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Topic: Harkins Bricktown 16 in Oklahoma City

Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 06-26-2004 10:19 PM

"The Cinamark Tinseltown in particular was frustrating for various contractors, as they were not permitted to drill any holes in these walls between auditoriums. Making various wiring jobs and some HVAC jobs more difficult as all lines had to be run all the way to the back of the auditorium and back to the front of the adjancent theater if needed. But the end result was pretty good. "

That is normal in most theatre specifications that there may be no impengment in the walls between theatres at any point
even a small hole for a conduit can let a large amount of sound bleed through

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Adam Tallman
Film Handler

Posts: 3
From: Tempe, AZ, USA
Registered: Jun 2004

posted 06-27-2004 04:15 PM

Most of the Harkins Theatres have very good sound systems. Especially during our screenings when we turn the volume up higher than we do for regular showings. The compay is also expanding to several Texas and California locations as well. Plano is the only one I remember off hand.

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Manuel Francisco Valencia
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 151
From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 07-01-2004 04:50 PM

Grand Opening and ceremonies Sep. 24, open to the public Oct. 1 are the dates I have heard.

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Manuel Francisco Valencia
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 151
From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 07-26-2004 09:29 PM

I am proud to say that I have accepted the position of booth manager at the Harkins Bricktown 16 theatre. This will be a really great experience seeing as how I have never helped opened a theatre before. If I am allowed I will most definitely send in some pictures ASAP. Perhaps even a video from construction all the way to grand opening. I hope that you will come to the opening Bobby, it will be really great to finally meet a fellow okie film-techer.

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Jeremy Fuentes
Mmmm, Dr. Pepper!

Posts: 1168
From: Corpus Christi, TX United States
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 07-26-2004 10:26 PM

Congrats on your new position!

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-26-2004 11:57 PM

I'm looking forward to visiting the completed theater. I've seen a few glimpses of it in various stages of construction (either from driving by on I-40 or bar hopping in Bricktown). Hopefully the new management there will be open to forum members getting some snapshots of the booth, lobby and auditoriums.

It would be cool to attend the Grand Opening party, but I guess an invitation would be required wouldn't it? Last party like that I attended was one of the shindigs for opening the Cinemark 17 (LBJ & Webb Chapel) in Dallas.

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Will Kutler
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1506
From: Tucson, AZ, USA
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 07-27-2004 01:05 PM

I went to Harkins Superstition Springs last week, which was my first ever visit to a Harkins.

I found it very ineteresting to see a Simplex/Strong/AW-3 "open booth" constructed over the box-office with a film showing in the lobby.

The trailer presentation was the worst I had ever seen! The lights were almost full up, the trailers shown were not correctly formatted for the screen, not to mention an excessive amount of trailers! With the lights up as much as they were, it almost looked like the bulb was drastically underfocused, with the typical screen effects associated with an underfocused bulb.

The presentation was so-so. The lights were not completely down, but with reduced auditorium lighting the underfocused bulb effects eased up...but there was noticable bulb flicker.

Picture quality was so-so. Some reels were very clean, while others were noticably dirty with intermittent light black scratches in the picture center. The projector was either a Century or Simplex, could not tell, but there was a very noticable vertical unsteadiness, problably from an incorrectly adjusted gate.

No sound complaints, but it almost sounded like the entire show was in analog? The film was everyones favorite M.M. picture. Dolby was the advertised digital format.

Stadium seating layout was similar to Century Theatres. But where Century only uses reclining seats every other row, each row here seemed to recline, and was more comfortable than Century!

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Manuel Francisco Valencia
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 151
From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 08-24-2004 02:27 AM

I am currently in Arizona and have been training here for a week now. So far the folks here at Harkins have been nothing but helpful and courteous. The company is rather small so it still has that family environment to it. At first I did not realize how big the opening of the Bricktown theatre was going to be until I spoke with many of the senior managers and GMs. I knew Harkins was expanding and building outside of AZ for the first time but I did not know that the Bricktown theatre would be the first to go up. I soon realized how monumental this was and all the high hopes everyone has for this theatre. But with the way they treat their customers and the equipment they are putting into the theatre, those hopes are going to become a reality. Now on to the good stuff...

Projection

MiT Platters!

MiT Consoles!

After all the discussion about MiT's products here at FT I am very excited to be working with these.

Kinoton PK60D projectors

The location I am currently at has these projectors. I now know why people said Christies are loud. These things run very smooth and quiet. The reverse scan readers do a great job on reading the soundtrack and so far I have not experienced a problem with bad Dolby Digital tracking. The film gate is definitely different but I have noticed that shedding is not as bad as it is with the P35GPS. I do not like the fact that the the lens turret is stationary. Overall it appears to be a solid projector.
Digital Slide Projectors
These things just rock!

Auditoriums
CineCapri
This is the big screen everyone is going to be talking about. It is 35mm and is a duplicate of the original that existed here in AZ. Mr. Harkins loved the old one, so much in fact that he creates the duplicates in a few of his theatres. It will seat 700+ people and will have a vintage style to it. The curtains will either be a tan or beige color from what I remember. I do not know the exact dimensions on the screen but the one here in AZ is very big.
the rest of the auditoriums will be like many of the other theates, reclining chairs, love seats with the flip up arm rest etc.

Lobby
Harkins really likes to go all out on the look of thier lobby and hallways. We will have a projector in the lobby above the box office showing trailers. There will also be a plasma screen at the concession stand and in the hallways. The only thing that could be a negative is there is not a whole lot of room to create a line for any sell out shows but I have seen that it can be done as long as the staff is very organized and efficient.

There is a lot more that I am forgetting but it is getting late so I am not entirely awake. I will probably post again in about a week or two with more details. If any one wishes to know anything else please send me a private email.

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Adam Wilbert
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 590
From: Bellingham, WA, USA
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 08-24-2004 03:06 PM

Manuel,

what location are you training at? Who is your GM?

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-24-2004 08:16 PM

I was in downtown Oklahoma City a little over a week ago. I took a stroll through Bricktown and around the outside of the new Harkins location. It is in quite a sweet spot along the Bricktown Canal. The theater faces north toward the SBC Bricktown Ballpark and the Mickey Mantle restaurant.

I took some photos around the outside of the site. Didn't get any interior shots. I'll e-mail some of the pics to Brad. Looks like they still have quite a lot of construction to get finished to make that October 1 opening for the general public.

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Darryl Spicer
Film God

Posts: 3250
From: Lexington, KY, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 08-24-2004 08:39 PM

quote: Bobby Henderson
I'm really surprised there's not already a Cinemark build there. Most markets (even my town) are over-screened. Wichita Falls is one of the few exceptions

There is one slated for opening in November 2005. Cinemark will be building a 14 screen.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-24-2004 09:53 PM

Wow, apparently this Cinemark build for Wichita Falls was a pretty recent announcement. I did a quick search and found an article from the Wichita Falls Times Record on the deal.

A rather dubious tidbit is also in the article. The Wallace Theaters chain, notorious for having trashy theaters, says they'll build a new complex along Kell Freeway a couple miles west of the new Cinemark build. I'll believe that when I see it. This is similar to a situation years ago when Century Theaters was wanting to build a site in Wichita Falls; Starplex chimed in and said they would build as well. Neither site materialized.

Hopefully Carmike will respond to this news by improving their Sikes Senter Mall 10 theater. The new Cinemark theater will certainly force the issue.

Here's a copy of the newspaper article:

quote:
Another theater to open in '05

Cinemark to build in Parker Square

By Angel Riggs/Times Record News
August 14, 2004

Cinemark USA, Inc. announced Friday it plans to open a 14-screen theater in Parker Square around Thanksgiving of 2005.

The Cinemark theater will resemble the old movie palaces of Hollywood's golden age with an art deco design, accented with muted reds, bronze and gold colors, said Terrell Falk, vice president of marketing and communications for the Plano-based company.

The announcement comes a week after Wallace Theaters of Oregon released plans to build a theater on Kell Freeway near Lowe's Home Improvement Store.

Falk said her company is aware of Wallace Theater's plans. However, she said, "our plans are firm."

The company submitted plans Friday to the city's Building and Code Administration office for an informal review.

The theater construction is part of a second wave of renovations and development in Parker Square at the corner of Kemp Avenue and Kell Freeway.

"By the time it's all said and done, Parker Square will have a completely different look," said Michael Cox, a civil engineer for Corlett, Probst & Boyd, which is working on layout site and civil site design work for the project.

"We're re-doing parking lots and landscaping and planting more trees."

The theater is planned for the east side of Parker Square near Judson Court Circle, he said.

The theater will offer wall-to-wall movie screens, stadium seating, digital sound and chairs that rock and have cup holders, Falk said.

"We give a lot of space between rows," she said. "You know when you're seated in the theater and somebody has to leave ... and everybody has to standup? You don't have to do that in our theaters."

There's plenty of room to walk through, she added.

"We have been looking at Wichita Falls very quietly for about the past two years and have found what we think is a great location," she said.

Cinemark owns nearly 300 theaters. Texas is home to more Cinemark theaters than any other state, Falk said. The company is currently building six more theaters in the state.

For more information, log onto www.cinemark.com.

Business reporter Angel Riggs can be reached at (940) 763-7536, or with e-mail at riggsa(at)timesrecordnews.com.

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Jeff Stuckey
Film Handler

Posts: 62
From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Registered: May 2003

posted 08-25-2004 02:45 PM

There is a link on the Harkins' website where you can watch a live webcam of the construction in Bricktown. Here is the link:

Harkins' Bricktown 16 Webcam

I met with Jackie Faubus (Director of Marketing for Harkins' Theaters) last week, and they are all really excited to be here in Oklahoma City. She was a little worried about the place being finished on-time, but that's typical. I am sure it will be fine for opening.

I have one huge concern about this theatre that will probably come to light more as the opening weeks progress...PARKING. Bricktown is absolutely notorious for not having any parking available anywhere. And if you can find a spot, it's about $5.00. Jackie told me that they are going to validate parking, which will be good. However, I tend to think that many people are going to be put off by the parking situation. But that's just me.

Another thing would be the possibility of the drunks from the Bricktown bars causing problems at the theater late Friday and Saturday. But then again, how is that different from any other theater ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! [Smile]

I am sure it will be a great success. Grand openings are always such a pain. But the theater will be on auto-pilot once they have established their loyal group of customers. And I am happy that they will bring more art product to OKC. We need someone to step up and bring in these films that ordinarily we would never see.

Now the only question will be...which theatre will close first. Hmmmm.

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Manuel Francisco Valencia
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 151
From: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Registered: Dec 2000

posted 08-26-2004 01:00 AM

Adam

I am at the Chandler Fashion mall location. It is rather easy to find out who the GM is for this location but I still would rather not mention his name here without his consent. He is a very good GM though. He is definitley on top of his game.

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Adam Wilbert
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 590
From: Bellingham, WA, USA
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 08-26-2004 02:31 PM

Manuel, good point. [Wink]

If its who I'm thinking of, I worked with him and his wife at Centerpoint in Tempe. Anyway, congrats on the position. I'm sure you'll love the company. If you haven't made it over to the Valley Art yet, do yourself a favor. Its my absolute favorite theatre.

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