A Tale of Two Theaters
You know movie theaters are in dire straits when Regal Cinema calls it quits.
According to the Buffalo News, the company is, in its own words, “temporarily suspending operations” in New York state until they’re given the full go ahead to reopen. In other words, Regal won’t be showing any more movies in New York until “the public health...environment allows for the resumption of a full release date.”
With more and more films released for streaming as opposed to in theaters, it feels like the moviegoing experience is dying out. Movies are premiering in the living rooms of families across the country. Still, New Yorkers also have the option to enjoy these new movies in the theater. As of October 23, cinemas outside of New York City can reopen at limited capacity. NCG cinemas in Kingston has reopened according to their website, and is now operating as a CinemaSafe theatre. Story Screen theater in Beacon, New York is operating at limited capacity as of Nov. 6.
We met Michael Burdge who is the co-owner and founder of Story Screen Beacon Theater and Wonderbar. He is a man who truly loves to find the gems hidden within the production of all films and loves sharing and experiencing these films with everyone around him. Facing big chain movie theaters and the Covid-19 epidemic is not an easy task, and yet Burdge and his team have been successful in doing so. To further elaborate on this Burdge had a lot to say about this topic.
An interview with Michael Burdge, Co-owner of the Beacon, New York movie theater Story Screen.
“I was in the military for five years and the biggest thing I took away from that experience is that you need trust amongst the people you are leading and managing. You have to communicate that no matter what the hierarchy is, that at the end of the day we are all in this together and have to work together in order to survive.
We also partnered with the city of Beacon in order to give back to the community that supports us by having free movie screenings wherever we could. We also had a chance to partner with the local Black Lives Matter chapter in Beacon, Beacon4BlackLives and we played two real special documentaries Whose Street and Good Trouble which if you haven’t seen yet please do yourself a favor and check them out. If I can carry my projector to a place that’s willing to let me show a film, trust me I will be there.
Story Screen was born out of the idea of me just wanting to share movies with the community and with their support of just showing up and promoting us like crazy on social media and word of mouth, it allowed me to stay in business and be one of the most successful businesses in Beacon in my opinion of course. I always strive to make it the best experience for everyone in the community because experiencing a movie with strangers that share a common interest is different than just watching it at home. I’m not a very religious guy but movie theaters is my like my place of worship because its where I learn empathy and to learn about other lives and people that walk different versions of life I could never see otherwise. We want our community represented in the films they watch and I think that’s why we work and have a community that loves backing us up.”
Ann Citron, cofounder of Rosendale Theatre Collective, told us all about her plans for the Rosendale Theatre, and how the collective has been managing through this tough time.
Rosendale Theatre, taken by Emma Cariello. This beloved spot is located in the village of Rosendale, about 90 miles up from New York City.
Ann Citron, cofounder of Rosendale Theatre Collective. Provided by Citron.
“When we closed on March thirteenth, I remember saying we’ll put on the marquee that we’ll be closed for two weeks. And of course, we know what happened. We’re doing OK, but it’s been a struggle.
Community support is the most important thing to us right now. People just want to see us come back, and we will be back. We’re very positive about that.
In the meantime we’ve been doing a lot of stuff inside the theater. We’re painting and reconfiguring. We gutted and painted the lobby, and we’re cleaning out tons of stuff. Just useless things we’ve collected over the years. And we do all that with volunteer work. We totally run on volunteer energy. Any time we call for help we get it. It’s really good people helping; everyone’s always masked and we keep all the doors open to get air circulating. Everyone’s very conscious of COVID.
We’ve also applied for several grants. That money is helping us survive through this time of basically no business. A lot of films aren’t even being released right now, the studios are waiting till next year. That grant money will also help us bring things up to protocol post-COVID. We’re going to be putting a whole new air filtration system in, which is not just important for COVID. Having good ventilation is always important.
In addition to those grants, we’re also in the middle of our annual auction online. A fundraising campaign is also in the works. That will be arriving by the end of the year.
““When we closed on March thirteenth, I remember saying we’ll put on the marquee that we’ll be closed for two weeks. And of course, we know what happened.”
A couple years down the road, we want to modify the space to maybe be used for live music and dancing, not just movies. We’re also planning on adding a wine and beer license. I know some people are worried about moviegoers not wanting to come out anymore after this, with everyone relying so heavily on streaming now. But I have faith those people will feel safe once the vaccine comes out, and they’ll be hungry for live entertainment and communal watching. Watching at home just doesn’t compare.”
Ann and the rest of the collective show their appreciation with a handmade sign outside the theater. Taken by Emma Cariello
Statista graphs that in 2018 the United States annual revenue from motion pictures was around 69 billion U.S dollars. Companies such as Regal cinemas, Walt Disney, and Box Office were forced to furlough employees and executives in order to survive and protect capital. These companies surely have faced a massive financial loss, “a situation likely to play out for the next 2–3 years as companies battle to recover.”
While larger movie theater companies can afford to stay closed for an extended period of time, smaller ones need to stay active and adapt in creative ways to stay afloat during these unprecedented times. If you have a local movie theater near you check out what films they are showing and show some support.