The Avalon Theatre: Lessons on How to Survive - RERUN

Tucked away in the upper reaches of Connecticut Avenue and Washington DC is the Avalon Theater. The historic building started life as a place for silent movies, but as we know, big multiplex theaters changed the movie going game, and now streaming platforms are making an impact. However, this architectural landmark done in  classic revival style was, has reinvented itself to.

today, It is the oldest operating movie house in the area to see independent movies, documentaries, and foreign films. I'm your host, Sandra Abrams. In this episode, I'll chat with Bill Ororor, the executive Director of the Avalon. Bill is a founding board member of the current theater organization and became executive director in 2006.

Prior to his movie Executive Career, he's worked in corporate finance. And as a consultant to several startups, he will share with us how the Avalon Theater has survived a stock market crash, a housing crash, and a pandemic, as well as the value it offers to everyone who loves movies. Welcome to Median Monuments, Bill.

Well, thank you, Sandra. Appreciate being

here.

So the Avalon Theater is a rarity among, you know, movie theaters. It was built in 1922. Now over a hundred years later, it's standing, it's operating. Maybe you can just give some context to our audience and tell us how did the Avalon Theater Organization do it and bring it back after what happened in 2000.

Well, this was a classic grassroots theater revival story really. Uh, the neighborhood around the Avalon Theater in Chevy Chase, DC really, truly rallied together to bring this theater back. It was closed for about a year and a half and was in really bad shape. A gentleman by the name of Bob Zeke and his wife Joanne, convened a meeting in August of 2001 and invited people who wanted to get involved to save the Avalon to come to that meeting.

I was actually at that meeting and most of us ended up on the founding board, and that was where it started. Uh, and so Bob and Crew succeeded in convincing the landlord to give a lease to a fledgling nonprofit that was created in November of 2001. That's called the Avalon Theater Project, Inc. Which is our actual business name.

And between that time and. April of 2003, we, um, went about the business of reopening the theater. Uh, the developer,  Doug Jamal, who's very well known in these parts,  restored the historic architecture and the facade and inside the theater and really brought it back to life cuz . It, it looked. Truly awful.

 when, when we saw it after it had closed and the nonprofit was responsible for screens and speakers and seats and that sort of thing, and we started raising money, started with hat and hand and on Connecticut Avenue on Saturday mornings and collected a couple of thousand dollars every Saturday morning from people just walking by, which was,  the first indication that the neighborhood was truly going to support this operation and.

And, and really has ever since. So, you know, the community. Save the theater, uh, and is continued to support the theater in, in every way that, uh, we have asked,  by attending, by supporting through fundraising, and all kinds of other ways.  so that's kinda where we started and, and reopened and, um, April of 2003.

 in May of that year, we had a first big hit, Lober Espanol, uh, which was a terrific foreign film, and we sold out like eight straight shows of that over Memorial Day weekend. And we thought, we got it made here.  turned out it wasn't going to be that easy because then we learned the vagaries of the, uh, film market, the competitive film market.

And uh, we've had our ups and downs since then, but we. Where, you know, survive the pandemic and as you said, uh, stock market crash and all kinds of other

things along the way.

 you were off to the races with that first film, but you know, audience, has changed over the years, You know, how do you know that you have the right program to fit that?

Or has that been trial and error over the years since you restart?

Well, I'd say it's been a little bit of trial and error over the years. Uh, you know, we, we did struggle in those first couple of years. I, I don't think we programmed the theater properly at that time.  we did bring in a new programmer in 2005, Andrew Mentor, um, who was still our programmer and really helped turn the theater around from a programming perspective.

And Andrew has brought in, you know, all kinds of different, special programs. Which appeal to specific audiences. And then we sort of have a foundation of first run commercial films, art house films that that. You know, generally the bigger revenue drivers.  but from a mission perspective, the special programs are a lot of what the Avalon is all about.

 so we've developed a mix of, uh, films, independent art house films, like I said, uh, that we think appeals to a wide audience,  beyond just Chevy Chase, DC We do try to attract audiences from other parts of the city. And then in 2013, we started.  education program called Cinema Classroom at the Avalon, which was directly targeted towards,  middle and high school students,

And we've grown that program over the years. So that was another way for us to reach out to other parts of the city. And we've had students come in from all eight words of the city, and we've had 16,000 or so students,  come through the. Theater on, weekday mornings.  we might have 300 students in a, in a, um, you know, social, uh, social justice related film.

Uh, an appropriate speaker and a q and a. And it's, um, it's been a very successful program, so it's another way that we've reached a different

audience.

So expanding your audience has been key to your success and not just saying, Oh, well we have this art house film, or we've just went to a film festival, and then we're gonna have these three films coming up. And reaching the next generation of, of film goers. In that sense, if a school wants to get in touch with you, 

How do they do that and say, Hey, I wanna try that program for our school.

our director of education is, uh, Rebecca Daz.  She could be reached through our [email protected] with any question about,  the program. But that's, that's the person to, to talk to. And I think her email is r [email protected]. Uh, so that would be the best

way. 

Well, one of the things that's happening though right now is the digital streaming platform. So why do theaters still matter? I mean, somebody has to, they have to get dressed, they have to leave their house, they have to find parking.  why do people still go to the movies and, and considering you have all these,  digital streaming platforms?

Well,  that's  a fair question and it, it's really been a question that's been asked, you know, well before the pandemic. I mean, there have been,  things that have come along. People have thought were, would spell the end of movies, you know, DVDs and even tv. Um, along the way. really, our foundational belief here is that there is really no experience like being in a theater,  particularly one with a screen the size of ours.

You know, our, our large theater has 400 seats in a very large screen and historic venue. There's. You know, it's sort of an incomparable film experience, not just to see the film and to experience the, the sound and  the  spectacular visual quality, uh, but also to have that shared experience with other people in the audience who you may or may not know.

And, People laugh together and moan together. It's this, it's different than sitting on your couch and watching a, a film on Netflix where, oh, we might pause it and you get up and you go get something to eat, or the dog barks or whatever. It's a, it's truly an immersive experience. So, you know, we believe that's why, and, um, you know, we, we have a strong belief that that's why people will continue to come.

But we, we do need them to those who have not come back to overcome their fear of. Of the pandemic and, uh, come to the Avalon or come to other theaters and, and remember what that experience is

like.

Well, what happened when the pandemic first hit? What did you guys think? Did you think, Okay, here's what we can do. It will be a few weeks. Like what was your, what was your plan of action there?

Well, it was a, uh, quickly put together plan of action, that's for sure.  we had just opened a film on March 8th called,  St. Francis, I believe is the name of the film. It was actually a very good film. We showed it on Friday night and then we closed on Saturday, uh, like a lot of other businesses and didn't open again for 15 months, so it was very sudden.

we turned pretty quickly. Uh, we started doing online presentations of St. Francis on the Tuesday after we closed. And, you know, that was due to the work of our programmer and the distributor of that film. They worked together to figure out a way to do that. Uh, and that's really what we turned, turned towards for the entirety of the pandemic is,  is trying to stream films.

Online, and we got involved in a platform that did that and made it a little easier to do it. Uh, but in terms of what we did,  as a business, that was it.  It, it wasn't what I would call lucrative, but it helped keep people engaged in the theater and allowed us to stay in contact with, with our audience.

and, in the meantime, we did a lot of other things While we were closed, we did renovations on the theater and did some internal systems improvements and, and the like. Um, and then 15 months later, June 8th, I think it was something like that of 2021, we, we reopened.

And how are things now compared to like, you know, the pre pandemic levels?

Well, they aren't the same. I have to say, honestly, uh, that, you know, it's been a, a tough go for, for this industry,  particularly in the art house side of the world where the audiences tend to be a little bit older and a little more cautious about coming out, into a public place. know, that coupled with what you alluded to earlier, which is,  during this time people developed brand new habits of watching streaming.

 movies and shows and whatnot, uh, constantly.  I believe we're fighting against that as well. Uh, so, you know, our audiences are, I would say, in this, you know, best case, 65% of where we were in 2019 and some months are better, some months are worse, but it's not, it's not there.

Um, and so we're really, uh, hoping that, you know, over time and as I, hopefully the pandemic recedes, that more and more people will come back and experience, the movies like they should be

experienced. 

So one of the things you talked about, you mentioned that it's an older audience.  how did you find your audience? Like how did you build that list of people coming, coming to the theater, you know, is there a certain,  social media thing that you did? Is there a press releases? Like how did you come together and get, get that?

Well, one of the advantages. We had when we reopened as a nonprofit is that the theater had been around since 1923. And so, and it's a, you know, it's a neighborhood theater, which is the way all, almost all theaters used to be in, in interspersed in neighborhoods all over, uh, the country. Uh, by the time we reopen, most of the neighborhood theaters had closed and even more have closed since then.

Uh, so we, we had a, a very loyal. Uh, following. And, and as I said before, the community supported us financially because people wanted this theater open. And there was a lot of cred for the theater from the years and years of being here. Uh, it's building that's landmark, uh, historic landmark.

And we hear stories of, uh, I had my first date here, or I saw my first movie here. Or, um, some, you know, we've had people who even

gotten married at the theater since we reopen. 

married at the theater. 

Yeah, they rented the

theater. Yep. Yep. Uh, 

they they, just said, Okay, everybody's sit in the movie theater chairs and now we're gonna do the wedding

Well, they, they, I'm not sure what they did. They rented the upstairs theater, but, uh, you know, some people just wanted their names on the marquee. Um, so, you know, I believe we had a, a sort of a loyal audience to start with. And when we, like I said, when we reopened a Memorial Day, there was tremendous enthusiasm from the community and people just showed up and, and drove, uh, You know, it's, it's been up and down for a lot of reasons since then.

But, uh, for the mo most part, we have a very loyal core audience.  and,  we've, as an organization, we've worried about, well, what happens when our older generation passes on and. You know, the answer that I've always given is, well, the people who are 30 and 40, 20 years ago now they're, you know, their kids are out of college or out, out of the nest, I should say.

And,  they have more free time and so they want to come to the movies. And that's sort of the, the cycle that, that we have seen and. Hopefully continues.  there's not been any real magic wand as far as marketing is concerned.  we do social media. You know, I would say from a marketing perspective, our email list is, is the biggest and most impactful part of our marketing, maybe besides our website.

 but we. We can send out emails, um, and, uh, you know, get, sometimes see instant response,  from people in terms of ticket buying and, and whatnot. So, you know, that's our quickest and best way to reach folks.

So I wanted to ask you, I know I have been to the theater numerous times just to see movies, but I've also been there for screenings as well. So have you started back up with the screenings and the director talks? is that part of your,  marketing to also, uh, incorporate.

Well, we've done, a few of those since we reopen. Uh, you know, things have sort of moved slowly in that regard, but I'd say we've done maybe four or five, Uh, films where we've had a, a director or somebody, a producer, somebody associated with a film,  come in and, and talk at least that many.

Uh, and it's definitely something that we like to do  and we know that our audience really appreciates,  and, and tends to turn out for, uh, so, you know. As I said, we have a lot of one off special programs. We have a program we call Wednesday signature series, which happens every Wednesday at  8:00 PM and.

We always show a film that's a single showing screening of a film. we have relationships with several embassies around the city, uh, French Check,  Israeli,  Polish, and maybe one or two others. So, uh, we collaborate with them and they bring in films,  that,  are popular in their countries who represent their culture.

 we have documentaries. We do a lot of special programming using that sort of Wednesday signature series.

Well, we have obviously being on this particular area and it's women in film and video, there's a lot of documentary filmmakers around here. If they wanted to do a special screening at the Avalon, what to, what do they need to do? What does the person need to do?

Well, probably the best thing to do is to, uh, contact our programmer, uh, Andrew, me, and, uh, that that can be done through our info at the Avalon. Um, Email address. Um, some of these, uh, you know, we, we get a lot of questions from people who want to do some kind of a film. Uh, we do do rentals of the theater and a lot of times that's what people are looking to do.

 You can go into the website through, or go email [email protected] if you, if somebody's interested in doing a, a rental event, um, They can do it through the other email address I just gave, um, or call our business office and talk to somebody and we'll try to try to work it out.

 I also wanted to ask you, Talked about your mailing list. So, uh, what else, if somebody's on the mailing list, like what else do they get with that mailing list? Can you talk a little bit more about the benefits of being on that mailing?

 the main benefit  is that they stay up to date on what the Avalon has to offer.  and our schedule changes every week. And we send out  two emails every week. One is on Tuesday, which is to, directly promote that Wednesday event, Wednesday signature series on Wednesday. And then the other one goes out on Friday, cuz Friday  in the film business is when new films open.

 so that's sort of the start of the, week  in the movie business. So we send out a, an email with what's happening in the next week. That's the best way to stay, uh, on top of what's happening at the Avalon is to be on the email list, or, of course, every, every thing we have scheduled is on our website

as well. 

So how did Wednesday become the day, you know, the Wednesday became the, the start of the movie week. How did Wednesday become the day

 Friday's the start of the movie week, but Wednesday is the day we chose to focus this program. Um, and I think an Andy's sort of philosophy of programming is to sort of have consistency in what we do. And so it's trying to get people used to the idea of, Oh, what's happening on Wednesday at the Avalon?

We know something's happening and it's sort of. You know, it's the middle of the week. it's not a peak time in the movie business, so  we're not gonna do it on Friday night or Saturday night, so we wanted to pick a, a weekday. So I think that's pretty much how we ended up on Wednesday.



I like it. I think everybody else will as well. Hopefully listening and they'll say, All right, I gotta go on Wednesday. Um, I wanted to ask you about,  how people can support the theater because as you know, the big multiplexes are having a hard time because of the pandemic.  and if these multiplexes, which are traded on this stock exchange are having a rough go of it, you know, however you guys,  continuing that.

And how can people continue to support, uh, the Avalon Theater?

Well, I certainly appreciate that question  and we are nonprofits, so that's really why we're here is that people, um, can make donations to the Avalon. There are really two ways to support us and one is through direct donations, and the other is,  we have a membership program. As well. And,  you can become a member of the Avalon and there are four or five different levels and with benefits,  starting with ticket discounts, um, at the lowest level and at the highest level.

You know, uh, if you become a director member, you would not have to pay for any,  Films throughout the year. You can come at any time to any film. So those are the two best ways to support us besides just coming to the movies.  but, fundraising is, uh, I mean it's a sort of a fact of life for.

Ourselves as it is for any other nonprofit movie theater in, in the country. And there are quite a few of them.  that, but that's what enables us to keep going. That's what enables us to maintain this historic building, which is,  expensive to maintain, as you can imagine, for a 100 year old building.

 We rely on those funds to, to keep the lights on and keep providing good films and continue doing what we're doing. And we're very grateful for all the support that we've gotten from the community for, for all these

years. 

Do you have any fundraising events coming up  in the near future?

 typically, our fundraising is centered around  the annual appeal, annual fund drive, which is coming up, which we normally send out, direct mail letters to our donor base and, and also to people who live in surrounding zip codes. And that happens in November. so we do rely on the annual fund.

As a general operating support,  we actually just concluded a campaign because we're putting solar panels on our roof later this fall to reduce our electricity bills and to be better environmental stewards.  we just completed a $200,000 campaign to fund that. So another example of support from the community and then.

You know, probably the biggest thing coming up in our future is, uh, 2023 is the,  hundredth anniversary of the opening of the theater.

Um, and

hundred anniversaries coming up.

That's right. It is our centennial and we are actively working on plans for,  next year. And we're wanting to do lots and lots of,  exciting things around the centennial, which, you know, we'll be obviously putting out more information.

We're sort of in the formative stages at the moment. we'll probably have a series of events where we'll be,  perhaps a gala event or something like that where people can contribute. You know, support the Avalon, uh, Avalon's efforts in that regard and, you know, help launch us into the next a hundred

years. 

Well, Bill, this has been really great. I do have one more question. You know, what is it about the Avalon Theater that says to you,  I wanna be part of this community and I want everyone else to be a part of this community.

 what I would say is in, in terms of how we,  think of ourselves,  we sort of try to think of the Avalon as sort of a, like a cheers kind of place, where people can come to the theater. And they see their neighbors, they get to know the staff.  I, I think that means a lot to people.  it's really is a. Uh,  community saved and community run of many of us, including myself, live in the community. Uh, so, um, you know, that's what I would say. You know, you come to the Avalon, you're, you're part of something bigger.  something's been around for a long time and you know, the building is, is beautiful and the architecture is beautiful and it's, you know, it's very different than a multiplex experience.

The Avalon Theater is located at 5 6 12 Connecticut Avenue, Northwest Washington, DC. To see what's playing or to sign up for the weekly eNewsletter, go to www.theavalon.org. Thank you Bill for talking to median monuments.

Thank you so much, Sandra. I really appreciate it.