quote:

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Cinemark USA, Inc. Acquires Century Theatres, Inc.

PLANO, Texas & SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2006--Cinemark USA, Inc. ("Cinemark") and Century Theatres, Inc. ("Century"), two industry-leading motion picture exhibitors, announced today that they have entered into a definitive purchase agreement under which Cinemark will acquire all of the outstanding stock of Century for a combination of cash and stock of Cinemark's parent company.

"The real winners here are people around the country who love movies," said Lee Roy Mitchell, Chairman and CEO. "Customers of Cinemark theatres enjoy the best available presentation of movies in an environment that is fun, comfortable and exciting. This heritage will continue with the addition of Century Theatres into our enterprise given the high standards of customer service and quality that the Syufy family insisted on at Century."

"This transaction establishes the premier international movie theatre circuit, empowered with extraordinary employees at every level," said Raymond Syufy, Chairman, Century Theatres. "My brother Joe and I are very proud that our customers will continue to enjoy the high quality presentation and movie going experience that has earned such wonderful loyalty over the years. We are very pleased to be playing an important role in the creation of such an exciting, international enterprise in entertainment."

Upon closing of the acquisition, Cinemark's stockholders will include Lee Roy Mitchell, its founder and Chief Executive Officer, Syufy Enterprises, LP., Quadrangle Capital Partners and Madison Dearborn Capital Partners, which will remain the controlling shareholder.

The combined enterprise will exhibit movies to over 200 million patrons annually in approximately 391 theatres with 4,395, screens in 37 states and 13 countries. Lee Roy Mitchell will remain the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Raymond Syufy and Joseph Syufy will join the Board of Directors, representing Syufy Enterprises, LP.

The acquisition will be financed with a senior credit facility led by an affiliate of Lehman Brothers Inc. and an affiliate of Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated. The merger will not constitute a change of control for purposes of Cinemark, Inc.'s 9 3/4% Senior Discount Notes or Cinemark's 9% Senior Subordinated Notes. A portion of the new credit facility will be used to repay Century's outstanding indebtedness under its existing credit facility.

Lehman Brothers Inc. served as financial advisor to Cinemark. Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP served as legal counsel to Cinemark. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated served as financial advisor to Century and its shareholders. Century was also represented by Morrison & Foerster LLP.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions for transactions of this type, including antitrust approval and completion of financing.

About Cinemark USA, Inc.

Cinemark USA, Inc., a leader in the theatre exhibition industry operates 202 theatres and 2,469 screens in 34 states in the United States and operates 112 theatres and 932 screens internationally in 13 countries, mainly Mexico, South and Central America. Cinemark was founded in 1987 by its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Lee Roy Mitchell. In 2004 a controlling interest in Cinemark was sold to Madison Dearborn Capital Partners. Cinemark was among the first theatre exhibitors to offer advanced real-time Internet ticketing at its own website. Visit www.cinemark.com for more information about the company.

About Century Theatres, Inc.

Based in California, Century Theatres currently operates 78 theaters with 994 screens in 12 western states. The company was founded in 1941 by Raymond J. Syufy and is now led by his sons, Raymond W. Syufy and Joseph Syufy. Since 1996, the company has added 641 screens and has expanded into 8 additional states. In 2000, it launched its CineArts division, with screens in California and Illinois. The company is a founding member of Fandango, a leading Internet ticketing company.

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[ 08-08-2006, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Sam Graham ]
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 08-08-2006, 07:01 PM:
 
Does this mean that we can expect to see THX certification removed from all Century Theatres screens (not to mention a possible drop in overall presentation quality)?
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-08-2006, 07:21 PM:
 
Does this mean Century booth people will no longer be able to order Film-Guard? (assuming they can order it now and assuming Cinemarkers still can't).
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 08-08-2006, 07:52 PM:
 
Soy muy triste.

Another small chain of well run theatres gone.
 

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Posted by Caleb Johnstone-Cowan (Member # 3710) on 08-08-2006, 08:17 PM:
 
"Does this mean that we can expect to see THX certification removed from all Century Theatres screens"

Other than using non-THX certified equipment when replacing broken stuff how do you lose the THX certification?
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-08-2006, 09:22 PM:
 
I meant no disrespect to the Cinemarkers who do a good job, including the booth staff at Cinemark #235.
 

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Posted by Chad M Calpito (Member # 3736) on 08-08-2006, 10:01 PM:
 
That's interesting to hear that Cinemark aquired Century Theatres. I used to goto the Century Orleans Stadium 12 in Las Vegas. That was a nice theatre, especially the film presentation and quality.

Which brings up a question. I recently talked with my GM and he told me that The Decurion Group, which operates Pacific Theatres, is looking for a buyer and so far, Regal Entertainment Group and Cinemark were interested. I would be able to know as soon as January of next year who bought us out. So, the question is, who do you think will aquire us, Cinemark or Regal Entertainment Group? I'm just curious.
 

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 08-08-2006, 10:13 PM:
 

quote: Bobby Henderson

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Does this mean that we can expect to see THX certification removed from all Century Theatres screens (not to mention a possible drop in overall presentation quality)?

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quote: Caleb Johnstone-Cowan

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Other than using non-THX certified equipment when replacing broken stuff how do you lose the THX certification?

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quote: Chad M Calpito

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So, the question is, who do you think will aquire us, Cinemark or Regal Entertainment Group? I'm just curious.

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quote: Bobby Henderson

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Hmmm. Not paying the annual certification renewal fee?

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quote: Mike Spaeth

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Today, you need screen count in order to give people the selection they DEMAND.

Classic case of "film handler's taste" vs. "general public's taste."

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quote: Sam D. Chavez

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These theatres were made to show 70mm to its best advantage and were set up to be roadshow houses.

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Whoever does get control of Century needs to restore all of the old dome theaters that were chopped in half more than 25 years ago!

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quote:

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THE FINAL CURTAIN FOR THE CINEDOME

By Bill Kallay

The inevitable coming of bulldozers happened this April [1999] when the Orange Cinedome [Los Angeles, USA] was demolished. The once grand theater, which opened in 1969, was a victim of the current craze of megaplexes across America. Time was kind to the theater, until its owner, Century Theaters, closed it in favor of an elaborate behemoth down the road called the Century 25 Stadium Theaters. Going to the movies will not be the same in Orange County, California.

The theater was unique in that its two main auditoriums were large domes, featuring 863 seats each and large curved screens. Over the course of thirty years, it was not uncommon to see 70mm films shown in them. What is somewhat humorous is that those theaters also had stadium seating from opening day until its closure in early 1999. Isn't the craze now called "stadium seating?"

The theater expanded on a periodic basis over the years, eventually going from 2 theaters to eleven by 1992. The complex itself was consistently renovated and upgraded. In the early 1970s, the large domes featured early 70mm films such as "Camelot" and an exclusive Quintaphonic Sound presentation of "Tommy" in 1975. By the late '70s, Cinedome featured 70mm Six Track Dolby Stereo and Dolby Stereo in most of its auditoriums. During the 1980s, Cinedome was the theater to see films presented in 70mm. On certain summer periods, the theater would run four 70mm prints of different movies at the same time. The two large domes, a 500-plus seat standard auditorium and a smaller dome were large gauge equipped.

More than likely if a film had a 70mm print available, the Cinedome acquired it. During the initial re-lease of "Return of the Jedi", two 70mm prints were run. The domes were very popular with filmgoers, well before the stadium seat craze took over the nation. Patrons enjoyed the unhampered sightlines and the curved screens. The layout of the domes, much like a curved amphitheater, was spacious and luxurious. Plush curtains and entry music greeted movie goers, at least until slide shows took over the pre-movie screen. Though the Cindedome wasn't perfect, it was a theater one remembered even if the film was bad. The floors in the domes were hollow, so walking on them was like walking on a wooden box. Going to the bathrooms was always an interesting experience.

Few theaters I've encountered allowed me to do my business and still hear the loud movie soundtrack in the dome above me. And Cinedome prided itself on pre-popped popcorn.

But Cinedome was a modern movie palace. Sitting in the domes, one was always comfortable due the rocking chairs the theater had. The dome's ceiling seemed like it went on into infinity. And the presentation Cinedome was a treat. Even on 35mm stereo releases, the theater would always rock. But it was on 70mm presentation that Cinedome was legend. In "Raiders of the Lost Ark", the boulder rumbled over your head. In "Ghostbusters", Slimer floated through your chest and back into the large surround speaker behind you. In "True Lies", you felt the bullet casings falling on the bathroom floor in Arnold's in-famous fight.

The theater was very profitable and consistently busy, even during the week. Why Century chose to shutter the theater rather than expand it baffles fans of the theater (there are many), but perhaps made sense for the company. There was room on the property to expand and build a parking structure (parking was never a strong suit at Cinedome). They instead chose to build a 25-screen complex on the site of an old drive-in. Add to that restaurants and shops next to it, Century made both a jump into 21st century megaplexing and added profits. The new theater is popular, but lacks the features of Cinedome. Most of the theaters are small and the screens are fitted for 1.85:1 aspect ratios. There are constant sellouts, despite popular films being shown on multiple screens. Cinedome didn't have that problem most of the time.

As the bulldozers tore out the projection booths, the domes became nothing more than covered amphitheaters. The screens were indiscriminately ripped to shreds. The speaker stands that once held the huge speakers became jagged towers of steel. The fairly new plush red seats were covered with dust and roofing tiles. Orange County is a place where any building over thirty years old is demolished. Cinedome fell right in line with that tradition. It's reminiscent of the film "Logan's Run" where no one was supposed to live over the age of 30.

When the theater closed, some patrons came to the theater in disbelief that it was closed. Others quipped that it was rundown and in a bad location. That wasn't true. It was in good shape, equipped with Dolby Digital, DTS and SDDS sound. The location was perfect, for it sat between two freeways. In fact, Interstate 5 allowed patrons to exit right at the entrance to the Cinedome parking lot.

Time hasn't been kind to 70mm or the theaters it played in. All over Southern California, theaters equipped for 70mm have been closed in favor of megaplexes. This has occurred in rapid succession in less than five years. Exhibition chains favor catering to the masses, which is fine. But they've also created an atmosphere where there is a sameness to going to the movies. Cinedome and theaters like it were always one step above the norm.

The Cinedome will be missed by movie fans, especially 70mm fans. The feeling is akin to being a baseball fan who attends a classic ballpark, only to see if torn down in favor of a modern stadium. Fortunately, there are Cinedomes located in Northern California. But then again, maybe they'll meet the same fate as the Orange Cinedome.

The Cinedome had the distinction of first class presentation, great picture and the latest sound systems available.

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quote: Dennis Benjamin

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I don't know what happened to them over the years - but the Drive-In in Vegas 'sucked' big time.

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Not that there are many of them left (Syufy may be the exception), but there aren't a lot of corporate drive-ins. The independent "mom & pops" seem to be best at it, probably because they're usually working there themselves.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 08-10-2006, 08:01 PM:
 
They had a dome theater here built in the 80s called the Cinedome also, wasn't as big as the 60s-era theaters. It started out with 5 and expanded to 8 domes, then in 1992, when I thought this sort of thing had gone out of style, they split one of them in half! Then about 3 years ago they built a new 16-screen regular-style cinema next to it and tore down the old theaters once it opened. Seems like very little thought went into the new place, as some of the auditoriums are ridiculously small and ALL 16 screens are common-width, even the 2 "big" ones! They've never had the house lights properly set up either; every time I've gone there they click straight off and come right back on again at the end, instead of dimming down and rising up like they should.
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-10-2006, 08:39 PM:
 
I personally hate the domes. I feel it does horrible things to the acoustics and makes the picture appear even smaller than it is.

That being said, of all the chain theaters I have seen, Century as a whole puts on the best presentation of the chains when you average them all together. (There are always exceptionally good or bad theaters.) I have a feeling the quality will drop a bit when Cinemark takes over. That's not saying that Cinemark is bad, but they tend to not worry about the details and just get the show on screen with a "looks pretty decent" mentality.
 

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Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 08-10-2006, 09:04 PM:
 
I miss the Cinedome in Orange. The last thing I ever saw there was EVITA on opening day, pretty sure it was Xmas day. Big picture and BIG SOUND. Damn them for tearing the place down. The site and parking lot sat vacant for years; they finally started building something there about a year ago.
Well, better torn down than twinned.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-10-2006, 09:07 PM:
 
I saw "Mrs. Doubtfire" in a twinned dome (might have been in Reno). What a wretched place.
 

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Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 08-11-2006, 01:50 AM:
 
United Artists had a couple of domed theatres in downtown Seattle... the UA70 and UA150. They're gone now... torn down a couple of years back.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 08-12-2006, 02:23 AM:
 
Yikes, this doesn't sound good for me at all. Guess I'll stock up on Film Guard while I still can. Does any one know if we can expect to see a change in signage?
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 08-12-2006, 10:24 AM:
 
If Cinemark follows Regal's lead, they'll leave the Century branding alone. It's very expensive to change all that signage, and doesn't really accomplish much if the brand is already strong in its market.
 

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Posted by Shane Cooper (Member # 2510) on 08-12-2006, 07:39 PM:
 
From what I hear from colleagues that work at Century and Cinemark is that they plan on using the Regal format by leaving the name and signage the same. It will be interesting to see if Cinemark will continue the projects that Century was developing.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 08-13-2006, 03:03 PM:
 
I've never been to a Cinemark as they are all way far suburban around here. Generally are floor operations ran pretty smoothly? As well, it will be interesting to see if the CineArts area will be effected at the Century's, and if Cinemark will continue to operate the full bar/lounge which is in the Century pack. Regardless, it's all pending approval.

Guess its just the wait game for now...

[ 08-14-2006, 02:24 AM: Message edited by: Alex Grueneberg ]
 

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Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 08-13-2006, 06:01 PM:
 
Finally, someone standing up to Harkins...

http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0813biz-theaters0813.html

Theater wars heating up
Rival companies building cineplexes close together

Erica Sagon
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 13, 2006 12:00 AM

Blockbuster competition isn't limited to Talladega Nights vs. World Trade Center.

The country's largest theater operators are going head-to-head with Scottsdale-based Harkins Theatres by building multimillion-dollar cineplexes closer together than ever, just a mile or two apart in Gilbert, Tempe, Mesa and other parts of the Valley.

In the theater world, that's close enough to be considered neighbors, but not friendly ones.
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The glut of screens opening between now and 2008 means more choices for moviegoers and fresh headaches for the rival theater companies.

One theater can cut a neighboring theater's business in half. And because movie distributors typically won't show the same big blockbuster at multiplexes near each other, competing theaters will duke it out to get the best new releases every week.

The movie theater companies say they are simply chasing after the Valley's rapid population growth. But the saturation of screens has some wondering whether Valley moviegoers can support them all.

In the Gilbert-Chandler area, for example, Harkins Theaters is building two multiplexes and Plano, Texas-based Cinemark will open one. All three are within a three-mile driving radius and will have 44 screens combined.

One industry observer called Cinemark's plans to open between Harkins' two theaters a "suicide mission."

Harkins Theatres and Cinemark will also square off near the border of Tempe and Mesa along the Loop 202. Cinemark recently opened its first theater in the Valley, a 16-screen cinema at the Riverview at Dobson shopping center in Mesa. Two miles to the west, Harkins is building a 16-screen theater at the competing Tempe Marketplace shopping center.

Farther east in Mesa, Harkins and Kansas-based Dickinson Theaters will duel with movie houses a mile apart, in shopping centers near the U.S. 60 and Signal Butte Road.

And in the West Valley, AMC Entertainment Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., will open a 20-screen theater at Westgate City Center in Glendale. A mile and a half away, Harkins plans to open a 14-screen theater at Parke West shopping center in Peoria.

Home-grown movies
The competition threatens to loosen the grip that home-grown Harkins Theatres has on the Valley. Now run by the founder's son, Dan Harkins, the 73-year-old privately held company dominates the movie scene in metropolitan Phoenix, with 17 screens in the area.

"We have a well-entrenched allegiance with Valley moviegoers," he said, adding that he believes the loyalty will keep Harkins' theaters filled.

But the large companies he's pitted against have deep pockets. They could continue operating the theaters even if they loose money, he said.

Harkins said national movie chains have made poor real estate choices by putting up theaters near his company's projects.

"I think they'll look back on their locations as mistakes," he said.

Industry watchers say Cinemark's motive for building in the Valley came after Harkins Theatres irked Cinemark by building a theater in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That's less than 25 miles away from Cinemark's headquarters. As payback, observers say, Cinemark decided to enter the Valley for the first time and build cineplexes close to Harkins Theaters' proposed projects, making them less profitable.

Both Harkins Theatres and Cinemark deny the claim.

"When you're building a facility that costs multiple millions of dollars, you don't do that on a whim," Cinemark spokeswoman Terrell Falk said.

Falk said it is natural for Cinemark to expand in a rapidly growing market like Phoenix.

It's unlikely that theaters in the new competitive zones will drive each other out of business.

"Very rarely do you see newer theaters shut down," said David Larcher, executive vice president of Vestar Development Co., the Phoenix company behind a couple of shopping centers where Harkins' theaters are being built.

Although the situation at Vestar's Tempe Marketplace and rival project Riverview isn't ideal for a developer, Larcher said he expects the Harkins under construction in Tempe to overpower the nearby Cinemark.

Rivals sometimes thrive
The Valley generally hasn't seen serious theater rivalries in more than a decade. One exception is the northwest Valley near Arrowhead Towne Center, where Harkins Theatres and AMC have theaters about a mile apart.

But throughout the 1970s and '80s, the Valley had nearly a dozen battle zones, Harkins said.

It's not unheard-of for neighboring theaters to thrive. Brian Deveny, chairman of the Arizona Theater Owners Association, points to downtown Santa Monica, Calif., where several theaters coexist.

"You can walk from end to end on the (Third Street) Promenade and see all of these theaters in a span of 15 minutes," Deveny said. "They all do very well."

He said the Valley could support clusters of cineplexes, too.

"Phoenix metro is getting to be so much like Los Angeles now with the population and congestion," Deveny said. "The more Phoenix gets to be like LA, the more you're going to see that happen."

Deveny, who owns a single-screen theater in Wickenburg and co-owns a six-screen theater in Payson, said "the population will catch up with" the theaters.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 08-13-2006, 07:36 PM:
 
Really... who gives a crap about who buys who. Next month Cinemark might buy Burger King if things are right. One never knows what might happen and it really doesn't matter much.

Mark
 

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Posted by Gregory Brannon (Member # 405) on 08-15-2006, 03:17 PM:
 
From Mike Heenan's post "Industry watchers say Cinemark's motive for building in the Valley came after Harkins Theatres irked Cinemark by building a theater in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. That's less than 25 miles away from Cinemark's headquarters. As payback, observers say, Cinemark decided to enter the Valley for the first time and build cineplexes close to Harkins Theaters' proposed projects, making them less profitable."

The Harkins Theatre at Southlake Town Square opened this past May on Memorial Day Weekend in Southlake, Texas a ritzy suburb north west of Dallas and Fort Worth. Immediately the nearby Cinemark 17 in Grapevine, Texas a neighboring city near Southlake (approx 6 miles south of the new Harkins) reduced their evening price to $6.00 to compete. I don't know if business has been affected by the arrival of Harkins Southlake but thus far that's the only Harkins entry in the Dallas/Fort Worth market. Cinemark and AMC owns the Dallas/Ft. Worth market with two of the city and region top grossing cinemas in Cinemark's home town of Plano (suburb north of Dallas).

Cinemark has had some aggressive expansion in this market over the last 3 years. Their most recent aggressive move is opening a 16 screen theatre in Allen, Texas just 8 miles north of their top grossing Legacy 24 Plex in Plano and just 5 miles south of their McKinney Movies 14 which also does well because it's prices are $4 for evening shows however it's an older non-stadium setting theatre.

In the next 2 years Cinemark will have competition near those 3 complexes because the whole Urban/Town Square concept(the latest craze in retail development) is happening in the city of Fairview and Allen. Both cities have Urban/Town Square development projects expect to open in 2008 with cinemas planned for both projects. Both projects are within 8 miles of the existing 3 Cinemark theatres in McKinney, Allen and Plano. I'm scared that we're going to have another fallout like we had in the late 90's because of over building.

However I do like it that Harkins has entered the market and I like that Rave Motion Pictures another Dallas area base chain has 3 cinemas in the area. I like a little variety in my movie going experience. Otherwise the only choices here would be Cinemark or AMC Theatres.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 08-19-2006, 01:53 AM:
 
It seems they're still a go to open the new Century Theatres in the SF Shopping Centre. (I got an email from them that says 'now hiring'.) This should give that METREON a run for their money...
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-19-2006, 04:07 AM:
 
Someone asked earlier in the thread if Cinemark would drop the all THX certification on some (or do all Century theatres feature this) Century theatres. Personally, I wouldn't see a problem with Cinemark doing that. THX is meaningless today, all Century is paying for is the right to market their theatres as THX certified. One should not be concerned about THX certification if one is searching for quality presentation. Cinemark could keep the all THX branding and the presentations could still go to shit.
 

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Posted by Matt Barth (Member # 3429) on 08-20-2006, 01:49 AM:
 
This is going to have one hell of an impact in the Albuquerque market. We have one of Century's crown jewels, the Rio 24. There's nothing spectacular about the theater but it's got such a lock on the area that no one else has opened and there are only 3 theaters of any worth in a metro area of 700,000 people. Maybe finally this will give the window for someone else to swing in and build with the extremely agressive Century not keeping such a close eye on the market.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 08-20-2006, 01:50 PM:
 

quote: Matt Barth

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Maybe finally this will give the window for someone else to swing in and build with the extremely agressive Century not keeping such a close eye on the market.

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quote: Scott D. Neff

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can't see there being very many anti-trust issues. Century and Cinemark hardly compete, the only city they both exist in as direct competitors is Corpus Christi, TX.

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quote: Alex Grueneberg

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Cinemark will also be handling all rolling stock ads threw a new pre-show system to be set up over the coming months at the Century’s and not on 35mm after the lights dim. National screen media will be installing new flat panels in the lobbys and a new video pre-show system using the current digital projectors on site. Not sure about you guys, but that’s a huge relief for me. I can't stand the ads on film.

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You will appreciate the new system....as Paul states get used to the First Look Freezeframe lady......Please silence your cell phones and pagers.....and what's funny is when you see a sold out auditorium light up from all the cell phones being silenced.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 10-03-2006, 01:39 PM:
 
Matt, I'm afraid Paul is correct. I know for a fact that there will be coke ads . I assume this new system will be much like how Regal's is? ..Some half assed sneak peak promo and then a bombardment of ads just prior to the start?
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-03-2006, 03:04 PM:
 

quote: Alex Grueneberg

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Some half assed sneak peak promo and then a bombardment of ads just prior to the start?

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Well, when you put it THAT way... Yes!

I must be brainwashed (or braindead). I don't think Cinemark's version of FirstLook is all that bad.
 

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Posted by Matt Barth (Member # 3429) on 10-03-2006, 07:38 PM:
 
Call me spoiled but I really did avoid most other theaters because of those idiotic Coke and Ford commercials. I feel ike I'm watching American Idol before my movie. Well maybe this will lead to Albuquerque finally getting at least another Indie theater.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-03-2006, 09:29 PM:
 
The only thing I really dislike about Cinemark's "First Look" ads is the "videos by Braille" dimness coming from those low-end video projectors. When the house lights are up and that First Look stuff is showing it's barely even visible.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-03-2006, 09:57 PM:
 

quote: Bobby Henderson

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The only thing I really dislike about Cinemark's "First Look" ads is the "videos by Braille" dimness coming from those low-end video projectors. When the house lights are up and that First Look stuff is showing it's barely even visible.

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True, but it also accentuates the difference in quality when the REAL show starts. That's not a bad thing.
 

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Posted by Kenneth Wuepper (Member # 1174) on 10-04-2006, 06:51 AM:
 
David,

Thank you for explaining something that has annoyed me for years.

I always wondered why the symphony orchestra made so much unorganised noise before the concert began. Your explaination is excellent.
Thanks, KEN
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-04-2006, 01:02 PM:
 

quote: David Stambaugh

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True, but it also accentuates the difference in quality when the REAL show starts. That's not a bad thing.

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quote: David Stambaugh

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True, but it also accentuates the difference in quality when the REAL show starts. That's not a bad thing.

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The sad thing is most customers can't tell the difference between the digital pre-show and the actual movie they came to see. So it doesn't matter what the content of the pre-show is or what it looks like, as they already think it is the movie they paid to see.

To get back on topic Century will be running 35mm ads in the trailer packs in the very near future. Right now we are waiting on Coke ads to arrive , with the possibility of more coming after the first of the year.

Also, look for overall presentation at Century's to decline as it is becoming more apparent by the day that projection is not very high on their priority list. I'll probably get in trouble for saying that but oh well.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 10-04-2006, 09:43 PM:
 
Jared, my coke ads just came in.
All 90 seccond ads. I'm furious. I love the fact that nothing else has changed in light of the buy out, and this is the first thing they do. My GM was dead wrong about everything being on the pre-show. This is bad news, and all I can say is I’m glad I'm taking a leave of absence from work tomorrow to travel abroad in Europe for 3 months to think about what I want to do with my life. I’ve pretty much had it with these large cinema chains. They just don’t understand.

Cinemark. You lost one who cares.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-04-2006, 09:51 PM:
 
Alex, don't do anything too crazy. We all have to put up with things we don't like at our jobs. Maybe your theater needs you now more than ever!
 

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Posted by Emma Tomiak (Member # 1862) on 10-05-2006, 01:21 AM:
 
Alex, listen to David. Corporate may make changes to things in your booth that may not be the best (or that you don't agree with), but if you really enjoy the work, try to make the best of the situation. It was quite a change for me when Regal bought UA, but I dealt with all the changes (good or bad). I'm really pround of how I run our booth and putting on the best presentation I can.

Also, be prepared for quite a few "Please come back!!!" phone calls and e-mails while you're in Europe. I got plenty while I was studying in New Zealand. It boosted my ego a wee bit.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 10-05-2006, 01:48 AM:
 
David and Emma, I'm sorry it’s too late. I blew the place up.

Naa. I know you guys are right and that’s just the thing. I do enjoy the work. Its one of the few things I've found that I seem to have passion for (not to toot my own horn). Mostly its just a major disappointment to see this as the first change they bring in. I had a feeling something was fishy when the Cinemark executives were here scoping the place out a month or so ago, and although I worked very hard to make sure my 3 booths were likely in the best shape since the theater opened 6 years ago they didn’t even come up stairs or go into the auditoriums that we're running.

Please forgive my venting everyone. Oh and already I've gotten 2 other operators call and say "You better come back, things are already going south.."

 

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Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-05-2006, 07:35 AM:
 
Good for you! Sucky theatre chains don't deserve good employees. Hopefully you will be able to find an independent exhibitor (or another chain) who cares.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-05-2006, 01:51 PM:
 
Even when Century was saying "No commercials!" in their newspaper ads, they still ran those Fandango trailers with the paper bag puppets. While they're sort of appropriate since it's about buying tickets (Coke trailers really are too, a bit annoying sometimes but not the same as something like a car ad), seeing the same trailer got old REALLY fast.

Another thing I've disliked about a lot of pre-show stuff is that it actually discourages customers from coming back to your theater often, because they'll always see the SAME stuff before the movie starts! I think the #1 offender in that category was Regal's Pepsi Girl trailer, which was two minutes long and was the last thing shown before the actual movie so you couldn't even arrive late to miss it! Having that for a few weeks might have been OK, but they kept it on every movie for MONTHS and drove a lot of people nuts!

The corporate-types who force this stuff on everyone never actually sit down in their own theaters.
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 10-05-2006, 10:50 PM:
 
Yep -- it's official. As of today I am no longer a Century Theatres Field Auditor. I am a Syufy Enterprises Field Auditor. Drive-Ins and Swap Meets are a life for me!

It's going to be sad to see all the pride and hard work I've seen go into Century now veer off in another direction, but I think Cinemark is going to learn a lot from the Century locations and managers and ultimately come out stronger for it. I hope that they see that they can spend money to keep up their theatres AND make a boat load of cash in the process.

I love this business so much and I was so excited to be part of where Century was heading. It saddens me to remove myself from yet another layer of the exhibition industry, but I'll cling on through the Drive-Ins and maybe make a grand return someday. Heck, maybe I'll just sell tickets somewhere for fun.

As for Alex's wish for a hasty departure, I can't say much since I moved over to the parent company before even giving Cinemark a chance. I have confidence that the entire transition will be just like when a theatre receives a new GM. A new force comes in expecting things to run at a different standard without fully communicating how and why they want things done differently than you've learned up until now. It's frustrating and irritating but ultimately you'll be doing the exact same thing you were doing before, maybe with a different title. Hopefully Cinemark won't screw with the pay structure too much/too soon and everybody can keep on doing what they like. Except now customers will just be pissed off about Century's former "No Commericals" claim.

P.S. We shouldn't all feel so bad for Alex, his theatre has a bar to go hang out in when the going gets tough...
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-06-2006, 12:01 PM:
 
So Sinnermark's not taking over the drive-ins? I think this year's been the Sacramento 6's 10th "Final Summer"

They've been talking forever about putting a 25-screen theater in its place, but they'll probably all be ridiculously small with common-width screens, IF it ever gets off the ground....
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-06-2006, 01:49 PM:
 
Alex: Make those Coke ads look and sound as good as they possibly can, and take pride in a job well done!
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 10-08-2006, 04:07 PM:
 
Cinemark has updated their website to include the Century locations.

The links from their "locations" page don't go anywhere, but they're at least listed there. According to their website the Century Great Mall 20 has moved from Milpitas to Malpitas, CA. And they took the great expense of moving the Century 16 Anchorage from Alaska to Arkansas.
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 10-10-2006, 04:43 PM:
 
I noticed that as well...
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 10-11-2006, 10:17 PM:
 
All the Century's around here already had pre show digital projectors installed...

I will miss the Lesbian Century Radio Lady's voice....

Oh wait - That was the lesbian "Welcome" lady at UA....
 

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Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 10-12-2006, 06:52 AM:
 
The showtimes links on the Cinemark site now go to the theatre's Fandango page.

Good thing too, since this is what's left of Century's site...



...And so it ends.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 10-12-2006, 12:52 PM:
 
If that's the best seat in town, we're in a LOT of trouble.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 10-12-2006, 01:08 PM:
 
Their seats are very comfortable here, so the claim does seem to hold at least some credibility.
 

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Posted by Jared Thornton (Member # 3580) on 10-12-2006, 09:10 PM:
 
The Coke ads start Friday the 13th . I don't think they could have picked a better day if they tried, our regular customers are in for a surprise.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 10-13-2006, 03:22 PM:
 
So, will the Century trailers still be running, or will they be showing the Cinemark (is it "Front Row Joe", or something like that?) trailers be running now?
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 10-13-2006, 04:07 PM:
 
Eric, Cinemark doesn't do any sound snipes or policy snipes.

Instead, it is just the Firstlook, with the Silence The Cellphones "freeze" frame before the trailers.
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 10-13-2006, 05:23 PM:
 
Really? They had a 25th Anniversary trailer that had a CG Front Row Joe walkin the red carpet. Was that just in place of one of their coke ads?
 

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Posted by David Kilderry (Member # 142) on 10-13-2006, 06:34 PM:
 
Hi Scott,

Is there a listing of the Syufy drive-ins on the web? How do people find showtimes for them? How many are left and are any of the ones they acquired from Pacific still running?

David
 

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Posted by Jared Thornton (Member # 3580) on 10-13-2006, 08:00 PM:
 
What we have been told is that we will keep the Century name, as they believe it is a good brand with high recognition. The only changes involve the addition of Coke ads plus other commercials along with running their pre-show content. So we will still be running the Century/Fandango snipes prior to the start of the feature.

Of course this all could change at any moment as we are still in the "blend" period and final details will be revealed after the first of the year.

We are heading into uncharted waters so it should get really interesting
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 10-14-2006, 12:18 AM:
 

quote: Scott D. Neff

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Really? They had a 25th Anniversary trailer that had a CG Front Row Joe walkin the red carpet. Was that just in place of one of their coke ads?

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That was just for a year or so that those ran. They didn't actually replace anything. NOTE: Actually filmed at The Legacy. Cold night too! Took them so long to set up the shots that what was supposed to be a couple hour thing ended up being more like 6. We had staff there that were in the shots, except at the end, and were holding them late on a school nite.
 

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Posted by Matt Barth (Member # 3429) on 10-14-2006, 04:05 PM:
 
Well this event has a silver lining for my city. Now that almost all the theaters in town are owned by the same company it appears there are some ventures going forth to start a few indies. Let the battle for Albuquerque begin!
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 10-14-2006, 11:03 PM:
 
The only Cinemark I've been to is here in the Bay Area (Blackhawk 7) and they had an assult of ads on film (no digital projectors) and some 'Front Row Joe' thing...
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 10-15-2006, 01:49 AM:
 
Scott: You know us Century employees aren’t allowed to drink at the bar due to our previous GM getting drunk all the time and harassing employees... Right? Any way, now I remember seeing you in the office a few weeks ago, sorry we didn’t get time to chat. I'm always busy

Also, regrettably almost all of my new coke ads have lab streaks and other ugly lab blemishes. In light of what you said David I believe I'm going to make a fuss about it.
 

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Posted by William Barker (Member # 4019) on 10-15-2006, 05:34 AM:
 
Hey guys, ive been reading the forums for awhile and finally just joined. So I just wanted to start out with a Hi to everyone, so Hi!
I work for Cinemark, so I think this is really neat (how dorky do I sound ) to be able to talk to some people that work for Century and get their input and point of view on things. Im sure we both have things we like and dislike about our companies, so it will be interesting to discuss them and see how the dust settles.
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 10-16-2006, 01:36 PM:
 

quote: Alex Grueneberg

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You know us Century employees aren’t allowed to drink at the bar due to our previous GM getting drunk all the time and harassing employees... Right?

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quote: Alex Grueneberg

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Any way, now I remember seeing you in the office a few weeks ago, sorry we didn’t get time to chat. I'm always busy

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quote: David Kilderry

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Is there a listing of the Syufy drive-ins on the web? How do people find showtimes for them? How many are left and are any of the ones they acquired from Pacific still running?

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• Capitol 6 Drive-In & Public Market - San Jose, CA
  Coliseum Public Market - Oakland, CA (formerly 4-screen Drive-In)
  Solano Twin Drive-In & Public Market - Concord, CA
  Sacramento 6 Drive-In - Sacramento, CA
  Goleta Public Market - Goleta, CA (formerly 2-screen Drive-In)
  El Rancho 4 Drive-In & Public Market - Sparks, NV
  Las Vegas 5 Drive-In - Las Vegas, NV
  Scottsdale 6 Drive-In - Scottsdale, AZ
  Glendale 9 Drive-In & Public Market - Glendale, AZ

quote: Eric Hooper

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There were still lots of "slides" for "visit centurytheatres.com". There were no Coke ads (as previous reported). Everything was status quo... for now.

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Cinemark sent out an email a couple of weeks ago to all theatres instructing us to remove all references to the old website (including slides and posters in lobby) as it no longer exists, but the regional leaders overrode that as they believe the old century website adequately redirects people to Cinemarks, leaving it up to the GM at the theatre to decide if they want to remove the century stuff or not.

Coke ads should have started on Oct 13 as was mandated by those above. I know we are unhappily running them in Vegas as part of our redesigned trailer order. We have been told that once we switch over to Cinemarks digital pre-show the 35mm ads will go away as they will be incorporated into that. All theatres should be running the new pre-show by Christmas.

As far as status-quo goes Cinemark leaves everything (and I mean everything) up to the individual theatre to decide. So if the GM is competent things should continue to run smoohtly, but if the GM is not look out.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 11-13-2006, 02:27 AM:
 
So by status quo do you mean I could continue to run the THX trailers, even though Cinemark asked to not run them any more?

My question is, why would you want to stop advertising that your fully THX certified (and I make sure it matters) after just paying to continue certification threw 2007?

Also, hey Jared arnt you lovin this St. Jude promo/fandango/coke ads all before the trailers
we got going for friday?
 

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Posted by Jared Thornton (Member # 3580) on 11-13-2006, 01:59 PM:
 
Alex, to answer your question its

If you were a paying customer would you want to sit thru all that crap before a single trailer hit the screen?


As far as THX goes, I had a feeling it would be going away shortly after Cinemark took over as it was Century who paid the certification fee and not them. Remember Cinemark only cares about the investor and nothing else, so why should the $8-10,000 certification fee go to George Lucas and not some unknown investment firm?
Besides you can get THX at home now with the entertainment system you bought at Wal-Mart so as an added feature of going to the movies its now almost worthless.

As far as continuing running the THX trailers go, I'll probably remove them as the amount of crap we now play before the trailers is becoming ridiculously long and annoying. Customers are already wise to the fact that once the lights go down they have 2 extra minutes to run to the bathroom or what not before the actual trailers start, now with St. Jude they can add an extra minute to their trip.

The Century Theatres we all knew and loved is now quite dead and after Cinemark is through with us probably gone as well, so for the time being all we can do is put on the best damn show we possibly can until we are told by those above us not to.

post edited to remove company info.

[ 11-14-2006, 02:26 AM: Message edited by: Jared Thornton ]
 

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Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 11-13-2006, 04:04 PM:
 
Public ranting about internal company communications/policies is probably not the surest way to ensure job security... We get it guys...you don't like the transition.
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 11-13-2006, 05:27 PM:
 
Jared, I really don't like ads of any kind, but you need to look at the silver linning here-at least you're not playing screenvision ads. I'd kill to have only 2 minutes of crap before my trailers. As far as St. Jude is concerned-that is a public service announcement, Cinemark doesn't recieve any money for running that.

Your statements on THX seem to be contradictory. On the one hand you lambast Cinemark for not paying the licensing fee due to greed, but on the other hand you acknowledge that THX is worthless. The only thing THX means any more is that your theatre was built to a certain set of standards, standards anyone who cares about presentation can build to regardless. THX techs do not do recerts any more-or at least they don't have too. The only thing paying the licensing fee does is enable you to market your auditorium as THX certified. Since 99% of the public has no idea what THX means anyway, I'd say Cinemark made the right move.
 

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Posted by Jared Thornton (Member # 3580) on 11-14-2006, 02:22 AM:
 
I apologize to all for ranting, but so far the transition has not been fun. Everyday we are told something different or contradictory to whats already been said, and when we ask for clarification we are told to wait until next year and all will be explained, very frustrating. With Century, it was one way and only one way, equally frustrating, but at least it was consistant.

Dustin, yeah I was inconsistant about THX as I was ranting/rambling on.
THX may be worthless today as it was never really explained to people on what it actually is (other than a 30 second snipe with a good sound mix) but Century already paid the licensing fee for next year, so we might as well advertise it until the agreement ends. Cinemark, like any other company, is in business to make money. So it does not seem like good business sense to stop advertising or taking advantage of something that has already been paid for. Something that helps the business stand out from its competitors, thus possibly generating additional revenue. I'm still inconsistant on this I know.

As far as ads go you're right it could be worse, its just change is hard to accept when it's something you don't agree with. I'll have to accept that it's somebody else's sandbox I'm playing in. Hopefully the ads will go away once the new digital pre-show arrives at christmas.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 11-14-2006, 12:45 PM:
 
Those THX trailers sure look good with scratches on 'em (proving that THX standards don't require competent people running the booth, among other things.)
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 11-15-2006, 11:01 AM:
 
All of the branding banners on Fandango have been changed over to Cinemark now...
 

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Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 11-22-2006, 05:02 AM:
 
Having worked for both Cinemark and Century I can say that there are things each company does a great job with, and things that each company doesn't do quite so well. I can tell you that, in my opinion, Cinemark was the better company to work for.
 

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Posted by Jake Buck (Member # 3802) on 11-25-2006, 02:33 AM:
 
.

[ 12-12-2006, 02:29 AM: Message edited by: Jake Buck ]
 

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Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 11-28-2006, 11:44 PM:
 
Jake,
Is your theatre the sub-run? Cinemark is likely waiting for the lease to run out before they shut it down. It's often more costly to break a lease and close than to keep plugging along until the lease runs out.
 

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Posted by Chad Lindsey (Member # 2212) on 12-03-2006, 05:28 AM:
 
For what it's worth, and since it's an opinion that's probably not much, I believe that some are being a bit pessimistic. As far as the aquisition, I think that we just need to give them time. Merging the two companies is a HUGE deal. In my wildest dreams I wouldn't expect the blending process to be an easy one. I just don't think there is a smooth way to do it. I do agree that it seems to be very one-sided, and that Century is going through more changes, but I just think we need to wait it out. Yes, things are different.. there are ads, and new policies, and who-knows-what, but I have been around Cinemark for around 8 years and I still have faith. I've seen the company go through good times and bad times (very bad times) and I think that they, with the added help of the talented Century team, will pull this off in the end. Let's let the company finish this process and get everything written in stone, then see what we all think!

Jake, do remember that money is not the only factor involved in the upkeep of theatres. You can pour money into a theatre and still have a terrible operation. On the other hand, you can have a theatre thats falling apart, but still doing the best they can with what they have. Maybe the conc stand is held together with duct tape, but the customer service is outstanding! Maybe the booth equipment was built 100 years ago, but every movie starts on-time, in frame, and scratch-free! Personally, if it were my company I would send the money in that direction, knowing that it would not be wasted. I'm not saying your operation is less than perfect, after all, I believe you've had a few upgrades lately!

Yeah, there are always things to complain about, but I think "welcome to Hell" might be a bit harsh...

I think that I am going to reserve judgement until I see the final product...
 

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Posted by Jake Buck (Member # 3802) on 12-05-2006, 05:45 PM:
 
.

[ 12-12-2006, 02:28 AM: Message edited by: Jake Buck ]
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 12-06-2006, 09:12 AM:
 
Careful Jake, Careful.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 12-09-2006, 07:11 PM:
 
The plasmas in the lobby are up and running.
However they are having a few issues with the theater related side of the preshow system. Although the preshow might come off a bit more intrusive, its nice to know once things are up and running we wont have to run any rolling stock on the main show at all.

Plus now we have this guy who comes around every 3 months to just take care of the video projectors.

 

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Posted by Brian Woods (Member # 3521) on 12-11-2006, 09:02 AM:
 
I would have to agree with Mike Spaeth on voicing your negative opinions about your new employer in a public form to outsiders of your company, you may end up biting the hand that feeds you. There have been comments about the transition not going smoothly, well no ! Any merger, takeover, or buyout never goes smoothly in the first months, or even sometimes a year. People who sit around complaining about a coke ad, plasma tv, or God forbid a rolling stock have more issues than just new management problems. Yeah, it may be frustrating to see your old ways of doing things go away, but what you don't realize is that you just started a new job? How so you say? Well, when there is this kind of transition, they more or less hit the reset button for everyone working there. Instead of them letting you go, they rehired you on and kept you as an employee. They weed out the bad employees and keep the good ones with their time served and benefits in place. They could have came in and said, sorry, your services are not needed, and you would be celebrating your new job at Wal-Mart as a door greeter. All in all, does some of the things that any company does seem like it's the best idea? No, there are some really ideas out there, but until it says "Insert your name here" Theaters, you are an employee, and you need to act like one. If you have issues, voice it to your management, not on a public form for everyone to see your company's dirty laundry. If you don't like working there anymore, leave, quit, jump out a port hole....no one is making you stay. I am sure if you bought a house, you would like to do things your way since you just paid for it, and your the one responsible for the upkeep and management of the place. If you need to make some extra money for the upkeep, you have a yard sale, aka on screen ad presentations. Your new company has to make money, and this is a form that they have chosen to do so. The ads you see on the screen go towards your paycheck in some way or how. I agree, some customers may not like it, but there are some who do. I have seen a lot of people complain when there is nothing playing before the show, and they go into insulin shock from the two pound box of Butterfinger Bites they just ate. Over all again, speak to your management team, let them work it out. If things are so bad, maybe Wal-Mart isn't such a bad idea?

Quote for the day" "Welcome to Wal-Mart. Would you like a cart?"
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 12-11-2006, 01:16 PM:
 
What Brian said. A couple of you guys who are now Cinemarkers might need to restrain your negative comments here on a public forum that is certainly closely watched by your new employer, whether they actually post here or not.

Just my 2 cents.
 

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Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 12-11-2006, 06:40 PM:
 
Given how little attention most of the big chain higher-ups pay to the operation of their actual theater, I doubt they have much time to read message boards, and if they are they should be in their theaters instead! (Though I can't comment on how Cinemark has been running things lately since I haven't been to any of their theaters in more than a decade. I'll probably check out a couple of the Centurys here eventually; I wasn't too impressed with how those theaters were being run before Cinemark took over so we'll have to see what happens.)
 

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Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 12-11-2006, 06:53 PM:
 
Jesse, many people in the industry lurk on these boards. I once made a complaint about ETS here and the VP of Operations called me at my theatre to let me know our problem was with our third party carrier between us and the depot and not ETS. He was very polite about it but I was a bit taken aback.

[ 12-12-2006, 01:58 AM: Message edited by: Dustin Mitchell ]
 

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Posted by Brian Woods (Member # 3521) on 12-11-2006, 10:00 PM:
 
I am not one who points fingers at people, usually because it's impolite, but...There are a few people on here that are anti "big chain", and voice their opinions on theaters that they haven't been to in "more than a decade". To those of you, Thank You!!!! Thank you for voicing your opinion on things that you do not know anything about. Thank you for going against the "man" of the movie theater business, and telling everyone the "man" is out to get the little guy and hold them down with their power of getting movies and selling concession items. Thank you for reminding everyone all the time since they are a "big chain" that their operators must be idiots, and that the managers must be morons to work for them and they don't hold the knowledge to put on an excellent presentation without scratching the film, or burning the building down. Thank you for loving your one screen theater, and believing it's the best little theater in the world, even with your 1978 yellow curtains and stale meldew smell. Thank you for judging other operators and their presentations since we know you have never made a mistake, had a film wrap, accidentally scratched a film, started a movie late, had a projector break down, or anything outside of a perfect presentation. Thank you for knowing everything technical about the booth, management, film buying, pay structures, taxes, real-estate, legal, investments, human resources, state and federal laws, and have your own money sitting aside that one day, you too can open a theater and invest millions of dollars in hopes that your ill trained employees will scratch prints and start movies out of frame. Thank you for letting everyone know that your doesn't stink!

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 12-12-2006, 11:04 AM:
 
Sorry I guess. I didnt think my comments were that out of line. Its a Cinemark to buy Century thread and I thought this was an appropreate place to post about what was going on and my thoughts. . Afterall this is a public internet forum and if you post on it you should know the risks.

I was actually trying to cheer things up with my last post but everyone is such bummer. I'm pretty happy with the way things are headed for the most part (just got promoted inlight of it ) and hope all of these comments were not soly aimed at me.

David and gang: I will be more carefull about what I post in the future and try to keep personal opinion out of it, thanks for the warrning.
 

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Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 12-12-2006, 12:02 PM:
 
Alex, I think you are ok. Others may have been specific about individuals. Yes they do lurk around here. I also have personal experience in this, but will not go into details.

For those that care, a site called www.century.cinemark.com was setup to allow you to voice concerns, questions, etc.
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-12-2006, 12:58 PM:
 

quote: Brian Woods

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There are a few people on here that are anti "big chain", and voice their opinions on theaters that they haven't been to in "more than a decade". To those of you, Thank You!!!! Thank you for voicing your opinion on things that you do not know anything about.

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I sometimes get annoyed by broad statements which appear once in awhile amounting to "(company name here) sucks!" I'll give a theater chain that is largely unpopular with at least some credit when they do manage to do something right.

However, I'm a well informed customer not a theater employee and I will exercise my latitude to level strong criticism to any theater chain when their upper management makes really goofy decisions.

Speaking of Cinemark in particular, yes I do believe they have made some goofy decisions lately, mainly in respect to the design of many of their new auditoriums and various other compromises made that negatively affect show quality.

Any theater anywhere, big chain location or small independent, has to struggle with quality of employees. A bad employee can screw up the show quality in even the very best designed theaters. I can afford a good theater a bit of slack when a slip up here or there occurs, especially if I have seen very good show quality at that location recently.

What I cannot tolerate is how bad show quality gets built into the theater structure itself. That's something that will make me not want to return to that theater at all.

Cinemark has been doing this lately. They've been using common width screens and vertical masking in many of their auditoriums for several years now. I'm sorry, but a movie like Die Hard should be bigger than Driving Miss Daisy.

Even worse, some of these new theaters are featuring very retarded projection port placements very high above the back stadium seated row and even off center. The severe angles are a great recipe for keystoned and unevenly focused images! When I encounter such a location it makes me not want to ever return.

I like it that Cinemark has gotten rid of the wacky color schemes and gone to a much more tasteful decorative scheme in their newer theaters. However, I don't spend 2 hours in the lobby. I spend most of my time in the auditorium watching a movie. That's why I'm there. Cinemark needs to put a lot more work into improving actual show quality. That is the product they're selling, not demonstrations in lobby design.

Other big chains are guilty of the same kind of thing. AMC has a few really cool looking theaters. But that does nothing to stop me from getting irritated when I'm sent to an auditorium that has the surround speakers stuffed into the ceiling over my head.


Honestly, I cannot understand why a significant number of movie theater chains have the average of declining show quality standards happening right now. If anything they should be fighting tooth and nail to make sure movies get presented in the best possible manner. Home theater is getting ever more sophisticated.

Basically these executives in various corporate offices need to improve their quality of their product. Competition in the home is getting a lot better. I guess those "suits" are just holding to the belief that no one cares about presentation quality. We'll just see how long they're able to get away with it.
 

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Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 12-12-2006, 02:33 PM:
 
Just to play devil's advocate, but maybe the reason for declining quality in the mega chains is an excuse to upgrade to digital? I mean, why spend the money to improve your 35mm system if it is going to be upgraded in a few years. Heck, I'm all for film, and I think it can coexist with digital, but both should be in good working order.

AJG
 

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Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 12-12-2006, 05:27 PM:
 
Digital isn't going to fix the image if the porthole is too high and off center and it isn't going to fix stupid things like AMC's in ceiling surround speakers or Above/below screen speakers with torus screens (although I know AMC has replaced the setup with standard screens in many locations).
 

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Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 12-12-2006, 08:23 PM:
 

quote: Bobby Henderson

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However, I'm a well informed customer

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quote: Matt Fields

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I'm not sure the public as a whole really cares about the technical issues.

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quote: Brian Woods

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Upper Management does look at these boards to see what people talk about. Even bad feedback is good feedback.

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The problem is a certain number of those managers think they're right and I, the customer, am wrong. For instance, I don't see AMC Theaters relocating those ceiling mounted surround speakers down onto the side walls. I've been griping about that problem for roughly a decade and AMC seems to be sticking to their guns on that topic.

That's just one example. There's lots of others.
 

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Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 12-13-2006, 10:33 AM:
 
Clean bathrooms are the key for most women, and there's no excuse not to have them.

I think the frustration with big chains in just about any business (besides making us all Wal-Mart greeters) is the fact that many have switched from serving the customer to now serving the shareholder. Instead of focusing on what the people actually darkening the doors want or need, it's all about market-share, stock prices and financing.

The result of this CAN be disastrous to the consumer. Bean-counters and spin-doctors explain garish arcade-like lobbies with exposed ceiling trusses as what's necessary to "capture the 18-25 demographic", never mind that most of us spend most of our lives outside that range AND it JUST - LOOKS (and is) CHEAP. They explain digital as a "necessary improvement" and maybe it is, though only because they won't pay people to present WHAT THE CUSTOMER CAME FOR, namely a flawless presentation. But that's been discussed to death too. Point is, this is one of the only businesses that doesn't seem to get it in terms of providing what the customer wants. Retail does, if you don't want to shop the cattle-call that is Wal-Mart, there are upscale stores to serve you. The problem with movies is you have this uneasy "partnership" between production-distribution-exhibition. And none of them particularly trust each other. If prints were available to ANY exhibitor in any market, like a case of Coca-Cola is, then there would definately be a quality theatre in every town (and a "Wal-Mart" version). Digital COULD facilitate this, if Hollywood wanted it and if the quality were there. And why not? It would hurt piracy and encourage the quality experience, like Hollywood SAYS they want to provide.

The mom and pop's? Well, there are some great ones and unfortunately those that chose to "cheap-out" as well. They saw it, and maybe rightly so, as the only way to survive. It's too bad that we may never know what these places can do, they've never been allowed equal access to product.

Back to the chains, it's a shame in some cases, having worked "in the middle" as many chain managers do,
this is often the level at
which you find the people that really know how to run
things, and can do a bang-up job. Some guys are allowed
enough slack to really serve the customer, some are far
enough off the beaten path to do it and some can be
utterly handcuffed by the accountants.
 

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Posted by Bernard Acero (Member # 3102) on 02-01-2007, 03:33 PM:
 
Is there anyone that used to work for Century Theatres' Main Office that posts on Film-Tech?
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 02-04-2007, 05:45 AM:
 
You'll just find me (to my knowledge)-- if anybody else is around here, they're just lurking.

And as far as anybody that still works for Cinemark, I don't know if they're too keen on people posting things about the company.

As far as me, I'm still happily pluggin away takin care of those Drive-Ins.

[ 02-04-2007, 12:45 PM: Message edited by: Scott D. Neff ]
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 02-04-2007, 10:59 PM:
 
interesting. In the new FEB Boxoffice magazine, looks like a goof happened. AMC, not CineMark gobbled up Century making AMC the 2nd largest circuit behind REG ...
 

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Posted by Bernard Acero (Member # 3102) on 02-05-2007, 07:48 PM:
 
Hey Scott!

I know you post here.

I was just curious about anyone else.
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 02-06-2007, 09:01 AM:
 
Monte,

Maybe Boxoffice knows something the rest of us don't.
 

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Posted by Alex Grueneberg (Member # 2652) on 02-18-2007, 04:20 AM:
 
I noticed the boards at www.century.cinemark.com are down. Does any one know why they pulled the plug?
 

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Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 02-19-2007, 06:48 PM:
 
Aren't you all blended now?
 

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Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 02-20-2007, 10:08 AM:
 
HI Folks:

Noticed something interesting regarding the Century 21-22-23 in San Jose, CA. On Fandango the "Cinemark" logos have replaced with the name "Winchester Cinemas" Each of the cinemas is now called Winchester 21, Winchester 22 etc.? Any ideas as to why the name change? The Cinearts at Santana Row and the Century 24 & 25 still retain the Cinemark/Century name.

Mike
 

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-20-2007, 10:30 AM:
 
Linky Dinky Do

Cinemark going public

07:55 AM CST on Monday, February 19, 2007

Dow Jones/Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Five years after its first attempt to go public, Cinemark Holdings Inc., the holding company for the nation's third largest movie theater chain, decided to follow the path of its two bigger rivals.

The Plano, Texas, movie exhibitor filed a preliminary prospectus this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of up to $400 million in common stock.

The No. 1 movie exhibitor in the United States, Regal Entertainment Group, went public in May 2002. Kansas City, Mo.-based AMC Entertainment Inc., the second largest player, is preparing an IPO to sell up to $750 million in common stock.

Cinemark and AMC, which filed its prospectus with the SEC in December, haven't yet determined the number of shares and offering price.

Whichever IPO comes first will test the waters, said John Fitzgibbon, founder of IPO service provider IPOScoop.com.

"If one does well, the other will," Fitzgibbon said.

One positive portent for the theater IPOs was the recent strong debut for National CineMedia Inc., an in-theatre advertising company jointly owned by Regal, AMC and Cinemark.

Centennial, Colo.-based National CineMedia sold 38 million shares at $21 a share on Feb. 7, above the expected range of $18 to $20. The stock opened at $25.50 a share, a 21.4 percent premium to the IPO price.

When Cinemark first attempted to go public in 2002, it planned to sell 11.1 million shares at $17 to $19 a share. It dropped that plan and was acquired two years later by Chicago-based private-equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC for $1.5 billion.

Cinemark's first IPO attempt immediately followed the stock debut of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Regal Entertainment, which priced its IPO at $19 a share. Regal's stock opened at $22 a share on its debut trading day, but in the following five years, the stock traded below $22 most of the time and only recently climbed to that mark again. Regal shares closed Wednesday at $21.66 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Although Cinemark is about one-third smaller than Regal in number of theaters and screen ownership, Cinemark has a better financial picture compared with the pre-IPO Regal of five years ago.

Before Regal went public, the company, already the world's largest movie exhibitor with 5,885 screens in 561 theaters, had reported net losses for two straight years.

Cinemark had lost $14.3 million in 2004 and lost $25.4 million in 2005, but earned $21.2 million for the first nine months of 2006. It hasn't released its results for the full year of 2006.

AMC operates 411 theaters with a total of 5,635 screens, more than Cinemark's 392 theaters and 4,430 screens, and has had nine straight fiscal years of losses. AMC reported a loss from continuing operations of $189 million for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 28.

Cinemark in October acquired Century Theaters Inc., a San Rafael, Calif., movie theater chain that has broad reach in Western states, for over $1 billion. The acquisition brings Cinemark closer in size to AMC.

In its prospectus, Cinemark said it expects to improve its margins as it integrates Century and realizes the full benefit of the combination.

One of the risk factors Cinemark cited in its prospectus is the company's significant long-term debt accumulated from the leveraged buyout of Cinemark by Madison Dearborn in 2004.

As of Sept. 30, Cinemark had over $2 billion in long-term debt. The company incurred $162.1 million of interest expense in 2005 and $125.2 million during the first nine months of 2006.

Cinemark plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO to repay debt and for working capital and other general corporate purposes, according to the company's prospectus. But the company didn't say how much money will be used to reduce debt.

In addition, not all of the estimated $400 million gross proceeds from the IPO will go to the company. Cinemark said in the prospectus that some of the shares will be sold by shareholders.

Cinemark's faster growth can be partially attributed to its Latin America strategy.

Unlike Regal, which almost solely relies on the U.S. market, and AMC, which does 82 percent of its business in the United States and Canada, Cinemark has invested throughout Latin America since 1993 and now operates nearly one-third of its theaters there.

With 113 theaters and 945 screens in 12 Latin American countries, Cinemark generated revenue of $222.8 million from the region for the nine months ended Sept. 30, about 18 percent of its total revenue.

Latin America has been one of the fastest growing movie markets in the world, with box office revenue growing at a compound annual rate of 12.6 percent from 2001 to 2005, compared with a rate of less than 1 percent in the United States, according to statistics by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Cinemark said the annual growth rate for its international revenue has been greater than that of its U.S. operations during the past three years.
 

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Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 04-03-2007, 02:56 PM:
 

quote: Mike Croaro

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HI Folks:

Noticed something interesting regarding the Century 21-22-23 in San Jose, CA. On Fandango the "Cinemark" logos have replaced with the name "Winchester Cinemas" Each of the cinemas is now called Winchester 21, Winchester 22 etc.? Any ideas as to why the name change? The Cinearts at Santana Row and the Century 24 & 25 still retain the Cinemark/Century name.

Mike

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quote: Mike Croaro

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Noticed something interesting regarding the Century 21-22-23 in San Jose, CA. On Fandango the "Cinemark" logos have replaced with the name "Winchester Cinemas" Each of the cinemas is now called Winchester 21, Winchester 22 etc.? Any ideas as to why the name change? The Cinearts at Santana Row and the Century 24 & 25 still retain the Cinemark/Century name.

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quote: Eric Hooper

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Anybody? Hello?

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quote:

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On August 8, 2006, Texas-based chain Cinemark Theatres announced that it had completed a purchase agreement under which Century Theatres will be acquired with a combination of cash and stock from Cinemark's parent company. [1] The transition to Cinemark was completed on Thursday, October 5, 2006, with the exception of the Century 21, 22, and 23 theatres in San Jose, which were transferred back to their original company, Syufy Enterprises.

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