{"id":29983,"date":"2013-06-10T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2013-06-10T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=29983"},"modified":"2015-05-06T12:52:54","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T11:52:54","slug":"heres-how-we-built-a-movie-theater-for-the-people-and-why-the-mpaa-says-its-1-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2013\/06\/heres-how-we-built-a-movie-theater-for-the-people-and-why-the-mpaa-says-its-1-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s How We Built a Movie Theater for the People \u2013 And Why the MPAA Says It’s #1 in the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA),\u00a0the main federation of Hollywood’s six major studios, posted on their web\u00a0site\u00a0a list\u00a0of what they believe are some of the best movie theaters in the\u00a0world<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And listed as #1 is the historic\u00a0State Theatre of Traverse City,\u00a0Michigan<\/a>, an incredible movie palace which I restored and now run as a\u00a0nonprofit theater\u00a0— along with a few hundred great volunteers!<\/p>\n

This month, we will sell our one-millionth admission ticket since\u00a0we opened five-and-a-half years ago. What makes this statistic even more remarkable\u00a0is that Traverse City’s year-round population here in remote northern\u00a0Michigan is only 16,000 people. And mostly we show only “smaller” indie\u00a0and\u00a0foreign films that open nationwide on less than 200 screens.<\/p>\n

Even with those limitations, in the 289 weeks we’ve been open, for 78 of those weeks, the State Theatre has been the #1 grossing theater in\u00a0the country\u00a0for the movie we happen to be showing. We’ve placed in the top 10 grossing\u00a0cities for 171 of those weeks (the other cities on that list are usually New\u00a0York, Los Angeles, Chicago, D.C., Dallas, Boston, etc.).<\/p>\n

So how in the name of trees that are right height does this happen?<\/p>\n

Here is our basic recipe:<\/p>\n

1. We only show\u00a0really good movies<\/a>. Nothing that aspires to the\u00a0mediocre is shown at the State.<\/p>\n

2. We reject the need to make a profit and, by doing so, we’ve been\u00a0in the black since day one.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0We don’t rip people off.<\/a>\u00a0You can see a first-run movie for $8 and\u00a0$6 (kids are less). Late night on the weekend is 2 for $5. We have 25-cent kids\u00a0matinees on Saturday mornings (often packed with 580 people in attendance) and\u00a025-cent classic movie matinees on Wednesdays. As for the\u00a0concessions: No $10\u00a0popcorn at our place! Popcorn is as low as $2, soda $2 and candy as low as $1.\u00a0We believe everyone should be able to afford to\u00a0go to the movies.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0This is the community’s theater.<\/a>\u00a0Like in a co-op, everyone\u00a0pitches in as a volunteer. Volunteers pop the corn, take the tickets and run\u00a0the box office.\u00a0Community groups pick the shift they’d like to work each month,\u00a0which means on any given night you’ll have a county judge and a single mom working\u00a0the concession counter, the high school English staff working as the ushers,\u00a0and the Boy Scout troop on clean-up. Everybody gets free movies tickets\u00a0for\u00a0this — and the knowledge that they are the true “owners” of this\u00a0theater.<\/p>\n

(The paid positions, like the theater managers and our professional projectionists,\u00a0are paid a good livable wage with full health benefits.)<\/p>\n

5. This theater has perhaps the best projection and sound in the country.\u00a0We show movies the way they were meant to be seen (and\u00a0on a huge 50-foot screen). We have the most comfortable theater seats that\u00a0you’ll ever sit in (made in Michigan, like many things in the theater). There’s\u00a0a theater organ that rises out of the stage. A red velvet curtain ascends at\u00a0the beginning of every movie, and the ceiling above you has\u00a03,000 tiny lights\u00a0that make up the constellations<\/a>\u00a0as they actually appear in the night sky over\u00a0Traverse City in the fall.<\/p>\n

Filmmakers from Wim Wenders to Paul Mazursky to David O. Russell\u00a0have shown their films in person at the State, and they will tell you that the State\u00a0Theatre is one of a kind. I tell them, “If they’d let us filmmakers design\u00a0the theaters, the public would be amazed at the difference in the theater-going\u00a0experience.”<\/p>\n

6. Other than our coming attractions, we will never show a\u00a0commercial before any of our films. You came here to see a movie, not watch TV.<\/p>\n

7. Our cell phone policy is simple: If we catch you talking on the\u00a0phone, texting or checking your mail, you will be banned from the theater for life.\u00a0Zero\u00a0tolerance for those who are there to annoy the people who are there to\u00a0watch a movie in peace.<\/p>\n

8. Each summer we present the\u00a0Traverse City Film Festival<\/a>\u00a0at the State Theatre and seven other venues. We have 100,000 admissions each year and and this year’s fest will take place July 30-August 4.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot more, but you get the picture. We’ve created a\u00a0comfortable, pleasant place to disappear into the dark and be transported by an\u00a0excellent\u00a0movie. Shouldn’t every town — especially the small ones — have this?\u00a0We’d be happy to share with anyone who’d like our help.<\/p>\n

In three years, in 2016, we’ll celebrate the 100th anniversary of\u00a0movies being shown on the site of the State Theatre in Traverse City, Michigan.\u00a0If you\u00a0love the cinema and if you are ever in our area,\u00a0please stop by to experience<\/a>\u00a0what going to the movie palace was like many, many years ago.<\/p>\n

We offer our deep appreciation to the Motion Picture Association of America\u00a0for this honor of being named one of the best places in the world to see a\u00a0movie.<\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Michael Moore
\nPresident, State Theatre and Traverse City Film\u00a0Festival<\/p>\n

Board of Directors<\/p>\n

Terry George (director, ‘Hotel Rwanda,’ Oscar winner)
\nLarry Charles (director, ‘Borat’)
\nChristine Lahti\u00a0(actress, Oscar winner)
\nRod\u00a0Birleson (co-producer, ‘Roger & Me,’ ‘Sicko,’ ‘Capitalism: A Love Story’)
\nSabina Guzanti\u00a0(acclaimed Italian filmmaker and satirist)
\nJohn Robert\u00a0Williams (photographer)<\/p>\n

__________________________<\/p>\n

Michael Moore is an Academy-Award winning filmmaker and best-selling author.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 michaelmoore.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Listed as #1 is the historic State Theatre of Traverse City, Michigan, an incredible movie palace which I restored and now run as a nonprofit theater – along with a few hundred great volunteers!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,167,206],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anglo-america","category-arts","category-coops-cooperation-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29983\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}