Movies are going through an identity crisis. Films that stream natively on services like Netflix, Hulu and Paramount+ are fundamentally just a digital rehash of the made-for-TV concept that thrived from the 1960s to the 1990s. Likewise, limited series owe a genetic debt to the televised miniseries of yore. So, what makes a movie a movie? The easy answer is “movie theaters” — the Big Screen — which have been in a dance macabre with smaller screens since the advent of TV.
However, several Marin movie theaters are striving to keep theatrical exhibition (to use the term of art), a meaningful part of audiences’ lives. With eight operating theaters and dozens of screens shared between them, it would seem that “going to the movies” was faring fine. Plot twist — it’s more complicated than it might first appear.
“So many movie theaters have gone out of business, or are in a dying mall,” says Ellie Mednick, executive director of the Lark Theater, downtown Larkspur’s nonprofit Art Deco gem. The theater reopened after years of being shuttered in 2004 thanks to grassroots efforts to head off developers. Twenty years hence, the Lark has “dedicated itself to a wonderfully engaging experience from the minute a customer walks in the door,” says Mednick, who took the helm in 2012.
“I could see it was a losing proposition, and we needed to make major changes,” recalls Mednick, who revitalized the nonprofit’s board and hired staff versed in community relations and fundraising. “We remained an art cinema but hired a more sophisticated film programmer from New York with access to better films, and began screening six to eight different films a week, running in repertory fashion, daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week — including 9 a.m. bargain matinees with free coffee!”
A pivot to showing second-run movies with less expensive license fees also helped the bottom line. But that’s not all. The screen sees a lot of action from The Met: Live in HD broadcasts from New York, National Theatre Live plays live from London, art-on-film series like Exhibition on Screen, not to mention live streaming events from SFJAZZ in San Francisco. The Lark is not alone in leveraging these kinds of offerings. These programs benefit theaters, with higher ticket costs than movies command (“our ‘bread and butter,’” says Mednick), but they aren’t movies. Nor are the live standup comedy, music and nightclub acts that dot the Lark’s calendar. Though much of it is complemented by documentary films that share a thematic element, the fact is that this programming is necessary to supplement the movie side of the business at least partially.
“As a nonprofit, fundraising through a variety of activities is vital for a nonprofit theater of any kind. Before COVID, our budget operated on 75% box office and concessions and 25% donations and memberships,” says Mednick. “Now, it is more like 50/50.”
Main Event
Also experimenting with “eventizing” the theatrical experience is Camilla Jackson Meoli, a filmmaker and creative director at Cinelounge Tiburon, which rose from the ashes of its predecessor, the Tiburon Playhouse.
“Our events and screenings have been gaining momentum, particularly because we offer a variety that appeals to different interests,” says Meoli. “Initially, we were fish out of water, having come from a background of catering to a completely different audience.” Having found its footing, Cinelounge Tiburon caters to five distinct groups: fans of new releases, classic film lovers, community members interested in talkbacks, youth and education audiences and live sports enthusiasts for whom the big screen complements the broadcast experience.
Meoli and her team continue to iterate on the exhibition concept, however. “It’s an ongoing experiment to see what resonates most with our audience, and we’re constantly learning what works and what doesn’t,” she says. “Through these efforts, we’re not just screening films; we’re striving to enhance the community’s perception of the value we bring. We hope to broaden their understanding of what a movie theater can be — a space for entertainment, engagement and community connection.”
She says one key difference is the strong emphasis on family and community in Marin County. “The audience here values connections and a sense of belonging, so when we engage with these aspects, it really makes an impact,” says Meoli of Cinelounge, which has a sibling venture on Los Angeles’ famed Sunset Boulevard. “In Los Angeles, our focus was predominantly on catering to the film industry. Now, in Marin, our ‘industry’ is the community itself.”
Cause and FX
There are a few factors behind the scenes that have not helped the cause of theatrical exhibition, which was already beginning to diminish thanks to shifting media consumption patterns (looking at you, Netflix). COVID certainly didn’t help, ditto to the subsequent actors’ and writers’ strikes, which created an enduring kink in the product pipeline. More to the point, the kind of product available to theaters has shifted toward effects-driven spectacles based on existing intellectual properties typically anathema to adult, art-house audiences.
“Movie-making in America suffers from poor financing, strikes, etc., and big money goes into the big budget ‘scream movies’ or for the Chinese market,” observes Mednick. “The movies today that fit our mission are mostly low-budget, with no star power or director power. Some are very good, but the majority no one has heard of as there is no advance publicity from the moviemakers or major media.”
Rex Pickett, the author of the novel Sideways, famously adapted into the hit movie of the same title, concurs. “I don’t think Sideways would get greenlit today. I think it’s too unique and original. Theatrical is all, you know, Deadpool & Wolverine, and sequels — it’s cannibalization of intellectual property,” says Pickett, who recently appeared at the Smith Rafael Film Center last August to host a 20th-anniversary screening of Sideways, which included a side-by-side tasting of — you guessed it — pinot noir and merlot.
The value-add of having one of the film’s creators present at special screenings has been a boon to the Rafael, which, like the Lark and Cinelounge, has leaned into more event-style programming. But it’s difficult to eventize movies when there aren’t any of the caliber preferred by local audiences. “The future of movie houses will depend on the film industry’s interest and financing of good films, and perhaps more access to foreign films,” says Mednick. “Most money seems to go to Netflix, Prime, etc.”
In the meantime, Mednick has found that audiences are content to wait for the films they wish to see to come to the big screen, eschewing the relative comforts of home viewing for an experience that can only be had alone in the dark with a bunch of strangers. “Those who ‘Love the Lark’ wait to experience that magic that happens when the lights go down and the story begins. The couch experience at home is fine, but where is the aroma of the best popcorn in town? Or those great hot dogs and old fashioned milkshakes,” shes says, adding, “plus that friendliness that emanates from our many warm volunteers who make coming alone or with friends just so much more welcoming.”
Despite the myriad challenges, moviegoing still remains viable in Marin. Amidst recent closures of theaters including the Regency 6 on Smith Ranch Road, which shuttered in November of 2023, there have been some bright spots. California Film Center revitalized and reopened Mill Valley’s Sequoia Twin as the Sequoia Cinema, which it celebrated with a week of $1 classic movies last May.
“When we do really great, unique programming, especially if there’s a local filmmaker or a local community partnership involved, people support it,” general manager Dan Zastrow told KQED at the time.
Likewise, the Larkspur Landing Cinema was similarly resurrected by CinemaWest, the Petaluma-based exhibition company that also owns the Fairfax 6 theater in Fairfax.
There is hope. And there is popcorn. As Mednick suggests, “We must watch trends to see what people find attractive enough to get off their couches and make their way to a venue that makes them feel comfortable, well-fed and welcomed.”
