I am frequently asked, both in person, and digitally on social media and via email, why I show one movie over another. The short answer is...it's complicated. The long answer is as follows...
So, it's like this, we are a dying breed of single screen movie theatres and the big studio folk in their palatial, fashionably appointed offices in Hollywood and New York don't really care about my one screen venue all that much. I desperately need them, and they barely register my existence. But to my town...the city of Kannapolis, my theatre matters and is the site of countless memories for people decades over.
However, when working with the big studios there are several rules...
Rule One is not to tick them off in any way, and they are so easy to tick off that it is beyond belief. If one of the majors that I've been buying from for four months and paying early without a quibble suddenly decides to send me a 25 page document that basically boils down to a guarantee that if I, Gem Theatre, Inc. fail to pay them, I (as an individual) am liable for it, personally. That's right, they made 25 or so words into 25 pages that made my eyes swim. Of course I'll sign it quickly, scan it into a PDF, and send it to them followed by the hard copy in the mail as they asked without wondering "Why?" - aloud. That's just the way this cookie crumbles.