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Marvin & Doris
Troutman
Celebrate 50 Years In Exhibition
Cinema Centers Opens Pennsylvania 12
 HAMPDEN TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Cinema Centers
founders Marvin and Doris Troutman celebrated their 50th
year in exhibition June 17 with the launch of the circuit’s
Camp Hill 12-plex in Hampden Township, Pa.
Located at 3431 Simpson Ferry Road, the
2,400-seat 51,500-square-foot multi is situated on the
former site of an Ames department
store.
Launched with a fundraiser to benefit
the American Heart Association, it features curved screens,
a large neon-enhanced
lobby, an arcade room and stadium-style seating with
high-back rocking seats. Its screen-widths vary from
24 to 53 feet.
The Troutman family purchased its first
cinema, the now-shuttered Colonnade single in Millersburg,
Pa., in November 1955,
but didn’t adopt the Cinema Centers moniker until
1993, the year it opened its first 12-plex.
The Millersberg-based chain now operates
59 screens at six Pennsylvania sites, including 12-plexes
in Bloomsburg,
Palmyra and Selinsgrove, a 10-plex (soon expanding
into a 14-plex) in Reading, and the single-screen Sky
Vu Drive-In
in Gratz. 
Spring Screens For Bay Area
CineLux Morgan Hill
Growing From 11 to 14
 MORGAN HILL, Calif. – CineLux Theatres will by next spring add three
screens to its Tennant Station Stadium 11-plex in Morgan Hill, Calif., just
south of San Jose.
All three new auditoria will feature stadium-style
seating, rocker seats with retractable cupholder armrests
and curved 40-foot-wide wall-to-wall screens.
The launch of the new screens is scheduled to coincide
with the early 2006 grand opening of a family fun center
and bowling alley in the Tennant Station Shopping Center.
San Jose-based CineLux operates 30 screens throughout
the San Francisco Bay Area. Anchorage Accolade
Bear Tooth ‘Best’
In Readers’ Poll
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Anchorage Press’ eighth
annual readers poll named the independent Bear Tooth
Theatrepub best movie theatre in the region.
The 400-seat Anchorage single, which programs
both first-run specialty fare and second-run mainstream
releases, is
host to numerous special events, including the Anchorage
International Film Festival.
The cinema, operated by Film On Productions,
features a full-service restaurant serving sandwiches,
pizza,
burritos, wine and homemade beer from its local sister
business, the Moose’s Tooth microbrewery.
Poll respondents cited, among other things,
the cinema’s
sound, seats and screen size as reasons for their selection.
August Bow For West Georgia Multiplex
Carrollton 10 For
Georgia Theatre Co.
 CARROLLTON, Ga. – Georgia Theatre Co. (GTC) engineered
an Aug. 5 launch for its new 10-plex in Carrollton, Ga.,
approximately 30 miles west of Atlanta and some 15 miles
east of the Alabama border.
Designed to allow for future expansion
up to 12 screens, the multi features high-back stadium-style
seating with
retractable cupholder armrests.
Its Aug. 4 grand opening celebration benefited
The Community Foundation of West Georgia, with the charity
receiving
proceeds from specially-priced $1 popcorn, $1 drinks
and $1 screenings of “Hitch” and “The
Longest Yard.”
“We are proud to offer the very latest
in theatre technology to make the moviegoing experience
in Carrollton more
comfortable and exciting than ever before,” stated
GTC CEO Bill Stembler. “Our company is enthusiastic
about becoming a part of the community and feel our location
is ideal.”
Based on St. Simons Island, Ga., GTC operates
267 screens at 28 sites in Georgia, South Carolina and
Virginia.
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October Bow In Oxford
Malco 8-Plex
For Mississippi
 OXFORD, Miss. – Malco Theatres
is expected to launch in October a new 8-plex in Oxford,
Miss.,
across
from the University of Mississippi.
Located on the site of the former Oxford Mall, now
a newly redesigned lifestyle center, the new multi will
join Malco’s already-operational Cine 4, which
recently switched from mainstream to specialty programming.
The new 8-plex, expected to gain additional auditoria
in the near future, boasts stadium-style seating, a
fountain and large plaza in front of a grand entrance.
Fast-growing Malco also plans to launch by Thanksgiving
a 17-plex in Madison, Miss. Circuit venues are also
under construction in the Arkansas cities of Rogers
and Fayetteville.
Based in Memphis, Tenn., Malco currently operates
285 screens in 35 sites throughout the South.
‘Now
Showing! America Goes To The Movies’
Documentary on Exhibition
Seeks Cinema Professionals
Motion picture exhibitors can now look forward to seeing
their faces and facades on the big screen, according
to those behind a new movie project.
Filmmakers are seeking
the participation of veteran cinema operators for a new
documentary dealing with the history
of motion picture exhibition.
The project, tentatively titled “Now Showing! America
Goes To The Movies,” is the brainchild of David
Strohmaier, director of the documentary “Cinerama
Adventure,” A.J. Roquevert, producer of the documentary “No
More Joy – The Rise and Fall of New Orleans’ Movie
Theaters,” and Ross Melnick and Andreas Fuchs,
co-authors of the award-winning book “Cinema Treasures – A
New Look at Classic Movie Theaters.”
The film is slated for a late 2006 theatrical release,
according to Fuchs.
Exhibitors are encouraged to participate in the documentary
by “telling their stories, sharing their archives,
photos and documents, ephemera, and by providing locations
for shooting and on-camera testimony,” said Fuchs.
Those interested in involving themselves in the project
can visit www.americagoestothemovies.com or e-mail manager@americagoestothemovies.com.
NATO, which published a 1993 book on exhibition history
titled “America Goes To The Movies,” is lending
support and advice to the filmmakers.
“Our membership recognizes this wonderful opportunity
to celebrate all of the fun and excitement that makes
going to the movies one of America’s favorite pastimes,” said
MaryAnn Anderson, NATO’s vice president and executive
director. “The people who built a major American
industry on the nickels and dimes of an ever-changing
audience have always showed vision, showmanship and tenacity
in the face of often fierce competition. This has never
been truer than today. And the team behind ‘Now
Showing!’ understands that very well.”
“We hope to make this film a pop culture phenomenon
that inspires audiences to think about these places where
they go to laugh, cry, and share many a wonderful dream,” explained
a joint statement from the filmmakers. “From the
early pioneers, entrepreneurs and inventors, through
the golden ‘movie palace’ age, to the post-war
era of drive-ins and suburban cinemas, and all the way
into the modern, digital era, ‘Now Showing!’ will
recount an all-too-important, but largely untold, part
of film history: The story of motion picture exhibition
and how moviegoing has influenced the cultural and social
fabric of America – while reminding us all why,
after over a century, movie theatres still enchant us.”
“This is our story,” said Roquevert, writer-producer
of the documentary and head film buyer at Starplex Cinemas, “and
the perfect opportunity to finally tell the long overdue
story of theatrical motion picture exhibition in the
United States.” In addition to featuring the exhibitor’s
point of view, writer-director Strohmaier said he is
looking forward to hearing about “incredible human
stories and events, some hilarious, some tragic” from “well-known
actors, noted film directors and industry executives,
public figures and, of course, the moviegoing public. ‘Now
Showing!’ will feature first-class production values
that are fit for the big screen.”
“Indeed,” said writer-producer and film historian
Melnick, “the grandeur of the movie theatre and
the excitement of moviegoing can be best captured through
the medium of motion pictures itself.” Added writer-producer
and exhibition consultant Fuchs, “In addition to
offering a contemporary, very much of an insider’s
view, ‘Now Showing!’ will have a unique theatrical
distribution and marketing plan with profits benefiting
charities of the entertainment industry.”
“Throughout their careers and with their respective
contributions to our industry, the people behind ‘Now
Showing!’ have
demonstrated a love and appreciation of the theatrical
moviegoing experience,” said Anderson. “With
this documentary, we have a one-of-a-kind opportunity
to share our passion to entertain with movie audiences
around the world.”
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