LandmarkTheaters Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The other day, I told you how Landmark Theaters planned on opening up a giant multiplex in Los Angeles, catering only to independent film. When completed, The Landmark Film Center will become the country's largest independent film multiplex: 12 auditoriums. Three-stories tall. Stadium seating. The works.

In New York City, we're lucky to have a number of theaters that house only independent film. However, the surrounding suburbs have nothing. Most cities across the country are lucky to have one, maybe two theaters committed to showing independent film. And some of the ones I've been in were old, with seats so uncomfortable you couldn't help but feel antsy a half-hour into the film. So, is Landmark on the right track here?

When I first wrote about the new Landmark theater, one commenter felt a move like this was more about money then reaching out to the community. But isn't that a good thing? A more attractive theater may help a smaller film earn more at the box office. A more attractive theater may command the attention of a community who aren't as aware of independent film as, say, Los Angeles, New York and Austin. (Yes, I had to include Austin -- they do it up nice out there.) I know what you're thinking: "But dude, the theater in question is in Los Angeles. I'm in Montana, what the hell do I get out of this?" Well, potentially, an independent film multiplex of your own.

So, I ask you: Is a big, comfortable multiplex the answer to getting more people involved in independent film? Or, with its tremendous commercial appeal, does the multiplex go against everything independent film stands for in the first place?

A Landmark Business, moderated by indieWIRE's Eugene Hernandez, brought together representatives from all aspects of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's vertically integrated filmmaking factory, now called Wagner/Cuban Companies: Ted Mundorff, film buyer for Landmark Theaters; Tom Quinn, acquisition exec for Magnolia Pictures; Eammon Bowles, President of Magnolia; Elizabeth Glass, buyer for HD Net and HDNet Movies; Bill Banowsky, head of the new distribution initiative, Truly Indie; and Wagner himself, who easily stole the show by spouting his party's platform. Wagner's rhetoric was probably pre-packaged but undeniably convincing nonetheless.

Wagner/Cuban's various distribution revolutions were the order of the day. In all the hype surrounding the conglomerate's groundbreaking day/date strategy, their equally ballsy Truly Indie program has been somewhat overlooked. Banowsky described it as a "producer empowered distribution alternative." The concept came from the exhibition sector: Landmark shows a couple hundred films on its 300 screens a year, but half of its profits come from about 20 titles. In fact, the bottom 50-70 films, as Banowsky explained it, actually lose money for the chain. So the various sectors of the company got together and came up with Truly Indie, which essentially allows producers to pay a single fee to rent space at a Landmark Theater, and simultaneously hire Truly Indie to market and promote their film. It's sort of a second (last?) chance, for filmmakers who, say,  come off the festival circuit without a viable theatrical option. Truly Indie will allow such filmmakers to buy themselves a brief theatrical run, and still have the opportunity to cash in on the DVD rights. Wagner elaborates on the mission:

"We should be listening to the voice of independent cinema. I'd go to fests like this one [and hear filmmakers say], "I'm shut out of the system!" So what we're trying to do is open up the system. If you believe in your product, you should have a chance to release it."

The conversation soon, predictably, turned to day/date, and the company men are, rightfully, defensive. Here's where the Wagner quips really start to heat up. Some excerpts after the jump.