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usiness in this way," because financing films<br />
through) presales is essential for independent<br />
companies<br />
Phoenix NATO Membership<br />
Rises From the Ashes<br />
screen Phoenix-based circuit that bears his<br />
name, has returned to the NATO fold after a<br />
10-year absence, but his constituency has<br />
opted against re-enlistment, pending sufficient<br />
proof of NATO's commitment to the<br />
rights of the independent<br />
Rank Half-Interested<br />
in Universal Studios Florida<br />
The Rank Organization has bought a halfinterest<br />
in Universal Studios Florida in a deal<br />
that MCA, co-owner of the Florida venture,<br />
said may lead to other alliances with the British<br />
movie and leisure concern Rank will<br />
acquire a 50% share formerly held by Cineplex<br />
Odeon in the combination theme park<br />
and production soundstage at a cost of $150<br />
million, according to a Cineplex estimate.<br />
EASTERN NEWS<br />
block Redstone's bid to build a shopping center<br />
at his closed West Roxbury drive-in<br />
The<br />
$6.5 million mall project would contain one of<br />
National Amusement's Showcase theatre<br />
complexes Neighborhood leaders are pushing<br />
for a zoning change because the center<br />
would add thousands of cars to the already<br />
traffic-plagued parkway...<br />
Loews, which took over Boston's USA Cin-<br />
The Arizona Theatre Owners Association emas, has yanked the USA logo from its<br />
and its chairman have taken contrary stands advertising- Ads now read "Loews" and list<br />
on the issue of repining NATO NATO has attractions for all the former USA theatres in<br />
been seeking the return of prodigal regional<br />
branches in its campaign to reunify the<br />
Massachusetts. Upgrading of seating, projection<br />
and sound in the 317 USA houses is<br />
nations exhibitors under its banner ATOA under way, with expansion coming up for the<br />
chairman Dan Harkins, president of the 26- Nickelodeon Cinemas across from Boston<br />
University. Plans are to add a third floor to the<br />
two-story structure, which is co-owned with<br />
B.U. The Nickelodeon opened in 1983 as an<br />
independent art house playing specialty films<br />
and some first-runs It has become the city's<br />
showplace for up-market pictures. Acquired<br />
from the Nickelodeon chain by USA in 1986,<br />
the theatres draw heavily on the student<br />
community Loews is also adding two screens<br />
to its nine-screen Copley Plaza Cinema, and is<br />
reportedly looking into property near Kendall<br />
Square in Cambridge, with an eye toward<br />
erecting a multiplex there...<br />
Videos geared toward the African-American<br />
market are featured by a new Boston<br />
mail order firm. "When 1 first started doing<br />
research," says "Proud To Be" founder Barbara<br />
Holston, "I was amazed at how many<br />
black videos were available but weren't in<br />
the stores." The catalog contains about 100<br />
films so far, including documentaries, musicals,<br />
sports, and episodes of "Amos 'n'<br />
Andy." "At first," Holston recalls, "I thought<br />
there might be objections to "Amos 'n'<br />
Andy," but they're very popular, and an<br />
important part of black history Top price<br />
"<br />
for tapes is $59.95, but most films go for<br />
under $30. Holston is building her clientele<br />
through the Black Video Collector's Society,<br />
which is currently spotlighting films in the<br />
"Proud To Be" collection<br />
wrap-around screen that completely surrounds<br />
the viewer. ...<br />
Kathleen Shea is the new movie critic at the<br />
Philadelphia Daily News, succeeding Ben Yagoda,<br />
who was assigned to the city desk general<br />
assignment rewrite staff...<br />
Time ran out for the old Kent Theatre, a<br />
neighborhood landmark in the Kensington<br />
district of Philadelphia. First opened 61 years<br />
ago, the Kent fell<br />
to the wrecker's ball earlier<br />
this year. In its day, the 2000-seat Kent<br />
offered newsreels, movies, and music played<br />
on a Kimball organ It had been vacant for<br />
many years....<br />
"Philafilm," the Philadelphia International<br />
Film Festival, will present its 12th annual film<br />
and video competition July 26-30. New<br />
among this year's entry categories is the music<br />
video division The festival's theme will be<br />
"Mainstreaming Alternative Media," and<br />
planners promise an analysis "in both financial<br />
and content terms"<br />
The Philadelphia Variety Club continues to<br />
expand its efforts on behalf of handicapped<br />
children Its newest project is the National<br />
Computer Institute for Children with Disabilities,<br />
established at Temple University With<br />
the help of specially designed computers, disabled<br />
youngsters can develop their language<br />
skills.<br />
Atlantic City<br />
After years without one, there are strong<br />
indications that Atlantic City will once again<br />
have a movie theatre. Noted tycoon/crooner<br />
Merv Griffin said that the burnt-out Steeplechase<br />
Pier on the Boardwalk will be rebuilt as<br />
either an amusement park, an aquarium, or a<br />
motion picture multiplex. Griffin recently acquired<br />
the Resorts International Hotel Casino,<br />
which owns the Steeplechase property. His<br />
avowed intention is to create an amusement<br />
attraction that will lure the year-round community<br />
as well as tourists.<br />
Boston<br />
Sumner Redstone, president and chairman<br />
of National Amusements and chairman of<br />
Viacom International, delivered the keynote<br />
address at a symposium of New England film<br />
and television professionals held Feb. 24 at<br />
the Boston Hyatt Regency More than 350<br />
risked forecasts of a blizzard to take part in a<br />
day-long discussion entitled "Choosing the<br />
Future" Redstone termed motion picture<br />
exhibition as "a non-growth or limitedgrowth<br />
industry," Martha H.W. Crowninshield,<br />
a partner in Boston Ventures Management<br />
(one-time owners of USA Cinemas),<br />
declared that the present environment for<br />
independent feature film financing "has never<br />
been more bleak " A booking consultant<br />
for Loews/USA Cinemas in Boston, George<br />
Mansour said that the industry today is focusing<br />
on multiplexes with eight or more screens<br />
"Some exhibitors don't want to book - films<br />
they want to direct traffic," said he Mansour<br />
predicted that independent producers could<br />
still fill the gap created by a forthcoming<br />
screen glut. Attorney Mark A. Fischer counseled<br />
filmmakers to "be very flexible, be very<br />
creative, and, above all, be very low-budget."<br />
City officials have filed a court appeal to<br />
New Bedford, MA<br />
Preservationists and culture vultures for<br />
miles around are pitching in to help the "Save<br />
the Zeiterion" campaign. The 1,200-seat Zeiterion<br />
will be forced to close after its summer<br />
season unless $300,000 is raised. Originally<br />
built as a vaudeville house, the theatre was<br />
used as a movie house after 192-1 Scheduled<br />
for demolition in the '70s, the theatre was<br />
salvaged and re-opened as a non-profit performance<br />
center. "We have had a lot of programs<br />
such as Broadway musicals, dances,<br />
symphonies and films, that draw people from<br />
the Boston area," spokeswoman Donna Fisher-)ohnson<br />
said. "Since the theatre has no<br />
endowment fund, we are relying on the support<br />
of the community to come forward and<br />
organize events which will draw funds so the<br />
theatre can remain open"<br />
Philadelphia<br />
When people visit the recently renovated<br />
Franklin Institute, one of the featured attractions<br />
of the science museum is a spectacular<br />
new Omnimax theatre. The auditorium seats<br />
300 and projects 70mm film on a domed<br />
New York City<br />
After converting the West Side's bestloved<br />
revival theatre into a first-run house,<br />
Cineplex Odeon is making it up to Manhattan<br />
cinephiles with the new Biograph Cinema, A<br />
mere 10 blocks from the old Regency, the<br />
Biograph recently screened a month-long tribute<br />
to Samuel Goldwyn. Timed to coincide<br />
with the publication of A Scott Berg's biography<br />
of the mogul, the retrospective included<br />
a new 35 mm print of "Wuthering Heights"<br />
prepared from the original negative, shown<br />
with Samuel Goldwyn, |r and co-star Geraldine<br />
Fitzgerald in attendance. The $6 admission<br />
tariff, high for a rep house even in New<br />
York, goes toward glossy-paper calendars<br />
and low-crime daylight matinees.<br />
Rochester, NY<br />
Nearly 100 experts participated in a conference<br />
called "FAST REWIND: The Archaeology<br />
of Moving Images" May 4-7, organized by<br />
Dr. Bruce Austin, the William A. Kern Professor<br />
in Communication at the Rochester Institute<br />
of Technology's College of Liberal Arts.<br />
Archivists, curators, educators, museum administrators<br />
and others focused on issues<br />
38 BOXOFFICE
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