‘Technically
Correct’ Multis for Fla., Md., Pa.
R/C To Pour 39 In 2002
REISTERSTOWN, Md.
— R/C Theatres in late January disclosed plans to launch in 2002
three “technically correct” multis, new sites equipped with
digital sound and rocking stadium-style seating.
The Maryland-based circuit has slated a late-summer bow for a 10-plex
in Daytona, Fla., an early fall opening for a 16-plex in Frederick,
Md. and a possible late-fall bow for a 13-plex in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
The first of R/C's “technically correct” theatres, the Parkside
Movies 16-plex in Pinellas Park, Fla., debuted last April with a Hollywood-themed
grand opening celebration.
More than 600 guests — including R/C CEO J. Wayne Anderson and
the mayors of Pinellas Park, Daytona Beach and Wilkes-Barre —
attended the gala, held the day before the Pinellas Park plex's official
April 6 opening.
A week prior to the Parkside's opening, R/C held a charity fund-raising
event which included presentations of past hit films for $1. Proceeds
from the event were divided between the Will Rogers Fund, the Motion
Picture Pioneers and a local charity, Family Network on Disabilities
Inc.
Reisterstown, Md.-based R/C currently operates 136 screens at 23 sites.
First
Non-Wisconsin Site
AGT Agents Of
Iowa 16-Plex
PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. — Wisconsin-based AGT Enterprises announced
on Dec. 14 plans to begin construction this spring on its first
non-Wisconsin multi, a 16-plex in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Auditoria will feature wall-to-wall curved screens, digital sound,
stadium-style seating and high-back rocking chairs.
The multi, to be located on 23rd Avenue north of the under-construction
Mid-America Recreation and Convention Complex (MARCC), is expected
to bow in late fall of 2002, following the planned October opening
of the MARCC.
AGT currently operates 56 screens at seven sites in Wisconsin.
8,200
Meals for Charity
NA Screenings
Stock Food Bank
DEDHAM, Mass. — National
Amusements helped local food banks in Massachusetts
and Rhode Island collect 9,968 pounds of food through its Holiday
Classics program.
During the program’s four-week run in November and December,
moviegoers who brought a non-perishable food item to participating
NA sites were admitted to screenings of such holiday fare as “How
the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,”
“Scrooge” and “White Christmas.”
“These food pantries are such worthy causes that we are happy
to lend our support,” noted NA president Shari E. Redstone. “We
are especially grateful to our patrons who participated in this program
to make it the success that it was.”
The amount of food collected — said to be equivalent to about
8,200 meals — benefits the Randolph, Revere and Woburn food pantries
in the Boston area and The Rhode Island Community Food Bank.
NA operates 1,400 screens at sites in the United States, the United
Kingdom and Latin America.
Tom
Brueggemann New VP
Madstone Hires
Film Buying Head
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Madstone
Theatres announced in January the appointment of
Tom Brueggemann as senior vice president of film buying.
Brueggemann, who will be based in North Hollywood, Calif., with
Madstone president James Sheehan, began his career as a film buyer
at Brotman-Sherman Theatres before joining M&R Theatres. After
Loews Theatres acquired M&R, Loews also acquired Brueggemann’s
services for a number of years. Before joining Madstone, Brueggemann
was head buyer for Sundance Film Centers.
Madstone, which recently took over programming of New York City’s
the Screening Room and operates the Centrum triplex in Cleveland,
Ohio, plans to operate 15 to 20 more sites across the country within
the year.
ITEA,
NY NATO To VNU HQ
Sunshine Group
Alights New Digs
NEW YORK — Manhattan-based Sunshine
Group Worldwide (SGW), which manages the exhibition
conventions ShoWest, ShowEast, Cinema Expo and CineAsia as well
as the exhibition trade magazine Film Journal International, made
an intercity move Jan. 4 from its offices on W. 49th Street to its
new locale at 770 Broadway, Gotham headquarters of parent company
VNU Business Media.
The International
Theatre Equipment Association (ITEA) and NATO of
New York State are joining SGW at its new offices. Robert Sunshine,
co-chairman of SGW, serves also as executive director of both ITEA
and NATO of New York State.
New contact information for SGW is:
770 Broadway, Fifth Floor
New York, NY 10003
Phone: (646) 654-7680
Fax: (646) 654-7694
Email: sunshine@sunshineworldwide.com
$890,000
for Film Complex
Watts Cinema Project
Gets Financial Voltage
LOS ANGELES — The Watts Cinema and Education Center, seeking
to build Watts’ first new moviehouse in 30 years, received
two late-December shots in the arm when The U.S. Economic Development
Administration announced it had awarded the project $650,000, and
the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency pledged a grant of
$240,000.
The proposed $15-million project, a 35,000-square-foot complex to
be built on city-owned land, is expected to feature two 300-seat
auditoriums as well as space for video- and film-production classes.
The nonprofit group spearheading the project has now accumulated
roughly $4 million, which will be used to complete the architectural
design of the complex.
A plan to open a cinema in Watts has been around since 1995, but
hit a roadblock in 2000 when plans to convert an existing school
auditorium fell through. 
