The business model of the movie theatre industry is uniquely vulnerable in the present crisis. On behalf of the movie theatre industry and its employees, the National Association of Theatres Owners is asking for Congress and the Administration to urgently consider the following immediate relief measures, which we hope will allow the industry and its 150,000 employees, who live and work in practically every Congressional District, to weather the present COVID-19 pandemic crisis, including:
Loan guarantees to ease the liquidity squeeze imposed by fixed costs in the face of non-existent revenues
Tax benefits to assist employers with providing support to employees
Relieving the burden of costs that are ongoing despite closures
Tax measures that will allow theatres recoup losses when the industry is back up and running
Additionally, the executive board of NATO has authorized one million dollars drawn from the association’s reserve to aid movie theatre employees who are out of work due to movie theatre closures stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. The money will be used as seed funds for an effort to help tide workers over in this crisis in cooperation with our industry partners. Details of the fund will be released shortly.
The National Association of Theatre Owners www.natoonline.org