A year after reopening, LI movie theaters still facing an uphill battle

Ken and Janet Gesseck of Islip haven’t been back to their favorite multiplex in Deer Park since it reopened. The retired couple used to love going out for dinner and a movie, but they spent the pandemic watching television shows like "The Crown" and "The Kominsky Method." Now, between traveling to visit their year-old grandchild in New Jersey and Ken resuming his duties as guitarist in a local folk-rock band, the Gessecks have lost track of what’s playing.

"We’re not afraid to go back," said Ken, 59, a former parks director for his city. He and his wife are both vaccinated, he added. "Movies just haven’t been at the top of our priority."

The fate of local cinemas may depend on folks like the Gessecks. One year after then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed movie theaters to re-open on Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, the industry continues to struggle. Though some local venues are reporting a recent uptick in business, others are seeing near-empty auditoriums. Still others, such as Great Neck’s beloved Squire Cinemas, have closed their doors for good. Last month, AMC, the world’s largest cinema chain, launched an unprecedented $25 million television ad campaign to lure audiences back to its screens.

"It’s been a crazy year because of a whole combination of things," said Dylan Skolnick, co-director of the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington. He cites the initial pandemic, the Delta variant and the increasing appeal of staying home to watch high-quality content on television. "That’s going to really test people’s love of going to the movies."

THE RE-OPENING

Cinemas were among the last businesses allowed to reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic all but shut down the American economy in March 2020. During summer – usually a peak moviegoing season – cinemas grew not only impatient but desperate. In August of that year, the New York chapter of the National Organization of Theater Owners held a press conference at the Malverne Cinema and Art Center calling on Cuomo to let their venues re-open.

"We were pushing hard for New York," Phil Contrino, director of media and research for NATO, said. "It was incredibly crucial to the studios. They did not want to open new movies without having access to New York City." As a result, even in states where cinemas were open, they had few new releases to play.

Optimism reigned when New York’s cinemas finally re-opened. At the Regal Lynbrook & RPX theater, moviegoers showed up at 11 a.m. for the first screenings of Christopher Nolan’s "Tenet" and the Russell Crowe thriller "Unhinged." The Malverne cinema reopened with a nostalgic screening of the first film it ever showed, the 1946 classic "It’s a Wonderful Life."

The seven-screen PJ Cinemas opened with only six movies because Phil Solomon, the owner, couldn’t find anything else to play. Advance sales for the day were a scant 11 tickets, but Solomon struck an upbeat note at the time: "There’s a lot of interest," he said. "Everybody we meet on the street is expressing their best wishes."

THE REALITY

The optimism of Oct. 23 soon came up against hard reality.

Hollywood, still nervous about the prospect of putting hugely expensive movies into empty theaters, continued pushing its highest-profile releases into the future. Warner Bros., for instance, delayed the release of "Wonder Woman 1984" multiple times -- from November 2019 to June 2020, then August, then October and finally to Christmas Day. "Top Gun: Maverick," the long-awaited Tom Cruise sequel, went through similar delays and has yet to open (it’s now due May 27, 2022).

"It was slim pickings," said Anne Stampfel, who with her husband, Henry, owns the Malverne Cinema and Art Center and the Bellmore Movies and Showcase. "We had to be careful as far as the bookings went. We found ourselves really searching for stuff."

What’s more, by the time New York cinemas reopened, the major studios had begun to rely heavily on home viewing as a safety net for profitability. Warner Bros. agreed to screen "Wonder Woman 1984" both in theaters and on HBO Max, then locked itself into a deal to release all its 2021 titles on the streaming platform. Disney juggled its release schedule: "Black Widow" came out in theaters and on Disney+, but the Pixar film "Soul" became a streaming-only title. More recently, Disney released "Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" in theaters only.

"In the ‘40s and ‘50s, it was TV that was going to end the movies, then came VCRs and Blockbusters opening everywhere," Solomon, of PJ Cinemas, said. "Every one of them was going to be the end of movies. But this time it feels more severe."

WAITING IT OUT

Some Long Island cinemas chose to simply wait out the pandemic. The not-for-profitCinema Arts Centre in Huntington and the non-profit Plaza Cinema and Media Arts Center in Patchogue, both not-for-profits, remain closed.

For Cinema Arts, the pandemic shutdown has been a chance to undertake some much-needed renovations. Newer, larger seats are going in – the current ones are so old that they aren’t even manufactured anymore, Skolnick said – along with new carpet and increased wheelchair access.

"We decided to take something positive from this and take advantage of the situation," Skolnick said, though he notes that supply-chain problems and other unforeseen issues have stretched out the renovation process. "People are frustrated," he said of his patrons. "And all I can say is, ‘We’re more frustrated than even you are.’" (The theater recently announced a re-opening date of Feb. 4.)

At the Plaza Cinema, executive director and co-founder Catherine Oberg said staying closed still makes more sense than re-opening. The single-screen Plaza has just 70 seats, she said, which under New York’s current social-distancing regulations would be reduced to something like 20 seats. Additional time to sanitize theaters between screenings would mean fewer showtimes each day.

"When we did the math, it didn’t make any sense," Oberg said. "We’d be operating at a loss."

Oberg added that she plans to be open four days a week, Thursday through Sunday, sometime this fall. By then, she says, the public should have a clearer picture of the threat posed by the Delta virus and Hollywood should have a firm schedule for its coming titles. "By November-December, hopefully, we can be in full swing," Oberg said.

IN MEMORIAM

A number of local theaters didn’t survive the pandemic. Though it can be difficult to tell whether a theater has folded up shop or is just sitting dormant, at least three Long Island cinemas appear to be permanently closed.

The Elwood Quad, a longtime fixture in East Northport, closed Oct. 29, 2020, just days after cinemas were allowed to reopen. Jay Levinson, the Quad’s owner for 20 years, had been planning on renewing his lease for another 10 years, but that was before the pandemic. "We felt it best; we couldn’t afford it anymore," Levinson told Newsday shortly after closing. "The thought process also was round two of the virus is just around the corner and we’d have to close again. I said it’s just not going to be worth it anymore."

Port Washington’s Soundview Cinemas in August announced it would soon close. Owner Jordan Desner blamed poor attendance. "The theater, unfortunately, has not really gotten tremendous support since we’ve been back open," he said, according to Long Island Now. "It hasn’t really been what we expected." The theater’s website lists no new movies and the phone number listed there is out of service.

The Squire Cinemas in Great Neck didn’t make it to re-reopening day; it closed in September 2020. The theater had been a dependable showcase for foreign and art-house films, thanks partly to a partnership with the nearby Gold Coast Arts Center, which often held weekly film series there. "I am heartbroken," Regina Gil, founder of the Gold Coast Arts Center said in a written comment at the time. "It is a dark time for film presenters."

UPHILL BATTLE

One year later, the outlook for local movie theaters ranges from dire to cautiously optimistic.

Anne and Henry Stampfel, the owners of the Malverne Cinema and Bellmore Movies, said their theaters are hanging on by a thread. Business is perhaps 10% of what it once was, and both theaters are staying closed during the early part of each week to cut operating costs. The Bellmore, a single-screen venue, is limited in what it can show; the Malverne, an art-house theater, may be having a harder time luring back a typically older audience. Both theaters opened briefly late last year but closed again in January after business proved slow, finally reopening again in May.

Meanwhile, the Stampfels said, the funds they’ve received from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, a program through the U.S. Small Business Administration that assists entertainment venues, are running out.

"As far as our outlook, we really don’t know," Anne said. "We wake up every day wondering what the next movie’s going to be, what the next booking is going to be."

Solomon, at the PJ Cinemas, struck a more upbeat tone. Business at his seven-screen venue is at roughly 45% of pre-pandemic levels thanks to recent hits like "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," which scored a healthy $90 million opening weekend nationwide in early October. "The Addams Family," an animated family film, also did well, though Solomon feels it might have done better if it hadn’t also been available for home viewing.

"People are starting to become more comfortable coming back," Solomon said. "There was little reason to be open early on, and now there’s every reason to be open."

Skolnick, at the Cinema Arts Centre, said patience will be the key to reopening. "The idea that we will just open the doors and people will come storming back in a flood of excitement – that’s not the case," he said. "It’s going to be a steady, gradual process."