Kendall Square Cinema Employee Union! - Landmark Theaters

Banowsky's Big Scramble

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 22:50:46 -0400

Has any landmark employee had the enjoyment of Bill Banowsky coming to your market for a full-market meeting? I got back from one and oh boy was it fun. I thought he'd be vague with the whole purpose of his trip (pre-emptive union busting obviously) but nope within his opening paragraph he mentioned unions. It's funny how fast landmark can move if their bottom line may get hurt. And if landmark think a 35 minute meeting with the CEO and a lot of vague promises will smooth everything over, landmark has truly lost touch with their employees.

Is Mark Cuban Missing the Big Picture?

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 13:54:13 -0500

Read Is Mark Cuban Missing the Big Picture? published December 18th in the New York Times.

Check out Cuban's response on his blog, if you can't already guess what it is.

Oh, and if you are still searching for that perfect Christmas present (assuming you are not at war with the holiday) perhaps you would like to look into one of Mark Cuban's other investments.

You know, for the kids.

Tonight's Word is Maverick

Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:36:09 -0500

Try not to get too high tonight while you're watching The Colbert Report because our fearless leader, Mark Cuban, is going to be on.

Do you think he knows it's satire?

Magnolia Pictures Launches Home Entertainment Division

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 15:43:01 -0500

From Indiewire

by Brian Brooks (November 4, 2005)
New York-based Magnolia Pictures is officially launching its own home video division the company announced today, revealing the slate for the new unit. The division, called Magnolia Home Entertainment, is headed by home entertainment industry vet Randy Wells who served as vice president of home entertainment at Miramax. The new entity is part of Magnolia parent company 2929 Entertainment’s pursuit of a “vertically integrated distribution” plan and will initially release two to four titles per month in its first year.

Read whole story here

Key Cinemas to lose artiness

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:20:02 -0500

From indystar.com
Read entire story at:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051118/COLUMNISTS04/511180544/1006/NEWS01

talk of our town: susan guyett

Key Cinemas on Indianapolis' Southside will change its name and format Dec. 2, but it's not because owner Ron Keedy wants to: This makeover is a matter of survival.

Keedy was told that after the nationally operated Landmark Theatres opens Dec. 9, the sort of independent, foreign language and art films that played on his screens at 4404 S. Keystone Ave. would be unavailable. They would all head to Landmark at The Fashion Mall at Keystone.

Landmark Theaters axes discount cards...or not

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 12:57:15 -0500

See...it's not just the Kendall. Check out this post on Cinematical:

"Last night I went to see Ellie Parker (which I'll be reviewing later) at one of my local theaters owned by Landmark. Most of the films I go to, both for work and pleasure, I see at Landmark-owned theaters. Here in Seattle we are blessed to have a passel of Landmark theaters bringing us a slate of indie and foreign films we'd otherwise never see. Usually, I buy a Landmark Discount Card, which for $30 gives me five tickets I can use anytime except prime time on Friday and Saturday. At six bucks a ticket instead of the usual nine, the discount card is a must-have for folks like me who catch lots of indie films. So you can imagine my surprise last night when I said, "I'd like to buy a discount card", only to be told, "We aren't selling them anymore". I stepped in out of the cold to find out why."

Read entire story at: http://www.cinematical.com/2005/11/17/landmark-theaters-axes-discount-cards#c111124

Follow up article (Discount cards are back):

http://www.cinematical.com/2005/11/18/landmark-theaters-brings-back-the-discount-card/

Mercury Becomes Official Automotive Sponsor of Landmark Theatres

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 11:54:50 -0500

Coming Attractions...Mercury Becomes Official Automotive Sponsor of Landmark Theatres

2929 Entertainment's Landmark Theatres provides Mercury a breakthrough platform for the promotion of independent film.
The relationship includes a complete integration of Mercury into the independent film experience.
This continues Mercury's association with independent film following the success of Meet The Lucky Ones.

Dearborn, Mich., August 31, 2005 — Ford Motor Company’s Mercury brand today announced an industry-first sponsorship of 2929 Entertainment's Landmark Theatres, the nation’s largest independent film circuit, with 208 screens nationwide.

This ground-breaking, innovative deal will bring Mercury to the forefront of independent film sponsorship, which is driven by Mercury's commitment to community building with this niche. Mercury's goal with this program is to fully integrate into the independent film community. This will extend from the theatre experience to the marketing and promotion of select independent films.

This program reflects Mercury's focus on invigorating its brand as it launches a number of new vehicles, including the 2006 Mercury Milan sedan and the 2006 Mercury Mariner Hybrid compact SUV, both innovative new products that carry innovative new messaging.

I see same day DVD release as a bad idea, people

Mon, 07 Nov 2005 09:19:04 -0500

Director warns of big screens' extinction

M. Night Shyamalan says ending the delay of DVD releases would doom moviegoing.
By Claudia Eller, Times Staff Writer
Article source:
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-fi-night28oct28,0,6409679.story?coll=cl-movies

One of Hollywood's top filmmakers delivered a rallying cry to the nation's theater owners Thursday, warning that one of the great American traditions — the collective moviegoing experience — was being threatened with extinction.

Speaking at the annual ShowEast convention in Orlando, Fla., M. Night Shyamalan, the director and writer of such blockbusters as "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs," condemned those who are pushing to eliminate what has traditionally been a months-long delay between the release of a movie on the big screen and its debut on DVD. Doing away with that window will not only destroy the exhibition industry, Shyamalan warned, but it will also diminish the artistic integrity of moviemaking.

"Art is the ability to convey that we are not alone," Shyamalan told the gathering of more than 800 theater operators and suppliers at the convention's closing night dinner. "When I sit down next to you in a movie theater, we get to share each other's point of view. We become part of a collective soul. That's the magic in the movies."

Then he added: "If this thing happens, you know the majority of your theaters are closing. It's going to crush you guys."

The proposal to simultaneously release movies in theaters and on DVD is the most pressing issue facing the exhibition industry today. Since this summer, when incoming Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger told media analysts he was open to the idea, it has exploded into an industrywide debate.

But until Thursday, the discussion had focused largely on the need to increase the studios' bottom lines amid this year's box-office slump. For the most part, members of the creative community have kept quiet — a fact that Shyamalan said bespoke a regrettable apathy among his fellow directors.

In an interview, Shyamalan said his speech at ShowEast was intended to address what he believes has been sadly missing from the debate: what he called "the human factor" of the moviegoing experience. Simply put, he said, part of what makes movies an art form is that they are viewed on a big screen with a big audience.

Shyamalan's effort to shift what has largely been an economic debate to an artistic one puts him at odds with another high-profile writer-director, Steven Soderbergh.

An Oscar winner who has made such films as "Traffic," "Ocean's Eleven" and "Erin Brockovich," Soderbergh has been a fierce advocate of eliminating the window during which movies can be seen only in theaters.

As recently as June, at a Directors Guild of America event in New York, Shyamalan and Soderbergh argued vehemently — though respectfully — about Soderbergh's support of simultaneous release, according to someone who witnessed the exchange. The spirited discussion was notable in part because both are regarded as creative risk-takers, not mere purveyors of formulaic "popcorn" movies.

Shyamalan declined to discuss the summertime spat, saying only, "We're both fiery and passionate." Shyamalan said he believed Soderbergh "loves cinema," but if he prevailed, "I think he's going to kill it."

Soderbergh, who was unavailable Thursday for comment, announced last spring that he planned to make six high-definition movies for simultaneous release in theaters, on DVD and on pay cable. His goal: to give consumers more choices as to how and when they see movies.

"I'm sure some people will say, 'Why do this?' And my response is, 'Why wouldn't you?' " Soderbergh said in an April interview with The Times. "The film business in general is using a model that is outdated and, worse than that, inefficient."

In August, Disney's Iger weighed in, telling a group of industry analysts that studios should consider releasing their DVDs at the same time movies show in theaters.

"I think that all the old rules should be called into question because the rules in terms of consumption have changed so dramatically," Iger said, suggesting that decreased theater attendance and slowing DVD sales should be a "wake-up call" for the industry to change its ways.

Not all studio chiefs feel as Iger does. Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton said Thursday, "We at Sony believe very strongly in the theatrical window. It is our lifeblood as well as that of theater owners."

Lynton said that the theatrical window was essential to preserving not just the theater business, but the popularity of movies in general. "Busting it up," he said, "is dangerous."

While the rise of piracy had already prompted studios to shorten the traditional six-month window between a film's theatrical and video release by about two months, Soderbergh and Iger's comments have sparked a firestorm.

John Fithian, president of the National Assn. of Theatre Owners, publicly attacked Iger for reducing movies to little more than "commodities."

"I'm not sure who was asleep, but it wasn't the exhibition industry," Fithian said in response to Iger's remarks. "Here's what we know about 2005: The movies aren't as good."

Shortly after his public spat with Iger, Fithian received a call from Shyamalan's agent. The soft-spoken director wanted to speak out.

"I don't get involved in too many causes, but this is what I do for a living," Shyamalan said in an interview.

Two weeks ago, as he was preparing to host ShowEast, Fithian and his organization's general counsel flew to Philadelphia to visit the director on the set of the movie he is shooting, the fantasy thriller "Lady in the Water." After hours of discussing the hot-button issue, Fithian suggested that Shyamalan make his first public statement in Orlando.

At Thursday's closing night dinner, Shyamalan assured his audience that his movies are made to be viewed in theaters. DVDs, cable and all other ancillary markets are just "souvenirs," he said, that are meant to enhance — but not replace — the theatergoing experience.

"I came here to tell you that what you do is something sacred. Nobody has benefited more from DVD sales than me. I bought my house on DVD sales from 'The Sixth Sense.' But take away my house. That's not why I do what I do."

"If I can't make movies for theaters, I don't want to make movies," Shyamalan told The Times. "I hope this is a very bad idea that goes away."