With the 2011 box office down sharply and studios threatening the traditional theatrical window through new home-viewing schemes, theater owners are taking matters into their own hands.
Instead of relying on studios to offer them films, they’re screening simulcasts of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They’re partnering with other companies to distribute genre films. And they’re becoming distributors themselves.
“They’re not satisfied with the product that they’re getting, or it’s not meeting their clientele’s needs, so they’re going to try and program it themselves," said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with the Los Angeles firm Exhibitor Relations. "Now is the time for entrepreneurial efforts to take center stage.”