Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Where would you put a theatre if you could?

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Posted by Robert D. LaValley (Member # 1867) on 01-23-2004, 04:39 AM:

We are a long way away from the rapid expansion we saw in the past, but seriously, if you could build a theatre somewhere, wherever you wanted, however big you wanted it, where would it be? Like say for example if you could do a realistic location and setup and then do a wishful thinking probably never would happen setup...

My realistic one, in any college town, at least a 6-plex. My wishful thinking, a 36-plex anywhere, just to make things interesting. And have the booth be one LONG hallway!! and one projectionist, just to be interesting! [Big Grin]

I like the buildings that aren't like any other theatre you see. The ones that almost don't look like a theatre and or the modernised versions of the old victorian styled theatres..So I would either do the retro version, or think of some way to make the building look nothing like the traditional box theatre, maybe a castle design or something.. something new..

Posted by Jeremy Fuentes (Member # 2135) on 01-23-2004, 06:03 AM:

If I could build one anywhere, it would be along the bayfront here in Corpus Christi. I am talking about a building that is almost completely surrounded by water, except for the entrance area. The lobby would have a view of the Gulf of Mexico on one side and downtown on the otherside. I would really hate to see the amount it would cost for insurance on a building like this though, because of hurricanes and tropical storms. But if I could build one anywhere, that is where it would be. Either there or on the moon or something like that.

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 01-23-2004, 09:26 AM:

I know this isn't in the spirit of the thread, but the sad fact is that all the areas with strong demographics are already overscreened. The best shot for new development is replacement of obsolete units.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-23-2004, 09:42 AM:

In order of most to least realistic:

option #1: single-screen art/repertory-house in college town near (not necessarily _in_) major city

option #2: twin drive-in in vacation/touristy area or rural area far away from gigaplexes, preferably in the southern part of the US (for longer seasons); noncompetitive booking zone is necessary

option #3: large (1000+ seats) single screen first-run house with huge screen downtown in a major city

I've seen examples of option #1 and #3 that work and are successful. I'm not as "up" on drive-ins as I'd like to be, but my understanding is that option #2 could work if the location were right.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 01-23-2004, 12:05 PM:

My dream is to run my own theatre, and I talked with my cousin about it once. He goes to IU Bloomington and it would seem that would be an ideal place for a theatre. He said both theatres down there, Kerasotes, really suck and they don't offer student pricing. It'd be nice to have a single screener that does Art or discount fare, or maybe a six plex with first run material. Of course, any way you slice it, my theatre would really care about showmanship.

AJG

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 01-23-2004, 12:32 PM:

Even with 218 hardtop and five drive-in screens serving a population of about 1.2 million in the valley, we could use a location in the far northeast, out by Nellis AFB. Nothing out there these days, not even any dollar screens. Closest location is 11 miles away at Crown's Neonopolis 14 on Fremont Street, or 12 miles away Regal's Texas Station 18 and Century's Las Vegas Drive-in.

I think The Cannery would be an ideal location for a new 'plex, but nobody there seems to be interested.

Stations Casinos finally won approval to build yet another "locals" casino, this one to be built near the entrance to Redrock Canyon. Redrock Station will have another 'plex to go with it, at I-215 (the beltway) and Charleston Blvd, way out at the west end of the valley, three miles away from Regal's Village 18.

'Vegas still has no dedicated art film screening venue, though Regal's Village 18 and Colonade 14, and Century's Suncoast 16 do try to book art and foreign films when they can. There are the beginnings of a grass roots effort to re-establish film capability at The Huntridge which is presently a PAC serving the underground music scene. We'll see if Las Vegas' small but slowly growing culture vulture demographic will support a dedicated art film venue there.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 01-23-2004, 12:34 PM:

My ideal theatre would be a 3-screen in a town of 3,000-5,000 in a resort area. I would have another source of income so I wouldn't need to be supported by the theatre. The theatre should just cover expenses and staffing.

I'm talking a hobby theatre.

The rooms would be sized for 200, 100 & 100 seats, but would only contain 150, 75 & 75 seats (or less) that were 24" wide & a 45" pitch. The seats would be in pairs with double arm-rests at the end of each pair.

Full curtains.

All Kinoton, Dolby, JBL package.

Lobby would be huge and contain a book shop and coffee shop. (Each with their own managers)
The book shop and coffee shop would be open 7 AM till the last movie was scheduled to get out. The movies would be scheduled at whatever times worked for the town, but I like 6 & 8. If it were a retirement community, then 1, 4 & 7 would be nice. With this schedule, I could realy spread out the show times and not get too worked up.

I would just sit at a table in the corner with my computer w/wireless connection, a wireless phone, a beverage and talk to the people who stopped by.

If the town were bigger and have a plex nearby I would just run Art, if there were no other theatre nearby, I would run that which I thought would make the most money, buy I might steer away from crap.

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 01-23-2004, 12:59 PM:

On Mars

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 01-23-2004, 01:19 PM:

Ian - a wireless beverage?

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 01-23-2004, 01:33 PM:

Aaron,
Bloomington,In is the last place that needs another theatre.
There is a reason that the Vogue and Indiana, both within spitting distance of IU campus, and the Village is closed down.
And the Mall theatre is a dollar house.
Oh yes, then there's the Y&W drive-in that's gone.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 01-23-2004, 01:39 PM:

When I win MEGABUCKS (35 million or so) the first thing I going to do is:

Build a 20 plex right across the street from REGAL's corporate office - right there in Halls, Tennessee. I would make it the most elaborate, expensive 20 screen theatre ever built. For booking purposes I would buy out the little dinky Halls theatre a few blocks away. The marquee would be so big and bright - it would be flashing "Benjamin Theatres" and these lights would reflect off of every window at Regal corporate.

[Wink]

Posted by R. Andrew Diercks (Member # 1725) on 01-23-2004, 02:01 PM:

I would build/restore a classic 1 screen and make a dinner theatre running art and older great films, if I could get prints. I would place it somewhere in the Napa Valley, beautiful country and not a lot of screens from what I saw. Also the perfect audience lives in and visits Napa. I would have professional wait staff and serve food themed with the movie if possible. All seating would be gangster booths facing the screen. There would be one show a night and the meal would pay for the ticket. Come, eat and relax an hour before show time. The hope being that reservations would fill the place given the right reputation.

Posted by Roger Katz (Member # 1625) on 01-23-2004, 02:46 PM:

I would put any theatre at all in Northeast Connecticut. Maybe an art house triplex near the UConn Storrs campus. Currently Northeastern CT has only 3 indoor screens for a population of about 250,000 people. That is woefully underscreened.

Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 01-23-2004, 02:55 PM:

Step 1. build dollar house 10 screens in cheap part of town.
Step 2. ???
Step 3. profit

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 01-23-2004, 10:04 PM:

Ian's idea of a hobby theater is right up my alley. Do it small, but do it right!

Every film would be introduced, either by me or by guest speakers that would provide additional interesting information about the film and/or primary cast/director. Local movie critics would be good choices, as well as the guy who does the intro's on Turner Movie Classics (Robert Osborne?) I've learned a lot about some films from the intros they do before movies.

It wouldn't be about treating people like cattle, and the movies like the cud they chew. But rather, it would be about appreciating the film being shown.

One location that I've always thought would be good for a small specialty theater would be within the campus of a large hotel. Tucked away for the use by hotel guests, and perhaps the public as well, is a well-done, few-holds-barred screening room.

Leather captain's chairs would be flanked by small tables that would hold drinks and a small meal/snack. Perhaps certain shows would allow laptops with wireless ethernet for people to watch a movie while they catch up on E-Mail and finish the presentation for the next day. (No cell phones or group meetings allowed!)

Outside of that niche situation, a good location in downtown Milwaukee would be nice. With the closing of The Grand so many years ago, the downtown is lacking a movie theater. I think the reason is that a traditional multiplex wouldn't do very well. You can't just park a 20-screen in the middle of downtown and expect enough people to fill the place. It should be a throw-back to the grand palaces of old, where going to a movie would be as much of an event as seeing a play or going to the symphony.

Ok, back to reality...

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 01-24-2004, 02:39 PM:

Scott -- You should move down here and you and me will open a drive-in! [thumbsup]

My idea for a theater: An 8-screen, first-run, palace-multiplex. People would come in through the main entrance of the building whose interior would be made to look like a 1930's city, complete with cars on the street and sidewalks. The cieling would be painted to look like the sky and would change based on what time it was with lighting effects.

Each auditorium would be its own single-screen "theater" complete with outer facade, marquee, its own box office, lobby, and concession stand. These would range from 1200-seat palace size to 150 seat "neighborhood" cinemas. Along the "street" between the theaters could be things like coffee shops, bookstores, etc. Maybe even have little apartments above the theaters so the projectionists could live there... or maybe that's a bad idea...

The front/main entrance to the building would also feature a box office, for slow days when you can't staff 8 box people or for busy days to handle the extra people.

Booths would all be connected by hallways to avoid the nonsense of moving prints "across the street" [Wink]

Two or three largest houses would be setup for 70mm and changeover, so we could add a screen for a busy movie with one print and stagger showtimes. The best equipment, of course.

Picture a building the size of a couple soundstages and you'll get the idea! [Big Grin]

Forced-perspective, of course...

=TMP=

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-24-2004, 05:26 PM:

quote:
Each auditorium would be its own single-screen "theater" complete with outer facade, marquee, its own box office, lobby, and concession stand. These would range from 1200-seat palace size to 150 seat "neighborhood" cinemas. Along the "street" between the theaters could be things like coffee shops, bookstores, etc.

That's sort-of been done in SLC, Utah at the Jordan Commons 18. The screen are in groups of 3 with each group having a neon marquee under which goes a hallway leading to the theatre doors. The main hallway is a street scene like you envision. It's really cool. (No bookstores, though...)

Posted by Douglas Carmichael (Member # 1930) on 01-24-2004, 06:01 PM:

My dream theater would have 2 auditoria within it:
* One a IMAX GT E3D flat large-format film auditorium w/DTAC, 2 QTRUs, and PLC control. (A Barco XLM H25 27K lumen DLP on either a ViewScape or Teranex processor would handle video sources and the preshow.) The ViewScape would be used for multisource special event/business presentations and the Teranex would be used for high-quality single-source video screenings.
* Martin lighting on a MA Lighting GrandMA replay unit would also be used in the preshow and for special events.

(Adam, what are the auditorium size numbers for the GT and SR?)

* One large (60-80ft dome) E&S Digistar 3 interactive digital theater system with a Crest x001-powered Sound Physics Labs rig for sound. (Clark Synthesis Platinum tactile transducers would be in each seat in both theaters.)
* An AVI Omniscan laser projection system would be in the Digistar3 dome as well.

* Auxiliary audio sources in the IMAX theater would be handled by a Yamaha DM1000 digital mixer in the DTAC rack interfaced through both a 6-channel input on the IDAC interface and through several dry contact/GPI I/Os. (For example, one cue in the showlist would set the mixer to a scene for 'announcements+nonsync', and when I fade the CD faders on the mixer, it would send a GPI pulse to DTAC which would then start the film.)
* Another DM1k (or 01V96) mixer would be in the Digistar3 theater (A DM2k if the budget allowed.)

* AMX control systems would be in both auditoria to 'tie it all together.'

As for content ... I'd show the usual 'edutainment' large-format mix during the day (with the occasional DMRd features to pull in the crowds.) There'd also be special events like gaming competitions, electronic art exhibits, and business presentations as well.

--Douglas

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 01-25-2004, 12:18 AM:

I'm surprised that most of the people here are suggesting multiplexes. Are people shying away from single-screen theatres because they genuinely would prefer to own/operate multiplexes, or because they have some notion that single-screen houses aren't viable businesses?

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 01-25-2004, 02:53 AM:

Multiplexes are less work. People are lazy.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 01-25-2004, 12:08 PM:

I've worked 5-single screen theatres and 4-multi screen theatres. If I could make the rules the distributors use to give us prints, a single screen would be nice. But since distributors make you keep a print or make you keep a print clean, a multiplex just gives you more options.

I want the minimum quantity of screens to make sure that most weeks we see a new film opening.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 01-25-2004, 01:14 PM:

Lawton, OK
My town is overscreened, although the Carmike 8-plex is the only one worth entering. The only other place I see potential is perhaps a really nice theater on the Cameron University campus.

I would not design this theater as some big google-plex. I'm thinking maybe three to six screens tops. However, one of the theaters would be a really nice "premire-style" theater with over 1,200 seats and be capable of showing revivals in 70mm. Seating would be arragned in a "relaxed" (not very steep) stadium seating configuration. Audio quality would be better that way. A balcony would be nice, but insurance costs would probably make that impractical. I would want the type of movies shown in this small multiplex to be a mix of indie and mainstream films. The big theater would be great for prints of epic movies of the past and perhaps for limited engagements of current "big" releases.

Oklahoma City
The Bricktown section of downtown Oklahoma City is finally getting a modern, stadium seated theater (a 16-plex being built by Harkins, which boasts the new site will have the largest theatrical screen in OK). However, there is still no IMAX-branded 15/70 theater in OKC. I was really hoping for an IMAX 3D theater in Bricktown. Outside of that, OKC is pretty much up to snuff on having enough stadium seated theaters. However, someone really needs to get through to those AMC guys about their very poorly designed surround arrays. The speakers go on the walls and not in the ceiling! Aarrrggh!

Wichita Falls, TX
This is a sizeable market just dying for a decent theater. The Carmike 10 in Sikes Senter mall just Sucks. It was a conversion job of a former tiny six-plex done in 1996, with no stadium seating well after the stadium seating craze had begun. There are two former THX screens that are okay. The other eight are tee-ninenie-tiny shoeboxes with fixed 1.85:1 screens that chop off anything in 'scope. That sucks ass. There should be an outright ban on that shit. Another company could literally take all of the Wichita Falls movie-going market in one fell swoop by building a good 20-plex either along Kell Freeway or Kemp near the mall. The task would be very similar to the manner how Cinemark moved into the Colorado Springs market and caught a very complacent Carmike off guard.

Dallas
There's always room for a 40-plex somewhere.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 01-25-2004, 04:20 PM:

I will do my serious post now:

I would like to build a 6 plex in a town with no competition and about 30,000 residents. It would have digital sound and stadium seating - and we would offer something the big boys can't - personalized, courteous, customer service. I would own it and I would be there every Friday and Saturday night.

As long as the theatre made enough to pay the bills, I'd be happy. As far as location, as long as the weather was mild - I would also be happy.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 01-26-2004, 10:26 AM:

Thomas Procyk wrote:

quote:
My idea for a theater: An 8-screen, first-run, palace-multiplex. People would come in through the main entrance of the building whose interior would be made to look like a 1930's city, complete with cars on the street and sidewalks. The cieling would be painted to look like the sky and would change based on what time it was with lighting effects.

Forget the drive-in, I want to see this theater see the light of day!

I can't imagine how much space something like this would take up, but it would be so cool as to be just what this area could use to create a positive impression!

Posted by Gary Crawford (Member # 2038) on 01-27-2004, 01:36 PM:

Having worked in this biz before the multies came around, I have a thing for big old singles. Really really overdone like the(original, REAL) Roxy in NYC was. Would like to restore an old 1,200 or bigger place with a balcony and run it like they used to. Remember when ushers "ushed" people to their seats?

It would have to be a hobby theatre of course, as I really doubt it could meet overhead. When I win the Mega...

Good news...the people who run Wall Twp Speedway (formerly Wall Stadium) a stock car track in Central NJ is just about to finish wading through the red tape involved in establishing a DRIVE-IN in their huge parking lot. 600 or so cars, will run Sunday thru Friday (Saturday night is race night) and are looking to run family-friendly double features, probably sub-run.

My question...in today's cars (big head rests, etc) how can anyone in the back seat see a drive-in screen?

Still good to hear it will happen. I wish them luck.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 01-27-2004, 04:11 PM:

Gary, you mean some people actually watch the movie at a drive-in? [Big Grin]

Posted by Robert D. LaValley (Member # 1867) on 01-28-2004, 12:38 AM:

I just talked to this girl that use to work at a drive in, in the late 70's. she used to get on the intercom towards then end of the night and say "if you are watching the movie please flash your lights becuase I really would like to go home. " and if no one flashed she would close up and head out... *laughs*

(I know it was off topic but the above comment just reminded me of that)

Posted by Kamakshipalya Dhananjay (Member # 1391) on 01-28-2004, 12:59 AM:

Nobody wants to venture out ! Say to come and build in India or China ?

There are less than 180 Multiplex screens in India and the rest are all single screens and huge movie theatres. I think India and China will be the biggest movie markets in the years ahead. The market and need for Multiplexes is exploding in India and I think overseas investors or Multiplex operators need to look at India should they want to expand.

Posted by Edward Jurich (Member # 1787) on 01-30-2004, 11:19 AM:

It might be fun to open a small single or twin right next to say an AMC multi-plex. Charge .50 less admission and less for concessions.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 01-30-2004, 12:39 PM:

"My question...in today's cars (big head rests, etc) how can anyone in the back seat see a drive-in screen?"
Hardly anyone stays in their cars anymore, they all bring lawn chairs and sit in front of their cars. Or come in a truck, back the truck in, and sit in the bed. Some with couchs in the bed.

Posted by Chad Lindsey (Member # 2212) on 02-10-2004, 08:09 AM:

Well maybe I'm a bit biased to the home town, but our 8 screen here in Paris, TX was obsolete before it opened, a new 8 screen with good-sized auditoriums or even a 10 screen would do well here. The closest competition is a 6 screen 30 minutes away to the north and the same to the south. Its a small town, but the population is steadily climbing toward 30,000 and there is a junior college experienceing record enrollment every semester. If I were Cinemark, I might not build new, but I would definetly upgrade/expand!