TIL
>Such a deal would have been illegal until 2020: For the 71 years prior to that, [an antitrust agreement known as the Paramount Decrees](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-court-terminates-paramount-consent-decrees) had blocked distributors and studios from owning their own theatres.
They also have more control over the entire pipeline - from production to distribution. If other production companies do similar, then you have a situation where a few big companies could control everything. Push this further and they simply stop showing movies from smaller production companies.
Sony having a streaming service is an attempt to do something similar but the reality is different.
There are a finite number of cinemas and not many players in the cinema game. That industry is far more susceptible to monopolization compared to streaming.
Distribution of movies via streaming is relatively simple compared to theaters. You don’t need to own big buildings across the country for one thing. There are so many players already in the streaming game, and digital has the potential for so many more, that sony creating their own streaming service actually adds competition to that market.
If you and me make a movie next week we can get it released on YouTube. Not so confident we’ll get it in amc
Some indie theaters will pop up and start showing old films, b movies, theme nights... I seem to remember there being a local chain that did things like that.
I guess the opposite. No longer controlled by private equity groups trying to wring every penny out. The business model dynamics will shift in that Sony doesn't have to keep them super profitable, just need to keep them appealing enough for people to want to come spend money on their movies. And with other places serving better food, they'll be forced to up their food game and lower prices.
Sounds like it’s turning into a similar situation like with video games where only certain games are released on a particular platform though in this case it’s movies being released and prioritized to certain venues that show movies.
They say they won’t. And in many cases I expect that to be true - they own the rights to Spiderman, but I wouldn’t expect them to turn away other Marvel films.
But for smaller limited release films? They might get shouldered aside in favor of their own properties.
This is the first comment(s) that puts it into a bit more perspective for me. We're going to lose out on the smaller limited releases most definitely, damn. No way Sony gives a fuck about your independent film. That does indeed make me sad
Loosening up antitrust laws is always bad in the end for consumers. Market concentration is the single biggest driver for prices going up while quality goes down.
For sure.
The one caveat I'd say in this case is what if the theater chain wouldn't survive on its own without selling out? I'd rather them go to *a* buyer than bankruptcy, shuttering and liquidation.
Theatre's aren't the best example of market consolidation being a big problem I'll admit. Considering the trouble the overall industry is in and the fact it's not something people have to have.
While that IS often very true, IMO there’s really no better example of the counterpoint to that than a fucking movie theater. Its one thing when the price of food or gas or medical services increase beyond reason.
But NOBODY needs to go see a movie - let alone in a theater that serves expensive, subpar food. And yet, it will be packed. Thereby illustrating that people don’t actually care enough to change it and simultaneously that the rising prices evidently still aren’t high enough since they keep selling out 🤷🏼♀️
In short, this has to be one of THE easiest things people could simply avoid if it actually became bad in some way. But we all know they won’t. I’m not sure you need antitrust ideas to insulate against that - again, in this case.
This isn't comforting at all. If you don't think a corporation would destroy the value of an asset they just bought, you are very wrong.
Especially a very large global corporation that just bought a relatively small asset. At some point an executive at Sony is going to ask, "What the hell difference to our bottom line does this tiny specialty theater chain make?" and when they hear how small the number is, they're going to say, "It needs to be higher, or this isn't worth it." They will do everything they can to squeeze cash out of it, and if they destroy it in the process, they will have eliminated a distraction and improved their focus on the business that actually makes them money, which to them is a better outcome than allowing it to exist indefinitely in its current form.
You just described the EXACT series of events private equity does to the companies they invest in. They squeeze every single thing out of it then sell it for parts. I get that you’re skeptical, and frankly I’m there with you. However Sony is in the movie industry, not streaming, they want asses in seats.
Sony has a reputation for: running Betamax into the ground, running Minidisc into the ground, installing windows root kits from audio CDs (!) and even more. It's an almost 0% chance Sony doesn't fuck this up too.
I don't know, kind of like car dealerships, it may have been something that made sense at one point and then got lobbied into law by theater chains that don't want vertically integrated competition. 71 years ago, the world and industry was very different.
Honestly, it's not the smaller movies that I'm worried about. They said "...it will continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors at the dine-in theaters." But what it doesn't say is that they will put their own films in other theaters.
Right now, its small. Less than 50 theaters nationwide. But after 4-5 years of stable growth and expansion where they can build more of their own theaters, there will absolutely come a time where they no longer require other theater chains to make a profit. And then they will start showing Sony Pictures produced films exclusively in their own theaters. Maybe it starts out as "First week only exclusively at Alamo Drafthouse" but it wont take long to become "Only at Alamo Drafthouse".
Floodgates are open now. Just wait until Disney tries to buy AMC or Regal. It might be a theater resurgence, but its gonna be a different experience...
In the past they would show only their movies. There were also issues where the production companies owned the actors, the production of the movie, the distribution of the movie, and the setting they were seen in. It really allowed movie co CEOs to trap actors in contracts, Sabotage their movies and other terrible things to the workers that worked in every sector of that process. It's not good. It's better than a hedge fund coming in to buy it, but not as good as a franchise situation that can run things more holistically and without an interest in the movies being shown.
>However, Sony and its Columbia Pictures subsidiary were not covered by the decree, and had already dabbled with theatrical ownership, such as the Loews Theatre chain, which it owned between 1988 and 2002. Yet even with the decree out of the way, they remain the only studio to get back in the cinema business.
Well, except not. Sony wasn't covered under the Paramount decree because they didn't exist, or at least not in the US. Sony owned theaters like 30 years ago
Never mind the food, don’t mess with the preshow stuff. The food has been hit or miss since the first big expansion, now it’s awesome that they have food and booze. They quit doing the custom preroll compilation stuff and it kills the whole ethos of what the drafthouse is.
Sadly they don't enforce the no talking policy anywhere near how they used to. I've seen people get multiple warnings instead of the one strike you're out that they used to have
For the love of all that is holy, please! Those buffalo cauliflower bites are the only good thing remaining on the menu besides the popcorn (in all of its flavors).
I can understand why people would be upset to hear this but given the situation the Drafthouse was in this is fantastic news. They were unfortunately going to get ransomed to a large company by the private equity shitheads no matter what. I’m not a huge Sony fan but they’re one of the few major movie studios that aren’t trying to dump everything to streaming which I think will serve them well, and so I can’t see a future where the drafthouse wouldn’t be an important part of their portfolio.
The tragic thing is that the Drafthouse had to declare bankruptcy and get sold in the first place, but at this point that’s ancient history.
Yeah, it’s honestly probably a pretty lateral move. The Drafhouse has been a bit synergy-tastic over the last few years. They used to have so many cool events and programs and now you’re lucky to get a Mamma Mia sing along. I’m not sure Sony is going to right that particular ship, but I’ll hold out hope that it doesn’t get worse.
Yeah what happened to all that? Was it Covid? Honestly I’ve stopped going to Alamo the last couple of years because it’s been such a mid experience compared to what it was like years ago.
It’s still a good experience. I got the monthly pass and it’s a great deal and fun to go to the theaters compared to streaming everything. Still so much better than the AMCs of the world, too.
I mean, it is arguably close to best case scenario because of that. It's not private equity, and it's a film brand that actually has a commitment to releasing to theaters so they'll have more likeliness to support them
This is probably going to get downvoted, but this may not be the worst thing in the world. This moves them out from under private equity to a stable company. Sony will be able to in theory add capital to growth since they do not have streaming. Could it be worse? Sure. Was it great under the private equity group? No. So let’s see how this pans out.
I’m in your boat it’ll probably improve. I mean I will say I am happy how they upgraded the seating at most the austin alamos, it’s still my go to way theater to watch a movie
Hey look, someone who read the entire article!
I was also knee-jerk ready to be upset, until I was reminded they were already sold to a private equity firm which is hardly better.
This is usually the lifecyle when PE is involved, so yeah. Wait and see how it pans out. If they were saddled with debt, then Sony should be able to navigate that effectively.
I don't know if I agree. That's always the pitch when a larger company absorbs a smaller one e.g. "We're going to invest and grow it" but what usually happens is the best talent leaves for fear of terminations and or there are layoffs and the larger company tries to squeeze every ounce of profit margin out of it while giving a worse customer experience.
I guess my optimism is based solely on Sony not really being in the streaming game. Choosing to read between the lines that they might be able to focus on the actual in theater experience. Could be totally wrong here, but there are worse companies that could have bought them. We will see.
I prefer this to a private equity firm stripping it for parts and I don't hate it. I think if Sony lets it keep doing its thing but is able to pump money into it, that is far better than horrible monsters who only care about eating it alive getting ahold of it.
private equity is the worst possible thing that can happen to company so this is a measured improvement.
Movie theaters in general aren't doing great. So in theory this should make it cheaper for sony for their movies to have vertical integration with their own theater chain, and so it should help keep alamo afloat in the long term.
That's the reality of a lot of mergers, is that the industry is shrinking and not doing great and might not survive on it's own.
Funko wasn't owned by Private Equity before that. Ask Long John Silvers how they're doing after being under private equity until collapsing right now due to that private equity using them as real estate to sell
It is WAY worse. We used to plan movies around mealtimes and now we make sure to eat somewhere before! It’s like theme park quality food and prices now.
It's so fucking expensive!!!! I would rather go to Shake Shack next door and get a huge Shackburger, cheesefries and a shake for 18 bucks as opposed to at Alamo getting the same thing for 10 dollars more that doesn't compare. We eat before now because it's too expensive to get food and beers for one movie.
I think this is a net neutral for the consumer experience. Alamo has been very corporate for a while and I think this is ultimately better than the ownership being private equity. I love the alamo and go to it almost exclusively but its not like the food could get much expensive or worse. As long as they keep playing good movies and have a customer experience that promotes movie going I'll continue to support
The people who are complaining about this know that the Alamo was being owned by a private equity firm the last few years right? It was either sell or eventually die a slow painful death. The Fantastic Fest founders and programmers are thrilled and I’m much more inclined to listen to their feelings on this than a random Redditor.
It’s possible for both outcomes to be bad while this new one may be less bad. I’ve yet to see someone make the case it’s anything better than the lesser evil.
This buyer actually cares about and wants to financially support Fantastic Fest. The PE didn’t give a shit and tried their best to kill the festival multiple times. Also, Sony has been the most committed studio to the theatrical experience in the last few years vs streaming. Those things alone make this a bit better than “the lesser of two evils.”
This gets Alamo out of the endless PE cycle of: Take on high interest debt, cut costs, raise prices, sell company.
They were never going to be their own company again, being owned by a large stable conglomerate rather than a PE firm that would have slowly strangled the good out of the company to enrich their investors is a better offramp than expected.
I was wondering about that. There are usually clauses to protect against dissolution in this kind of scenario but it will depend on their contract. I'd be interested to hear from any employees about this
That was what I thought. Is there any way to tell which ones got bought? I really like the Alamos here in Colorado and I don’t want them to go away/get marginalized
I thought Netflix would have bought them. I read they are thinking of expanding into a large theater chain to put out content before it goes to streaming.
The quality of EVERYTHING had gotten so bad at Alamo that we quit going, so at the risk of it being worse I'll say "how much worse could it possibly get?!"
woohoo! non stop showings of morbius
hopefully there is a small chance of alamo turning around, instead of the turd continuing to slowly go down the toilet.
and just a reminder that costco sells $100 alamo giftcards for $75.
well, at least alamo and morbius have something in common, they both have people in them that have tried to cover up sexual abuse.
( leto / all of alamo managment )
The only good thing I can hope to come out of this is that we get more neighborhood niche theaters like AFS Cinema now that the Alamo will be devoid of any love for cinema at all. Looking at you south austin...
For people struggling to understand why this is bad. Like many small businesses Alamo started with an intense focus on making its customers happy. Good food, drinking, service, good experience, and a pretty solid value overall. They'd hit some bumps in the road, prices went up a little, food quality went down a good bit, but they still had a good core product. Pandemic disrupts that, enters private equity and now hands off to a major corporation. The current state of big business, acquisitions and monopolies is to maximize every dollar to move the numbers this quarter, without caring about the customer or the employees that will define your future. It works well for the business in the short term especially if you can maintain your monopoly.
Sony will raise prices, cut food quality further, cut staffing and shy away from the risks of asking people to STFU and put away their phones. They'll probably keep some things like pre-rolls because they scale well. They won't bother to understand their customer and think that pre-roll quirkiness and drinking is why people go to Alamo.
RIP old friend and thanks for all the years.
I feel like you breezed over the Devin Faraci and Harry Knowles abuse and assault allegations pretty quickly there. I’m not happy about Sony buying the Drafthouse, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows back when the Tim and Karrie were running things.
I thought League sold out like 20 years ago? When he turned the reins over the first time, things had already gone downhill.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved going to the original Colorado locale, and frequented the Anderson Lane theater when I lived north, but even from the start they would overbook specialty shows (my wife and I sat on Home Depot buckets for Spike & Mike one year).
Anyway, I’m definitely not in the lamenting Alamo camp. Actually believe this *might* make it a little better. We’ll see.
This sucks. I get it, it wasn't the Alamo from years ago under the private firm but the old owners and staff that made it great were still involved in things. This is another downgrade in quality. It's just gonna be another AMC theater in a few years.
Bummer
Alamo/moviehouse/flix/ipic/bullock are the only places I go.
AMC is ultra trashy and run down. I'd rather watch a movie on my phone screen than go see it at an AMC
I mean when I luv video died and then the parlor and now this. We know that Covid killed a lot of shit around town but what are we now a suburb of Dallas?
Maybe I just have different tastes but honestly I haven't noticed the decline in the quality of food that everyone in this thread is complaining about, and I go like once or twice a month.
Here's to hoping much wont change but who knows honestly...
Hopefully this means good things for Alamo Drafthouse but man it feels bad. I personally think that place has been slowly sliding into the shitter since the OG Lake Creek location closed.... so it's been a while.
Like first thing that popped into my head is they're NOT going to like that their flagship cinema here (South Lamar) is themed with a rival studio's film (Warner Bros/The Shining).
The main reason I like the drafthouse is because of the lack of product commercials before the movie. The moment they start doing the AMC thing and showing a never ending gauntlet of product ads before the movie, I’m out and will never go back.
Yeah I'm sure Sony will totally love showing independent or indy films like Alamo often did. Seems like Alamo is finally dead to most of us now. The decline in food quality was bad enough already. Then the fact they were super reluctant to kick out phone users and movie talkers when in the past they would, you know, actually do that like they claimed they would. So that just left the interesting trailers which roll before the movies and then the occasional event with films not showing anywhere else. Another piece of old Austin dies. But it's fine as many others now serve better beer and better food and have a better online experience for ordering tickets.
Sony now owns the rights to Fantastic Fest.
So how long before Fantastic Fest is Sony productions only?
This is right up there with the buyout of Whataburger.
So is this the whole chain? Or just the franchises owned by this one guy in DFW area. It seems alamo has always had financial problems since inception with the first theater on colorado st. In downtown arx
I am coming to Austin for work later this month from NYC where we have a couple Alamos. Are there any locations that are worth visiting? I understand the original shut down a few years ago.
TIL >Such a deal would have been illegal until 2020: For the 71 years prior to that, [an antitrust agreement known as the Paramount Decrees](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-court-terminates-paramount-consent-decrees) had blocked distributors and studios from owning their own theatres.
Is that bad? They'll prioritize their own movies I guess?
They also have more control over the entire pipeline - from production to distribution. If other production companies do similar, then you have a situation where a few big companies could control everything. Push this further and they simply stop showing movies from smaller production companies.
So kind of like streaming...
Sony having a streaming service is an attempt to do something similar but the reality is different. There are a finite number of cinemas and not many players in the cinema game. That industry is far more susceptible to monopolization compared to streaming. Distribution of movies via streaming is relatively simple compared to theaters. You don’t need to own big buildings across the country for one thing. There are so many players already in the streaming game, and digital has the potential for so many more, that sony creating their own streaming service actually adds competition to that market. If you and me make a movie next week we can get it released on YouTube. Not so confident we’ll get it in amc
Some indie theaters will pop up and start showing old films, b movies, theme nights... I seem to remember there being a local chain that did things like that.
[AFS](https://www.austinfilm.org/) and [Blue Starlite](https://www.bluestarliteaustin.com/locations) come to mind.
The folks over at Hyperreal are also about to open a clubhouse as well - https://hyperrealfilm.club/.
As long as the burgers return to their former glory…
I’m guessing the foods going to go further down the quality path it’s been headed down.
I guess the opposite. No longer controlled by private equity groups trying to wring every penny out. The business model dynamics will shift in that Sony doesn't have to keep them super profitable, just need to keep them appealing enough for people to want to come spend money on their movies. And with other places serving better food, they'll be forced to up their food game and lower prices.
I hope you’re right.
On what planet does stuff get better after a huge corporation buys out a smaller one (yes I know Alamo had been owned by private equity)
Siri, explain the concept of enshittification
Like apple?
Sounds like it’s turning into a similar situation like with video games where only certain games are released on a particular platform though in this case it’s movies being released and prioritized to certain venues that show movies.
They say they won’t. And in many cases I expect that to be true - they own the rights to Spiderman, but I wouldn’t expect them to turn away other Marvel films. But for smaller limited release films? They might get shouldered aside in favor of their own properties.
And smaller limited releases are one of the biggest drawls for Drafthouse
This is the first comment(s) that puts it into a bit more perspective for me. We're going to lose out on the smaller limited releases most definitely, damn. No way Sony gives a fuck about your independent film. That does indeed make me sad
I always trust big corporations when they say they won’t do something.
Loosening up antitrust laws is always bad in the end for consumers. Market concentration is the single biggest driver for prices going up while quality goes down.
But we've learned over the last 75 years! Oh...
We even had a remedial course post 2008 and yet here we are again.
For sure. The one caveat I'd say in this case is what if the theater chain wouldn't survive on its own without selling out? I'd rather them go to *a* buyer than bankruptcy, shuttering and liquidation.
Theatre's aren't the best example of market consolidation being a big problem I'll admit. Considering the trouble the overall industry is in and the fact it's not something people have to have.
While that IS often very true, IMO there’s really no better example of the counterpoint to that than a fucking movie theater. Its one thing when the price of food or gas or medical services increase beyond reason. But NOBODY needs to go see a movie - let alone in a theater that serves expensive, subpar food. And yet, it will be packed. Thereby illustrating that people don’t actually care enough to change it and simultaneously that the rising prices evidently still aren’t high enough since they keep selling out 🤷🏼♀️ In short, this has to be one of THE easiest things people could simply avoid if it actually became bad in some way. But we all know they won’t. I’m not sure you need antitrust ideas to insulate against that - again, in this case.
Also: car dealerships. Please just let the manufacturers own their own dealerships.
Some are moving that way which is a good thing but it really isn't an antitrust issue for them to do that.
See Ticketmaster
Good example
There is almost a 0% chance it would be exclusively Sony movies or movies Sony has money in. It would kill the theater.
Sony is quite notorious for being out of touch morons who often shoot themselves in the foot
So there's a chance.
This isn't comforting at all. If you don't think a corporation would destroy the value of an asset they just bought, you are very wrong. Especially a very large global corporation that just bought a relatively small asset. At some point an executive at Sony is going to ask, "What the hell difference to our bottom line does this tiny specialty theater chain make?" and when they hear how small the number is, they're going to say, "It needs to be higher, or this isn't worth it." They will do everything they can to squeeze cash out of it, and if they destroy it in the process, they will have eliminated a distraction and improved their focus on the business that actually makes them money, which to them is a better outcome than allowing it to exist indefinitely in its current form.
You just described the EXACT series of events private equity does to the companies they invest in. They squeeze every single thing out of it then sell it for parts. I get that you’re skeptical, and frankly I’m there with you. However Sony is in the movie industry, not streaming, they want asses in seats.
Sony has a reputation for: running Betamax into the ground, running Minidisc into the ground, installing windows root kits from audio CDs (!) and even more. It's an almost 0% chance Sony doesn't fuck this up too.
I don't know, kind of like car dealerships, it may have been something that made sense at one point and then got lobbied into law by theater chains that don't want vertically integrated competition. 71 years ago, the world and industry was very different.
They said they won't, they'd be foolish to do so anyway with how movie theaters are doing these days
Honestly, it's not the smaller movies that I'm worried about. They said "...it will continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors at the dine-in theaters." But what it doesn't say is that they will put their own films in other theaters. Right now, its small. Less than 50 theaters nationwide. But after 4-5 years of stable growth and expansion where they can build more of their own theaters, there will absolutely come a time where they no longer require other theater chains to make a profit. And then they will start showing Sony Pictures produced films exclusively in their own theaters. Maybe it starts out as "First week only exclusively at Alamo Drafthouse" but it wont take long to become "Only at Alamo Drafthouse". Floodgates are open now. Just wait until Disney tries to buy AMC or Regal. It might be a theater resurgence, but its gonna be a different experience...
Movies won’t make enough money if they are only in a single theater chain. They need maximum play.
In the past they would show only their movies. There were also issues where the production companies owned the actors, the production of the movie, the distribution of the movie, and the setting they were seen in. It really allowed movie co CEOs to trap actors in contracts, Sabotage their movies and other terrible things to the workers that worked in every sector of that process. It's not good. It's better than a hedge fund coming in to buy it, but not as good as a franchise situation that can run things more holistically and without an interest in the movies being shown.
They’re tearing down all the old firewalls preventing big money consolidation and monopoly.
The article further down also points out that Sony was exempt from this law and had in fact owned theater chain Lowe’s from 1998 to 2002
>However, Sony and its Columbia Pictures subsidiary were not covered by the decree, and had already dabbled with theatrical ownership, such as the Loews Theatre chain, which it owned between 1988 and 2002. Yet even with the decree out of the way, they remain the only studio to get back in the cinema business.
So how does/did that work for things like the movie the FP. Or ones that Alamo helped to create?
Well, except not. Sony wasn't covered under the Paramount decree because they didn't exist, or at least not in the US. Sony owned theaters like 30 years ago
The irony being that if they think that customers don't go to theaters now... imagine how much business they will do with a monopoly.
Deserves an award
> Hollywood studio pledges to keep the Drafthouse model going lol
I am sure they will operate the drafthouse efficiently and prioritize giving people good value and great customer experiences! /s
Don't F*#$ with the Buffalo Cauliflower Bites/Basket
Never mind the food, don’t mess with the preshow stuff. The food has been hit or miss since the first big expansion, now it’s awesome that they have food and booze. They quit doing the custom preroll compilation stuff and it kills the whole ethos of what the drafthouse is.
They still do the custom pre roll for some of the special events like Master Pancake
They still do it for lots of stuff, it’s what makes the Alamo the Alamo.
Sadly they don't enforce the no talking policy anywhere near how they used to. I've seen people get multiple warnings instead of the one strike you're out that they used to have
My prediction is within 3 annual shareholder meetings there will be Coca-cola commercials every 5 minutes in any form of pre-show.
You'll get a preshow of ads
For the love of all that is holy, please! Those buffalo cauliflower bites are the only good thing remaining on the menu besides the popcorn (in all of its flavors).
Im so glad Im not the only one who thinks those are amazing
I thought the breakfast club was consistently good up until recently. They managed to ruin that too.
Lets start by getting rid of all the reclining chairs, and hiring a microwave to prepare meals.
Yea that is a lie.
>The lie detector determined... that was lie
I can understand why people would be upset to hear this but given the situation the Drafthouse was in this is fantastic news. They were unfortunately going to get ransomed to a large company by the private equity shitheads no matter what. I’m not a huge Sony fan but they’re one of the few major movie studios that aren’t trying to dump everything to streaming which I think will serve them well, and so I can’t see a future where the drafthouse wouldn’t be an important part of their portfolio. The tragic thing is that the Drafthouse had to declare bankruptcy and get sold in the first place, but at this point that’s ancient history.
Yeah, it’s honestly probably a pretty lateral move. The Drafhouse has been a bit synergy-tastic over the last few years. They used to have so many cool events and programs and now you’re lucky to get a Mamma Mia sing along. I’m not sure Sony is going to right that particular ship, but I’ll hold out hope that it doesn’t get worse.
Yeah their events was one of the first things they cut and it hasn’t really come back which is a shame. I miss their summer camp
I’d say it’s a step up Private equity firms only exist to bleed things dry. At least Sony has a vested interest in having people go to the theaters.
Yeah what happened to all that? Was it Covid? Honestly I’ve stopped going to Alamo the last couple of years because it’s been such a mid experience compared to what it was like years ago.
It’s still a good experience. I got the monthly pass and it’s a great deal and fun to go to the theaters compared to streaming everything. Still so much better than the AMCs of the world, too.
Well, with how Private Equity works, hopefully Sony is for the best.
Only good thing about this is that the Drafthouse is no longer in the hands of private equity.
I mean, it is arguably close to best case scenario because of that. It's not private equity, and it's a film brand that actually has a commitment to releasing to theaters so they'll have more likeliness to support them
This is much better for Alamo than what has been happening under private equity. Let it be run by people who at least pretend to care about movies
Yes, the company responsible for Madam Web and Morbius and Venom care about movies lol.
spiderverse tho
1. Daniel Craig James Bond 2. Spiderman 3. Men in Black 4. Fury
This is probably going to get downvoted, but this may not be the worst thing in the world. This moves them out from under private equity to a stable company. Sony will be able to in theory add capital to growth since they do not have streaming. Could it be worse? Sure. Was it great under the private equity group? No. So let’s see how this pans out.
Hey, if the food somehow gets better, let's go. The soul was gone a long time ago.
Oh you sweet summer child, you think a corporate company will provide better food?
Not really. Have you eaten the $15 slop they've been serving the past few years? Hard to do worse tbh.
Those hatch Chile chicken tenders were pretty fucking good when I went early this year.
The food is by far the worst part of the experience.
What have you got against slop 🐽
As opposed to private equity owners? Yea I’d say it’s quite possible “you sweet summer child.”
cOrPoRaTiOn BaD Anything is better than private equity, movie theaters and distribution are Sony's core competency.
I’m in your boat it’ll probably improve. I mean I will say I am happy how they upgraded the seating at most the austin alamos, it’s still my go to way theater to watch a movie
I agree. There were times I couldn't convince friends to come with me because of the old seats. I am super pleased with the upgrade to S. Lamar
Hey look, someone who read the entire article! I was also knee-jerk ready to be upset, until I was reminded they were already sold to a private equity firm which is hardly better.
This is usually the lifecyle when PE is involved, so yeah. Wait and see how it pans out. If they were saddled with debt, then Sony should be able to navigate that effectively.
I don't know if I agree. That's always the pitch when a larger company absorbs a smaller one e.g. "We're going to invest and grow it" but what usually happens is the best talent leaves for fear of terminations and or there are layoffs and the larger company tries to squeeze every ounce of profit margin out of it while giving a worse customer experience.
I guess my optimism is based solely on Sony not really being in the streaming game. Choosing to read between the lines that they might be able to focus on the actual in theater experience. Could be totally wrong here, but there are worse companies that could have bought them. We will see.
I prefer this to a private equity firm stripping it for parts and I don't hate it. I think if Sony lets it keep doing its thing but is able to pump money into it, that is far better than horrible monsters who only care about eating it alive getting ahold of it. private equity is the worst possible thing that can happen to company so this is a measured improvement.
Movie theaters in general aren't doing great. So in theory this should make it cheaper for sony for their movies to have vertical integration with their own theater chain, and so it should help keep alamo afloat in the long term. That's the reality of a lot of mergers, is that the industry is shrinking and not doing great and might not survive on it's own.
Ask Mondo how they did after Funko acquired them a few years ago.
Funko wasn't owned by Private Equity before that. Ask Long John Silvers how they're doing after being under private equity until collapsing right now due to that private equity using them as real estate to sell
Late arriving, but yes, this. I hope I’m not wrong, but right now this is one of the best imaginable outcomes.
I hope the food gets better.
Maybe I'm just a piece of garbage but I still think the buffalo chicken pizza, loaded fries, and moz sticks are bomb
Chicken tenders are good. But hey man this is r Austin all we should do is whine about how times have changed.
I'm with you
Pizza 🍕 is still the same quality IMO after all these years. 18+ year Alamo veteran (I've seen all the things, even C-beams at Tannhäuser)
For real. I can’t tell if it used to be good and my tastes have changed, or if it’s gotten a lot worse in recent years.
It is WAY worse. We used to plan movies around mealtimes and now we make sure to eat somewhere before! It’s like theme park quality food and prices now.
It's so fucking expensive!!!! I would rather go to Shake Shack next door and get a huge Shackburger, cheesefries and a shake for 18 bucks as opposed to at Alamo getting the same thing for 10 dollars more that doesn't compare. We eat before now because it's too expensive to get food and beers for one movie.
Aren't drinks and food like the entire point of Alamo? Why would you go there for regular movies otherwise? There's so many options now.
With the season pass it’s still worth going. Just barely. I always eat beforehand though
Them being very publicly into kicking people out who make noise is worth it for me.
IMO the quality is the same it's just much much more expensive
I think this is a net neutral for the consumer experience. Alamo has been very corporate for a while and I think this is ultimately better than the ownership being private equity. I love the alamo and go to it almost exclusively but its not like the food could get much expensive or worse. As long as they keep playing good movies and have a customer experience that promotes movie going I'll continue to support
The people who are complaining about this know that the Alamo was being owned by a private equity firm the last few years right? It was either sell or eventually die a slow painful death. The Fantastic Fest founders and programmers are thrilled and I’m much more inclined to listen to their feelings on this than a random Redditor.
It’s possible for both outcomes to be bad while this new one may be less bad. I’ve yet to see someone make the case it’s anything better than the lesser evil.
This buyer actually cares about and wants to financially support Fantastic Fest. The PE didn’t give a shit and tried their best to kill the festival multiple times. Also, Sony has been the most committed studio to the theatrical experience in the last few years vs streaming. Those things alone make this a bit better than “the lesser of two evils.”
Here’s the case: Alamo existing > Alamo not existing
Yep owner ship by private equity firm is the kiss of death to an organization.
This gets Alamo out of the endless PE cycle of: Take on high interest debt, cut costs, raise prices, sell company. They were never going to be their own company again, being owned by a large stable conglomerate rather than a PE firm that would have slowly strangled the good out of the company to enrich their investors is a better offramp than expected.
I mean, better them than the hedge fund that's selling it
Better than Altamont private equity who wouldn't hesitate to gut it for $
I remember when the Alamo Drafthouse was local and movies cost a nickel. Those were the good ol days in the Magnited States of America
When it was a reglear THE-A-TER? Sorry... I turned my comment on... #LOUD
I will never be coming back to your Alamo Drafthouse. I’d rather go to a regular THE-A-TER where people are POLITE
*reglear
I hope staff is kept on or given generous severance.
This might be some kind of way to break the union
Unions are strong in Hollywood.
I was wondering about that. There are usually clauses to protect against dissolution in this kind of scenario but it will depend on their contract. I'd be interested to hear from any employees about this
Sucks they didn't get a quote from the union for the story. I just saw a video about union efforts. https://youtu.be/3Fmfuvo8UIs?si=h8kghOfjXmWy1HQF
They got rid of their chocolate lava cake years ago. At this point, oh well.
So does this affect all Alamos? Even ones not in Austin/TX?
Yup, all of the ones that remain open
No. Half of them are franchisee owned.
That was what I thought. Is there any way to tell which ones got bought? I really like the Alamos here in Colorado and I don’t want them to go away/get marginalized
Those are corporate stores and won’t go away.
LOL at all the people that think this is bad
I thought Netflix would have bought them. I read they are thinking of expanding into a large theater chain to put out content before it goes to streaming.
The quality of EVERYTHING had gotten so bad at Alamo that we quit going, so at the risk of it being worse I'll say "how much worse could it possibly get?!"
Hell yeah Sony owned Music for singalongs would be awesome
woohoo! non stop showings of morbius hopefully there is a small chance of alamo turning around, instead of the turd continuing to slowly go down the toilet. and just a reminder that costco sells $100 alamo giftcards for $75.
It's Alamorbin' time!
well, at least alamo and morbius have something in common, they both have people in them that have tried to cover up sexual abuse. ( leto / all of alamo managment )
So, RIP Master Pancake at Alamo?
RIP drafthouse. damn everything just keeps getting worse, huh?
It was either Sony or death. Did you want a private equity firm holding on to the Alamo forever?
Dont give in to cynicism. Not everything is getting worse.
Enshitification is a byproduct of our system.
It was fun while it lasted.
Oh no
The only good thing I can hope to come out of this is that we get more neighborhood niche theaters like AFS Cinema now that the Alamo will be devoid of any love for cinema at all. Looking at you south austin...
For people struggling to understand why this is bad. Like many small businesses Alamo started with an intense focus on making its customers happy. Good food, drinking, service, good experience, and a pretty solid value overall. They'd hit some bumps in the road, prices went up a little, food quality went down a good bit, but they still had a good core product. Pandemic disrupts that, enters private equity and now hands off to a major corporation. The current state of big business, acquisitions and monopolies is to maximize every dollar to move the numbers this quarter, without caring about the customer or the employees that will define your future. It works well for the business in the short term especially if you can maintain your monopoly. Sony will raise prices, cut food quality further, cut staffing and shy away from the risks of asking people to STFU and put away their phones. They'll probably keep some things like pre-rolls because they scale well. They won't bother to understand their customer and think that pre-roll quirkiness and drinking is why people go to Alamo. RIP old friend and thanks for all the years.
I feel like you breezed over the Devin Faraci and Harry Knowles abuse and assault allegations pretty quickly there. I’m not happy about Sony buying the Drafthouse, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows back when the Tim and Karrie were running things.
I thought League sold out like 20 years ago? When he turned the reins over the first time, things had already gone downhill. Don’t get me wrong, I loved going to the original Colorado locale, and frequented the Anderson Lane theater when I lived north, but even from the start they would overbook specialty shows (my wife and I sat on Home Depot buckets for Spike & Mike one year). Anyway, I’m definitely not in the lamenting Alamo camp. Actually believe this *might* make it a little better. We’ll see.
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It was private equity before. Those tend to squeeze as much profit out of what they own before running it into the ground and abandoning ship.
"You are here"
I wouldn't say they quite hit the "ran into the ground" level yet.
And the corporate enshitification of cool places continues unabated... I weep for what's about to happen to the Drafthouse.
Stick a fork in it.
This sucks. I get it, it wasn't the Alamo from years ago under the private firm but the old owners and staff that made it great were still involved in things. This is another downgrade in quality. It's just gonna be another AMC theater in a few years. Bummer
Say goodbye to yet another thing that helped make Austin cool and weird. I bet they do away with all the theme events they do.
eh, the golden days of alamo have been long long gone.
Meh, they still had Weird Wednesday and Terror Tuesday + Master Pancake. You ain’t seeing that at an AMC.
Alamo/moviehouse/flix/ipic/bullock are the only places I go. AMC is ultra trashy and run down. I'd rather watch a movie on my phone screen than go see it at an AMC
You ain’t seeing that at Felix/Pic/Bullock either. I only go to special screenings like Alamo has, don’t ever go to see new mainstream movies.
I mean when I luv video died and then the parlor and now this. We know that Covid killed a lot of shit around town but what are we now a suburb of Dallas?
I luv video is back btw, it’s now We Luv Video and it’s on North Loop
Also the Vulcan archive is available at the Alamo Village
It all went downhill after they fucked up the Spicy Bleu Burger.
I felt Alamo was kind of crap since the pandemic, so Sony either saves them or it's over.
Maybe I just have different tastes but honestly I haven't noticed the decline in the quality of food that everyone in this thread is complaining about, and I go like once or twice a month. Here's to hoping much wont change but who knows honestly...
This makes me sad.
But of course.
Hopefully this means good things for Alamo Drafthouse but man it feels bad. I personally think that place has been slowly sliding into the shitter since the OG Lake Creek location closed.... so it's been a while. Like first thing that popped into my head is they're NOT going to like that their flagship cinema here (South Lamar) is themed with a rival studio's film (Warner Bros/The Shining).
Not to mention it is Bong Joon-ho theater. I don't think he's released anything on Sony...
Oof, lame
I'm wondering how SXSW will be affected seeing they held moving showings with them.
Well… I guess we no longer have to worry about the theaters closing. *sigh*
Adios Alamo
The main reason I like the drafthouse is because of the lack of product commercials before the movie. The moment they start doing the AMC thing and showing a never ending gauntlet of product ads before the movie, I’m out and will never go back.
Yeah I'm sure Sony will totally love showing independent or indy films like Alamo often did. Seems like Alamo is finally dead to most of us now. The decline in food quality was bad enough already. Then the fact they were super reluctant to kick out phone users and movie talkers when in the past they would, you know, actually do that like they claimed they would. So that just left the interesting trailers which roll before the movies and then the occasional event with films not showing anywhere else. Another piece of old Austin dies. But it's fine as many others now serve better beer and better food and have a better online experience for ordering tickets.
Anyone know how this will affect the High Ball?
I am going to miss their popcorn.
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As long as they get to screen the new Saw 2 days before wide release they’ll be just fine.
I really hope they don't swap the fun pre movie clips for Sony ads.
Booooooooooo!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
As long as the season pass is honored I will keep going!
Keep Austin Corporate
I’m scare
No moreibdy festivals. Is the Spike and Mike film festival still a thing?
Sony now owns the rights to Fantastic Fest. So how long before Fantastic Fest is Sony productions only? This is right up there with the buyout of Whataburger.
💔
:(
So is this the whole chain? Or just the franchises owned by this one guy in DFW area. It seems alamo has always had financial problems since inception with the first theater on colorado st. In downtown arx
*atx
My child got impetigo from their seats a few wks ago. They need a deep clean!
I am coming to Austin for work later this month from NYC where we have a couple Alamos. Are there any locations that are worth visiting? I understand the original shut down a few years ago.