Alamo Opens Fourth DC Location
Alamo Drafthouse Crystal City, the chain’s newest location and its fourth in the Washington, DC metro area, opens today, October 24, as the exhibitor continues to roll out sites.
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas
Alamo Opens Staten Island Cinema
This coming Friday, July 22, the Austin, Texas based cinema-eatery Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas will open its newest theatre in the New York borough of Staten Island. During a soft opening period running through July 27, guests will receive discounts on food and soft drinks while the staff trains and gets up to speed.
Kim’s Video is Back
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is proud to announce the return of Kim’s Video, a New York film institution for nearly three decades, at Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan. The newly revamped Kim’s, which is now open, offers free rentals of thousands of DVDs and VHS titles from one of the world’s greatest video collections.
Alamo Opens Video Vortex in Austin
One of the victims of the global pandemic was Vulcan Video in Austin, Texas. The store opened in 1985 and quickly acquired a worldwide reputation for its vast curated collection of rare and hard-to-find VHS tapes, DVDs, and Blu-Rays. Alamo Drafthouse has acquired the collection and, once the COVID-19 crisis is over, the lobby of Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin will be the home of Video Vortex South Lamar, powered by Vulcan Video South.
Alamo Drafthouse Names New CEO
Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas announced today that Shelli Taylor will assume the role of chief executive officer, effective May 1. Taylor spent almost twenty years as an executive with Starbucks, and most recently served as president of United Planet Fitness Partners, overseeing over 169 facilities across the country.
If You Build It, They Will Come
Mark Louis is Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas director of presentation. In that role, he is responsible for maintaining the level of technology that has become central to the exhibitor’s brand and identity. Louis is currently overseeing the opening of seven new Alamo theatres across the United States, while simultaneously maintaining the quality control of the established sites. When I contacted him to talk about how he approaches new builds he described himself as “busier that a one-armed reel-to-reel projectionist,” but he agreed to talk via email. Here’s an excerpted version of our conversation.
A Devotion to Showmanship
With a passion for movies that he’s had for as long as he can remember Mark Louis, director of presentation for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, started working in the theatre industry almost 40 years ago. When watching movies, he realized early on that the slightest imperfection in the presentation was a distraction. Even unavoidable distractions like on-screen cue marks on 35mm film prints would grab his attention. He says he found himself wondering why imperfections like those marks were present and could they be avoided. That frustration with a less than perfect presentation and a fascination with how movie magic actually worked is what lured him to the technical side of the business where he remains to this day. I recently spoke with Louis about his career in exhibition and his role at Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas.
Alamo Drafthouse Coming to Brooklyn
Alamo Drafthouse, the Austin-based cinema chain known for its strict “no talking, no texting” policy will open a much-anticipated theater in downtown Brooklyn this summer. Currently in its final phase of construction, the flagship theater will feature seven screens celebrating all forms of cinema.
