cinelog.org

This weekend marked the twelve year anniversary of one of the more notable passing’s in Orange County cinema history, with the death of Edwards Theatres founder, James Edwards II. On 4/26/97, the ninety year old Edwards was found floating in Newport Bay, having suffered a fatal heart attack.   . In the wake of Mr. Edwards’ [...]

Cinemas have stirred the entrepreneurial spirit in want-to-be moguls and dreamers since the dawn of commercial film. Be it the perceived excitement and glamour of being involved in the entertainment industry or merely the draw of a potentially lucrative cash cow, countless individuals have looked on theatre ownership as somewhat of a fantasy business venture. While a [...]

Prior to the 1920′s, movie going was more of a cool weather pastime, as the stuffy confines of theatre auditoriums didn’t particularly lend themselves to personal comfort during the summer months. With the arrival of hot weather, one was more likely to frequent the park or a ball game than the local cinema, sending box office receipts plummeting. Theatre [...]

  Amid the decades old family legacies and corporate conglomerates, that dominate the Southern California cinema landscape, there exists a somewhat quirky chain that has managed to operate outside theatre industry norms for twenty five years.   Founded in 1984, Krikorian Theatres were inspired in to existence via a father’s movie going frustrations. George Krikorian, a successful real estate developer and thoroughbred racehorse owner, [...]

  Pictured below is a close up of an Automaticket machine. Evolving from being gear and lever driven, to powered by electric motors, these ticketing machines served as somewhat of an industry standard for over eighty years (if you have ever received a carnival/raffle style ticket, at a theatre, it was likely distributed via an Automaticket machine). [...]

Following up on the Brookhurst post the other day, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a closer look at the Brookhurst Loge.   Opened on February 18, 1970, with a screening of “Oliver!”, the Loge was intended as a luxury, “adults only”, option for patrons of the Brookhurst Theatre. The theatre featured a small, level auditorium (i.e. [...]

Earlier this month, five Hollywood studios agreed to a deal with Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, a consortium of  the “big three” cinema chains (AMC, Cinemark, and Regal Entertainment Group),  to help pay for a $1 billion-plus rollout of digital projection on roughly 20,000 movie screens in North America. The remaining major studios and a deal for smaller cinema operators are still [...]

In the fall of 1996, Edwards Theatres Circuit Inc. operated some 560 screens, at 90 locations. The, then debt free company, pulled in estimated revenues of $170 million and had a two year plan to spend $200 million on expanding the chain. The notoriously competitive company had all but formally declared war on industry giant AMC; via [...]

At 12:29 PM, on February 8, 1980, Mann’s Woodbridge 5 sat ready to open, as the city of Irvine’s first movie theatre. At 12:30 PM, the theatre opened it’s doors, as Edwards’ latest entry in the Orange County market. A cinema changing operators is normally a matter of little note. Be it a merger, buyout, [...]

 This week marks the thirty-ninth anniversary of the world’s first free standing four-plex, the Fashion Square 4, in La Habra, CA. Built by AMC, the venue was an early entry in the company’s emergence as a national powerhouse and a precursor to the ”mulit-plex era”. While not having invented the multi-plex (depending on your definition of “multi-plex”, that honor goes to either [...]