Movie Theaters Reopening in the Bay Area – NBC Bay Area

Lack of a big screen? Slowly, as some counties gradually joined Governor Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 commercial reopening plan, some movie theaters are reopening in certain corners of the Bay Area.

In Napa, after more than six months of darkness, Century Napa Valley and XD opened again on September 11.

Chanda Brashears, investor and vice president of public relations at Cinemark, the giant cinema chain that owns Napa Cinemas, said: "We have some very avid movie lovers who are happy to sit back from the sofa and return to the theater." Others in the Nine County Bay Area 25.

Deeper in the Napa Valley, the independently owned Cameo Cinema on St. Helena is preparing to open on Friday.

In addition to other safety measures, the single-screen theater will have limited seating and will only be shown once a day, instead of three screenings as before the COVID era. Since Nava County (based on a measure of the spread of COVID-19) was moved to the red level, the colored relief and twelve-screen era were opened up, which is the third of the four color coding levels that determine what California companies can do This is reopened and subject to any restrictions.

For movie theaters, red means they can reopen, but can only accommodate 25% of the auditorium or 100 people, whichever is less. Other health and safety agreements established by Cinemark include automatic distancing-after purchasing tickets, the left and right seats are immediately banned from sale. Unless the theater has reclining seats, the tickets are only sold on every other row.

All employees must wear masks and gloves, the auditorium must be disinfected after each performance, and viewers are required to wear masks and other safety measures.

On Tuesday, state public health officials announced that Marin County would change from the fourth and most restrictive purple to red.

Cinemark is moving quickly to take advantage, and plans to open San Rafael Northgate 15 on Friday.

According to Brashears, in addition to the North Gate, Cinemark cinemas in Larkspur, Novato and Mill Valley will also open soon. She said the company is not yet ready to provide an opening date.

The 6-screen Fairfax Theater, owned by Cinema West in Petaluma, will also open on Friday. The theater has 14 Bay Area theaters in Petaluma.

Cinema West CEO Dave Corkill said that like most theaters, it will follow the theater safety and health protocols that the theater industry negotiates with independent epidemiology experts.

Corkill said: "I think the plan makes our business safer than many other so-called basic businesses such as Wal-Mart."

However, in other parts of the Bay Area, San Francisco and Santa Clara are the only other regional counties that have changed from purple to red, and they still maintain their own stricter restrictions-because state regulations allow them- And prohibit the opening of cinemas.

Officials in the two counties said that theaters are still considered indoor activities, too risky to allow.

A statement issued by the San Francisco COVID Command Center said: “As long as San Francisco continues to make progress in limiting the spread of COVID-19, other services, businesses and activities will resume in the coming weeks and months.” The emergency management department responded to the relevant movie theaters. The problem.

It is possible that more Bay Area counties will soon be able to allow their cinemas to open.

At a press conference on Tuesday, California Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly said: "We expect some counties to move in these counties next week."

In Sonoma County, the tabulation method was adjusted on Monday to reflect the spread of the new coronavirus, which slowed the spread and brought the county closer from purple to red.

This is good news for entertainment companies like Santa Rosa Cinemas, which are preparing to open on July 1 until the state’s COVID-19 transmission rate soars and begins to implement stricter business restrictions. Said Neil Perlmutter, vice president of Santa Rosa Cinemas.

Pearlmutter said the company plans to open four theaters in Sonoma County as soon as they go online, and that the county is not enough.

Cinemark’s Brashears declined to say whether the Century Napa Valley Theater is selling out its allowed capacity. But she said: "We are very satisfied with the results, and it is clear that there are a lot of suppressed needs."

However, for some theaters, things progressed too slowly, and the level change came too late.

Coquill said that in Marin County, the 58-year-old Tiburon Playhouse has been owned by Cinema West since 1989 and it will not reopen. This is a "difficult" decision made last week.

"It's unfortunate, but that's the truth," Cokier said. "Of course, we still have many other problems to solve, trying to make our other theaters open."