ArcLight offers reserved seats, but if you’re late, you lose
Newly elected South Bay Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (right) on election eve at the ArcLight theater with Jim Miller, Kathy Knole and Pat Murphy. The theater hosted fundraisers this week for a variety charities, including the Jimmy Miller Foundation and the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Association. Photo
ArcLight Cinemas in El Segundo (formerly Pacific Theaters) is taking a contrarian position on the recession. Instead of trimming services and ticket prices, they recently completed a $6 million upgrade, and will be charging up to $13.75 a ticket.
Tickets ordered on line are $1 cheaper, and may be printed out, allowing movie goers to avoid lines and guaranteeing them a reserved seat. But that assumes guests arrive on time. Seating is not allowed after the movie begins.
The theaters which closed for the remodel in September reopens Friday. This week, the theater has hosted a series of fundraisers for local charities. Tonight’s charity is the South Bay Police and Fire memorial Foundation. Tickets are $10 and include a soft drink and proceeds. The movie begins at 8 p.m.
ArcLight’s upgrades included increasing the sizes of the complex’s 16 screens by 30 percent; converting the auditoriums into “black boxes,” using non reflective paint on the walls and rails, and moving exit lights away from the screen; increasing the seat sizes, doubling the armrest sizes; and adding a gift shop, and an outdoor dining café with beer and wine, and soon, full liquor.
The X-band glasses for 3-D movies have optical quality lenses with electronic shutters triggered by a wireless receiver on the bridges of the glasses.
The lobby features movie exhibits and film talks will follow the movies. Next Thursday, following the 8 p.m. screening of “Waiting for Superman,” the theater will host a discussion led by the film’s director Davis Guggenheim.
Notably absent from the theaters are advertisements, in the lobby or on the screen.
“We believe in the transformation power of cinema and have striven to remove any barriers that interfere with enjoying a film,” ArcLight brand officer, a Manhattan Beach resident, said at a press conference last Thursday.
Commercials, waiting in lines, open seating and late arrivals are among the things movie goers said they could do without, Dashwood said. “When we first began enforcing the no late arrival rule at our Thousand Oaks theater, people were surprised. But eventually, they told us they appreciated it,” Dashwood said.
Late arrivals will be offered refunds, or tickets to later showings.
The café is designed to encourage film discussions and create a local film community, Dashwood said.
ArcLight also acquired the Manhattan Village Pacific Theaters. Dashwood said the policy of showing art films at Manhattan Village would be discontinued because independent filmmakers will prefer to have their films screened at the larger, El Segundo theaters. She said films at the Manhattan Village theaters would include new releases that were also showing at the El Segundo theaters, and films that have left the El Segundo theater, but continue to draw audiences. ER