COVID-19 pandemic impacts New York movie theaters
COVID-19 forced American movie theaters to close in March. Six months later, New York’s theaters remain closed.
This prolonged shutdown has left around 10,000 employees furloughed or laid-off across New York, Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy told Spectrum News. Nat Tobin, owner of the Manlius Art Cinema, said the theater is figuring out how long it can last without reopening.
“You know, I'm ready and willing and able to open,” Tobin said. “It's just waiting on the governor to let us. Sometimes it feels as frustrating as a little kid yelling at his mother, ‘I want to go out and play.’”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo told WAMC in August that movie theaters should be the next businesses to reopen. A month later, they remain closed while other indoor businesses like gyms and casinos have opened with limited capacity. The state has yet to announce a reopening date for movie theaters.
Tobin took over the Manlius Art Cinema in 1992, doing everything from running the projector to selling concessions until the theater closed March 15. He currently goes in every few days to run the equipment to keep it in shape.
The shift away from theaters could become permanent. A report from Hub Entertainment Research showed an increase in subscriptions for streaming platforms like Hulu and Netflix during the pandemic, Money Talks News reported.
Roger Hallas, associate professor of English at Syracuse University, often went to Ithaca’s Cinemapolis for his in-person moviegoing. He said he watched a lot of movies online before the pandemic, Syracuse’s lack of an arts cinema factoring into this.
Like other movie theaters, Manlius Art Cinema did virtual screenings during the earlier half of the shutdown, Tobin said. There was a national ticket price of $12 and 50% went back to the movie theaters.
“We did that for a few months,” Tobin said. “But eventually what happened was all of these smaller distributors who would never get films on screen started doing it and they were charging lower rentals.”
Movie theaters make a bulk of their money in concessions, said Eric Grode, director of the Goldring Arts Journalism and Communication Program at Newhouse School. A successful reopening means the ability to serve concessions, which may not be possible due to restrictions as well as the patrons’ comfort about taking masks off.
“Even with the packed theater it's very hard to make money and you can't pack a theater now,” Grode said. “So I think the entire concept of who's buying and eating food and drinks at a theater is a major part of the equation.”
Grode said it may take a while before we see the impacts the pandemic has on Hollywood. Many films were completed before COVID-19 shutdowns and now just need to get released to the public.
“Then there's going to be this massive gap because nothing new is getting created,” Grode said. “In some ways, what would make the most sense pipeline-wise is just for everyone to mothball what they've got. Theaters stay close because it's seemingly not economically viable right now, or viable enough. And all that product that would be coming out now will just sit there and get dusted off when the movie theaters are open again.”
When New York’s movie theaters can reopen, Tobin said Manlius Arts Cinema will be ready to safely welcome patrons back. During the shutdown, he missed interacting with the audience.
“Running the theater has been an honor and a privilege and I cannot imagine a more rewarding thing that I could have done with my life than provide the community with a place to see good movies,” Tobin said. “It’s very personal.”