Movie theaters seek relief from government

The National Association of Theater Owners is asking for immediate help for its chains and its 150,000employees.

Faced with a lengthy shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, movie theaters are requesting relief from the U.S. government.

The National Association of Theater Owners, the trade group that represents most of the industry’s cinemas, said Wednesday that it’s asking for immediate federal help for its chains and its 150,000 employees. The theaters are requesting loan guarantees for exhibitors, tax benefits for employees and funds to compensate for lost ticket sales and concessions.

The organization said the movie theater industry is “uniquely vulnerable” to the crisis and needs assistance to weather a near total shutdown of two to three months.

“This is an unprecedented challenge to the business,” said John Fithian, president and chief executive of NATO. “We’re looking to Congress and White House to understand this is a cultural institution where people gather.”

Fithian didn’t give a specific dollar amount for what the industry is seeking but said theaters could be saved for a fraction of what the airline industry is requesting (The White House has proposed $50 billion for the airlines). For less than the cost of one airline company, Fithian said, movie theaters could be kept afloat.

“We want our policy makers to know that at the end of this thing, when people have been cooped up in their house for several months, they’ll need a break to go out and do something collectively that’s affordable and fun and away from what they’ve just been through,” he said. “But we still need to be viable.”

NATO also said it will supply $1 million in aid for out-of-work movie theater employees. The majority of the industry’s workers are paid hourly.

“Starting tomorrow, most of them won’t be paid anything,” Fithian said.

Signs hang in the ticket window of a movie theater notifying customers that it is closed in New York.