in metro Atlanta, outpacing both the eight-screen Landmark Midtown Art and Regal's four-screen Tara. The Sandy Springs location will honor all current Madstone memberships, Lefont said. "We're at least a couple of weeks out from reopening," he said. While there will be no major renovation, Lefont expects there will be changes in the concessions and some tweaking in the film programming. The theater will continue to have some mainstream commercial films. "I would say the movies will be similar to those being shown at my other theaters and maybe like those showing at Landmark and the Tara," Lefont said. Stacy Ferdinands, vice president of Atlanta's Peachtree Film Society, said she was "thrilled" by the news of the Lefont takeover. "George has been bringing quality films to Atlanta for 20 years, and I know he's going to bring more good stuff to Sandy Springs and expand his audience," she said. "And I know so many people who love that theater. This is great for movie lovers in Atlanta."  |  IP: Logged Todd L Bauerle Film Handler Posts: 1 From: Tempe, AZ, USA Registered: Jun 2004 posted 06-29-2004 12:37 AM                        As a former GM of Madstone in Chandler, I can't say I'm surprised they went completely bust. These guys didn't know a think about the theater business and greatly underestimated the counter-culture minority as a profitable audience. Can't say I'll miss 'em. -Todd  |  IP: Logged Pravin Ratnam Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 844 From: Atlanta, GA,USA Registered: Sep 2002 posted 07-09-2004 12:11 PM                     I called the Madstone number on my credit card statement and it has been busy for days. So I just asked my credit card company to cancel the charge which they did. I did see F911 at this complex under the new Lefont management. I could smell urine in their biggest and best auditorium. Geez, it has been only a month since Madstone closed their doors. The crowd was sparse even for Spidey and F911 which does not bode well for the future of the theater. Maybe people still are not aware of the new opening. Lefont's website is a joke. The picture itself was bleeding on ALL FOUR EDGES of the frame. I have seen pictures not fit vertically or horizontally, not both ways. it's a good thing the movie was just a documentary not dependent on beautiful visuals. I am not going to watch any blockbusters in this theater. Let's just hope it's opening week adjustments. Knowing Lefont's local rep, he does cultivate a loyal art house audience base. But he is not exactly a marketing whiz(which makes me skeptical if he can grow the indie base in the suburbs), nor someone known to value top quality projection judging by his other theaters. They need to improve their terrible website.  |  IP: Logged

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