How much does it cost to open a small indie movie house?

Carmike has a monopoly on all three theaters in my town - pop. 120,000 (the entire state I believe).

Has anyone run, managed, or open a small, independent, movie theater?

Tough business, or what?

you might be in luck. If not, you would be screwed. I worked in a movie chain years ago and it was a brutal bidness then. Our small chain, by no means what you would call an independent, had a hard time getting good bookings. I've heard good stuff about some consortiums to use a net of independents to get the best bookings.

There are some classic examples of indie houses that have succeeded - I think there are a few billion that have failed.

If you were starting from the ground up I think you would be years to turning profit - if you can find an existing theatre you might be able to make it go. I know of one theatre in a small town that managed to find grant funds to re-open an old theatre, refurbished it with state of the art equipment and sound and has made quite a go of it. They could do it because it helped to revive a dying town and there was money in Clinton years to do so.

Good luck.

edit - Carmike would also make you life hell. They are pretty anti-competitive.

on the internet - and other boards already.

tx again

I'd love to hear another success story!

I didn't even think about grant funds. There might be state or city funds available for an old classic theater that's had it's doors closed for years. Check out the following website and see if there's one in your town that HASN'T been demolished yet:

http://www.cinematreasures.org/

The easiest way is to lease a closed theater. When the multiplexes came along, the little one and two screeners were closed because they weren't as profitable. It all comes down to selling popcorn. You make most of your money selling concessions.

Santa Fe, NM, if you count the surrounding 'burbs, has a population of about 120,000, but it has a higher proportion of arty types than your average town and they have quite a few independent theaters that I assume are running profitably.

My favorite one is the Cinema Cafe, I think it's closed its doors though. The owner took an old 2 screener in a strip mall and converted one side into a full fledged gourmet cafe with beer and wine. I'm sure that the old seats needed to be replaced, but rather than doing that, he remodeled the floor into a series of deep steps, probably about 6' each. The large center section was filled with COUCHES and small "coffee" tables and the sides were set up with small 2 seaters bistro tables. He shows classic films, foreign, indies, documentaries, etc. No mainstream current Hollywood films, those are too expensive.

He shows 2 shows on weeknights - usually 2 different films, so you can do a double feature if you want. He adds a matinee or two on the weekends. Usually the line up only plays for a week. It's popular enough that they recommended reservations when I went there in 2002. Your supposed to get there at least 15 minutes before showtime. You go in and find your couch, and they have the menu on the table. It has everything from salads and sandwiches to pricier meals and gourmet desserts. And then there is the beer and wine list and yes, you can still get popcorn. If you order dinner, you only pay $3 for the film (or $6 if you stay for both) and it's just added to your bill. If you don't order dinner it's $5 (at least it was at the time). It's great though. You can snuggle up with your honey on the couch, have a nice meal and watch a great film on THE BIG SCREEN. When I was there I saw Harold and Maude and the original King Kong.

I called the number listed for the Cinema Cafe and it's been disconnected :( I will say though that for a town it's size, Santa Fe has a LOT of restaraunts and theater screens and thrives on tourism. Maybe they've taken a hit because of the economy. That's too bad. Cinema Cafe was really cool and seemed very popular.

What town do you live in and how many movies don't make it to your town? Do you have a decent sized college or university? Having a student population can make an independent theater much more viable.