Small-town movie theatres struggling

Independently owned theatres feeling the pain pf pandemic

ESTEVAN, Sask. - Estevan’s Orpheum movie theatre oozes classic Hollywood.

For the theatre’s 100th anniversary in 2014, owners Jocelyn and Alan Dougherty renovated the building and decorated its lobby with a display case containing autographed photos and movie posters. A light hangs on the ceiling that has the shape of an old film reel.

It’s meant to evoke the feeling of the 1940s and the golden age of Hollywood.

“We invested a lot of money into it and never dreamt that this would happen in our lifetime,” said Dougherty, who has owned the theatre since 1998.

The movie theatre business has taken a beating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major releases are being continually delayed. Meanwhile, the world’s second-largest theatre chain, Cineworld, announced on Oct. 5 that it was suspending operations at its 127 theatres in the United Kingdom and 536 theatres in the United States.

While movie theatres in Saskatchewan’s cities are owned by corporations such as Cineplex, many of the theatres in the province’s small towns are family operated. Just like the large theatre chains, they’re also suffering.

Mike Yager owns the promotional company Spotlight Sport and Corporate Wear in Humboldt. That’s his daytime business. On nights and weekends he runs Reel Attractions, which he purchased in 2014.

Yager described the current turnout for movies as “dismal.” On a recent Friday, not one person showed up to a screening.

“We were doing well for the last couple of years, and then COVID hit, and somebody kicked the wheels out from underneath us,” said Yager.

Under the province’s reopening plan, movie theatres were allowed to start screening films again on June 29, but Yager didn’t open his doors until late August because there were no new films to show. He started off by showing classic movies, which didn’t draw very many people out. Even when the sci-fi blockbuster Tenet debuted, that still didn’t bring out moviegoers.

During the period of March to September, Yager said attendance was down 90 per cent compared to last year. Dougherty also said attendance has been hit or miss, with some showings bringing out fewer than 10 people.

Yager said the fear of COVID-19 may be partially to blame, but he also pointed to how Hollywood is pushing back the releases of its latest blockbusters. Movies such as No Time to Die, Black Widow and Wonder Woman have all been delayed well into next year.

“It’s like having a grocery store that no longer has 80 per cent of their stock. So they don’t have canned goods, they don’t have fresh produce, they don’t have meat,” said Yager.

As long as major theatre companies in the U.S. are not open or only offering limited capacity, studios are unlikely to release their next big movie.

Small theatres like the ones in Saskatchewan are at the mercy of what the big chains decide to do next.

“We, really, in the grand scheme of things don’t matter that much in the way they look at it, right? It comes down to dollars and cents for sure,” said Dougherty.

Movie theatres in Saskatchewan can currently only seat 30 per cent of their usual capacity. Reel Attractions can only seat 30 people in one of its auditoriums, and 24 in the other. With attendance being so low, Yager said the largest audience he’s seated for a screening is 12.

Few people are coming but Yager still has overhead costs to cover, such as utilities, expenses and loan payments.