![]() ![]() The product is the number-one important thing. ![]() It’s almost like we’re starting over again - out of sight, out of mind. To have this situation is extraordinary.”Ĭorwin points out that a recent poll revealed that “only 35 to 40 percent of people knew if their movie theaters were open. One of the amazing things about movie theaters is that whatever else is going on in the world - the economy, war - theaters are open, 365 days a year. Metropolitan theaters have been shuttered since mid-March, and the company had to furlough or lay off nearly 450 employees.ĭavid Corwin, president of the multi-generation Corwin-run Metropolitan chain, explained that “we’ve been running a family business for 97 years, and obviously we’ve never experienced something like this. Get the top stories in your inbox by signing up for our daily newsletter, Indy Today.įor six months, the closest would-be theater customers have come to “going to the movies” has been through the company’s online “Virtual Cinema” offerings and weekend servings of food and beverages - a concessions concession for patrons hungry for at least a semblance of theater experience. A total of 11 screens will come to life at Goleta’s Camino Real Cinemas and Santa Barbara’s Fiesta 5, with more possibly opening soon. Thanks to Santa Barbara County’s official approval of theater reopening on Tuesday, September 28, which was allowed because the area’s COVID status dropped from purple to red, two multiplexes in Metropolitan’s seven-venue local holdings reopen on Friday, October 2. Metropolitan’s Vice President of Operations Kim Tucker and veteran theater manager Tammy Steuart ushered me through a maze of sanitation stations into theaters retooled for 25 percent capacity, and past sneeze guards at the refreshment stand, among other signs of the times, as we stood on the brink of the long-shuttered theaters going public again. Despite this deep familiarity, my most recent visit, which involved scoping out the Camino Real Cinemas days before they reopened to the public, felt strange, like braving a forbidden zone. ![]() During the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, I have sometimes spent 10 hours in one or another of their screening rooms in a single day. As a lifelong habitué of Santa Barbara’s Metropolitan Theaters system, I’ve been making regular visits as film critic - and film addict - for decades. ![]()
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