REMEMBER THE ALAMO !

The Alamo and 1982 - What's The Connection

The Alamo Drafthouse Theatres, a small cinema chain HQ'd in Houston, TX, is one of EEC's clients.  The Drafthouse operates as a cinema/restaurant but does it with unique twists and approaches to film exhibition which is unlike any other cinema.  For example, Alamo regularly commissions famous graphic designers to 'reimagine' movie posters for films and then prints up its own one-sheets (trade name for posters for you movie film buffs). This summer, in celebration of their 30th anniversary the Alamo will be featuring movies of 1982.  '82 was a great year for films - Thriller, Conan The Barbarian, Mad Max 2, Rocky III, Poltergeist, Star Trek II, E.T., Tron all premiered.

Says, Tim League, founder of Alamo Drafthouse, "I was only 12 in '82 but I remember seeing many of these movies at the local cinema. The Drafthouse will mimic '82 exactly, even running the original trailers for these films."  Even the films that didn't succeed that year at the box office have settled into their place in film history.  For example, The Thing. And yes, 3D was around.

The Alamo Drafthouse Theatres provide a rare entertainment experience that combines Hollywood first-run and art films with great Tex-Mex food and one-of-a-kind programming events which places the Drafthouse in a class all its own.  Named "Best Theatre Ever" by Time Magazine, the Drafthouse chain has built a brand and reputation as a movie lover's oasis, and is a prime example I point to when other exhibitors ask how they can survive in the future.  Surviving is going to take a lot of thought, hard work, and initiative.

Thinking 30 years back and playing off that theme is the sort of
showmanship that every cinema operator should be doing.  The
key is to brand your cinema as a unique entertainment space that
is a fun and exciting place to visit.  The competition for eyeballs is getting harder and harder. In the future, just running movies will no longer be enough, exhibitors will have to be much more creative, much more customer oriented, and much more selective with the services and products they provide .

Drafthouse posters are great and many times best the originals. This one of
Blazing Saddles is eye catching, amusing, and very creative advertising.  

A Drafthouse 'Reimagined' Poster of Blazing Saddles