While the fully-built, independent movie theatre Laemmle is complete and awaiting Los Angeles County restrictions to finally open its doors, officials gave KHTS an opportunity to check out the inside of the new theatre in Old Town Newhall.
The eighth and most technologically up-to-date Laemmle Theatre location was completed in Newhall last July, but was never able to open due to COVID-19. KHTS got to speak with Jay Reisbaum, Sr. Vice President of Laemmle Theatres and member to the Laemmle family, about the construction of their newest location and what the theatre plans to bring to Santa Clarita.
“We are a small, family-owned, independent theatre chain. This will be our eighth location, and we focus and specialize in art, foreign and independent cinema,” Reisbaum said. “There’s a part of what we do that is a business, and then there’s a part that adds to the cultural fabric of the city, and that’s an exciting place to be.”
The new two-story theatre, located near the intersection of Lyons Avenue and Railroad Avenue, includes seven auditoriums, a large lobby for concessions, a small cafe space and well-lit hallways decorated with local art pieces.
It also includes a large outdoor deck patio space upstairs for future events such as public gatherings or screening events.
Founded in 1938 by Reisbaum’s grandfather Max Laemmle and his brother Kurt, the Laemmle chain represents venues where independent filmmakers screen their films, academy award-nominated films qualify and film festivals are hosted.
“We love movies. Laemmle patrons are those that love film, and while we may show big Hollywood films, we try to show the smaller films that typically aren’t available in Santa Clarita,” Reisbaum said. “It really is a window into another culture, into a concept that the big studios aren’t interested in.”
Laemmle is described by Reisbaum as “a theater for the everyday patron” where ticket prices are low and the atmosphere is relaxing.
“We see the film going experience as something very special. That’s why we invested very heavily in bringing a quality environment for moviegoing in Santa Clarita,” Reisbaum said.
To Reidbaum, the reason for the Laemmle coming to Santa Clarita was simple: local film fans were tired of driving to their other locations in Encino, Pasadena and North Hollywood.
“You wouldn’t believe how many people have reached out to us from Santa Clarita. This City has many intelligent people and those that come here aim for a better quality of life,” he said. “We like the idea of old Newhall, the organic retail street aspect, and we want to drive sophisticated foot traffic to this area as we’ve done successfully at our other locations.”
When open, Laemmle theatres plan to be part of Cinema Safe, a program that theatre owners in the industry have agreed to follow that includes theatre mandates for masks, shields, fogging, proper air conditioning filters, sanitizing in between shows, implementing hands-free amenities and other various things to make moviegoers feel more safe while returning to the movies.
The Laemmle’s virtual online cinema service, located here, is a great way for Santa Clarita residents to support the theatre until it eventually opens. The virtual cinema features a variety of different films typically shown in Laemmle theatres, all hand-picked by Laemmle owner Greg Laemmle.
There is an opportunity for Laemmle to do outdoor cinema once that is allowed, but everything is still up in the air depending on the current L.A. County restrictions in effect.
The hope is that their theatre doors will open within a couple months.
“We have so much excitement to finally be able to open and enjoy showing movies again, that’s what we’ve done all these years since 1938,” Reisbaum said. “We are so thrilled to be here and open our doors.”
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