Premium Film Venues Connect With an Upscale L.A. Audience

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Premium Film Venues Connect With an Upscale L.A. Audience

By DARRELL SATZMAN

Staff Reporter

The $14 movie is getting pretty good reviews.

Pacific Theatres’ Arclight screens, Mann Theatres, and Bridge Cinemas, a subsidiary of National Amusements Inc., all have rolled out premium-price venues that offer large, plush reserved seats, top-of-the-line sound and projection equipment, and an unobstructed view of the screen.

At Arclight’s new 14-screen theater complex on Sunset Boulevard, which includes the refurbished Cinerama Dome, you can watch a movie while munching a chicken-apple sausage and sipping a fruit smoothie. The Bridge serves gourmet pizza and employs comedians to warm up the crowd before shows in its director’s halls.

“I was ready to be disappointed but it’s really nice to see a movie here,” said actor Jason Winer, who watched “Bourne Identity” on a recent evening at the Arclight Cinemas.

Patrons seem to appreciate the reserved seating most of all, which can take much of the angst out of attending a popular film.

“I love seeing big movies opening weekend and assigned seating is a godsend. You can go with a group and everyone can sit together,” said Joe Crowley, a Los Angeles systems administrator who has been to Arclight twice since it opened in March. “I’m not happy to pay $14 unless it’s a special occasion. Sometimes it’s worth it.”

The 18-screen Bridge complex at the Howard Hughes Center near Westchester opened last year with two leather-seated “director’s halls” and management has since added one more. “They’re extremely popular,” said Jennifer Hanson, spokeswoman for National Amusements, owner of The Bridge. “Often times they are the first (theaters) to fill up on the weekend.”

Ticket prices at The Bridge and Arclight top out at $14 for evening and weekend shows, about $5 more than average ticket prices in the city.

Mann’s VIP ticket was initially $20 and included a special seating area and lounge, plush leather seats, wait service and other goodies at its Hollywood & Highland theaters. In recent weeks the price has been lowered to $14.50, said Rana Matthes, the company’s vice president of film and marketing. With the summer season coming up, the price cut was made to draw more families.

John Fithian, president of the North Hollywood-based National Association of Theater Owners, said that premium theaters have become a mini trend, with exhibitors carefully choosing markets in big cities. The bottom line is that premium theaters require a large pool of affluent residents nearby to be successful.

Arclight has the most staked on premium theaters because the company is entirely dedicated to the concept, a strategy some believe is risky.

“It’s still a very small segment of the overall exhibition industry,” said Gitesh Pandya, editor of Box Office Guru, an online publication that tracks the film industry. “There’s always a top level of consumer who is willing to pay more for the extras but that’s a small percentage.”

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