(upbeat music) - [John] Hello and welcome to Art House, a Flatland conversation about all things art and cinema.

My name is John McGrath.

I'm a producer for Flatland at Kansas City PBS.

And guess what?

I'm also a filmmaker.

(upbeat music) Okay, we're doing all things social distancing here on Art House, so we've got our guests via remote.

Thanks for being here, guys.

- Thanks for having us.

- Yeah.

- My first guest is Adam Roberts!

Adam, thanks for being here.

- Thanks for having me.

I have nowhere else to be than right here and I'm excited to be here.

- God, that's so great.

Adam is the co-owner of the Screenland Armour.

He co-owns it with his brother-in-law, Brent Miller.

We're going to talk to him about all things movie theater and kind of COVID-- related with that.

Adam, thanks for being here.

- Thank you for having me.

- My other guest is Anthony Ladesich.

Tony, thanks for being here.

- Hey, it's a pleasure.

I'm really happy to be here and honored.

- Hey, you look great man.

You got the beard going.

You got the cool poster.

You look great, Anthony.

- It's my collection of paint-by-numbers gallery (chuckles) right there.

They're all animals and the ones that didn't have animals I had somebody paint animals into.

- [John] Oh, my God.

Yeah, it looks-- I'm feeling you, man.

- Part of the record collection... - Yeah, I was gonna say just a small, small part.

Okay, so Anthony is a writer, director, producer.

He's a musician.

He's like a five tool guy.

I've known Tony for so long and he's here to help and give some advice and help us through this COVID thing going on here in Kansas City, film-making wise.

So, the COVID had hit here in Kansas City.

The first thing I thought about was going to a movie and so, Adam, when did it first hit that you knew you had to close the theater and tell me about how this whole thing started.

- Yeah, so I mean, we had started preparations early March, actually, and making sure that our patrons were safe coming in here.

So we had actually closed every other road down preemptively and that was, I think, March 5th.

We had already implemented that.

Of course, we had implemented extra cleaning and sanitizing and protection for our customers coming in during that time.

So I was actually out of town on a short little trip March 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th.

I was just down the road but we had got word that-- I believe on the 12th-- that A Quiet Place, which was going to be opening the following weekend was the biggest tent-pole of the first quarter of the year.

(suspenseful music) - [Actor] The people that are left... Are not the kind of people worth saving.

(gun cocks) - [Adam] Was gonna be moving indefinitely.

And then, shortly thereafter, we heard Mulan was moving.

(dramatic music) And then, you know, the dominoes just kinda kept falling.

So I was out working remote on my phone as fast as I could, trying to fill all these gaps and trying to find ways to, you know, bring in revenue during those times while we were still opening.

We had some great, terrific independent programming already on the books and some good classics and some great restorations and things like that but you know, truthfully, those don't bring as much business to us as we'd like.

You know, they're great and they're, truthfully, some of the things I like the most that we do but A Quiet Place would've paid for us to do so many of things.

So, I was working diligently and I was able to fill up the first three weeks-- last week of March and first couple weeks of April, and then I got back on the 14th and kept working on the 15th, making sure we had all our-- making sure our customers knew.

So we're making sure the word was out that we were doing everything on our part to ensure their safety here while we were open.

And then... That was March 16th, when I was here working on a Monday, making sure everything was as smooth as it could be and as safe as it could be.

And then Monday at six o'clock, after working all day to ensure those processes, that's when the city shut us down.

(truck engine roars) So we changed gears and then went into shut down mode and making sure that, you know, all of our equipment was down.

All the electricity that could be down was off so we can save as much-- as many pennies on those utilities bills as possible.

But yeah, so I mean we were just kinda running around with our heads cut off trying to figure out what we do next.

And then, after I got all those things Early April, it was like okay, now what do we do here?

(chuckles) What is the real way we stay alive and make revenue and keep our community happy and talking about movies and watching movies?

So that's been like my goal right now and really my passion is to just continue to keep everyone else like sane and talking about movies and not thinking about the Coronavirus and really just thinking about movies and what we all love, 'cause that's, you know-- cinema's our church here and that's kinda how we present it and so we gotta keep talking about it, gotta keep watching it.

And so it's kinda changed into like-- with Patreon, when we do these watch parties, we sometimes do polls, but by and large, I just decide what I wanna watch and people are gonna watch it with me.

So it's kinda like assigning homework, so that's been fun to do.

But yeah, I mean it's been crazy to think, in that same seven day window, I went from thinking I was going to be open that Friday to launching Screenland Online and doing popcorn to go within the same five or six days is crazy.

- God.

Adam, I'm exhausted just listening to you, man.

That's an amazing story and what's weird-- Anthony, on your end, it's that it doesn't stop-- it didn't stop with you with your freelance work so you had work, right?

And it kept going as time went on, but then it's always about the next job with you.

So that's kinda where things are starting to be a problem on your end, correct?

- Well, I-- first of all, I'm a member of the Screenland Patreon.

I highly recommend it.

- All right.

Let's all do that.

Very good.

Nice.

- I would like to just say that I do think that, even before this, I think that Adam has done a pretty incredible job of building a community around Screenland Armour.

A lot of that has to do with Panic Fest and it's just a really incredible, you know, community and family of film cinephiles and filmmakers that, you know, all kind of band together around that theater and I think Adam is largely to thank for that, so.

Yeah.

So for me, my wife and I were-- on March 1st, we left to go to New Zealand for vacation on holiday.

When we got home, I was just very fortunate to have had a really nice first quarter and I had a post-production job that I was finishing up.

And I had a few weeks of work and was employing a couple of other people during that time, which was great.

And then, that client who I love, came back and they wanted to do a cut down of that, so, like, I had another couple of days of work, you know, about a week ago.

And so, you know, honestly, like right now, it doesn't feel like anything different than just normal freelance life.

We are trained to store our nuts for winter and we are trained to sort of, you know, like, weather the storm of not having any work.

But it's been almost two months of no shoots and no production and nobody, you know-- not everyone was as fortunate as I had been in having those jobs, you know, in the pipeline already.

And so, you know, I think for me, while I was doing those jobs, I was also figuring out what the world was gonna look like for me and so I've been writing a bunch.

I'm working on a feature that's based on a short film that I made called The Icarus One.

I wrote a new short that's kind of a horror-comedy thing.

And then I've been directing a bunch of narrative podcasts.

- Oh cool.

- Like kinda weird Twilight Zone, - Yeah.

- Black Mirror... You know, oddball, twisty things that-- and they're sort of like radio dramas and that's ultimately what I wrote this new short for was this audio podcast that I'm gonna start putting out as soon as I have probably five or six episodes in the can.

And then, I've been directing and writing on and collaborating with a guy named Jim McCullough, an animated spec pilot for a cartoon show that's called Balthazar and Snert.

(chuckles) And it's sort of like Lord of the Rings meets Dumb and Dumber and it's like an absolute, total joy-bringer.

- Awesome!

Wow.

Yeah - It's really wildly funny and it's very sweet and it's got a heart in it.

So basically, like I've been directing as much or more than I've ever directed in my life while in lockdown, but I do it-- excuse me-- over Zoom and I have actors, you know, in closets with their clothes as dampening, you know, reciting lines of dialogue-- so it's like I'm directing remotely and then editing.

Here, I've moved my whole operation home to a spare bedroom.

And so, yeah.

So like, I've been wildly creative.

Like I've had kind of a weirdly creative renaissance happening.

- Yeah.

- Which is... Really nice.

- Yeah.

- And then... You know, the other side of that is that I'm paying really really close attention to everything that's coming out of LA and everywhere else, just in terms of like, what are the new standards and guidelines going forward for production?

And, obviously, we're talking about things that are much bigger productions than I'm on.

- Right.

- Like major motion pictures and, you know, crews of 50, 60, 70 people or more.

And, you know, casts of people, you know.

And even on my best day, you know what I mean?

- [John] Right.

- It's not that level.

It's not, you know-- - [John] Right.

- Though it has been (mumbles) but-- so it's just been fine.

It's been really interesting to kinda like be watching what we're gonna have to do from safety protocols, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

So... That's kinda, yeah.

That's how I've been you know, kicking it during quarantine, as they say.

- [John] Wow.

(chuckles) With kicking it in quarantine with actors in closets over the phone.

That's amazing.

- [Anthony] Yeah.

- Wow.

- And it's just nerve-wracking 'cause like I'm working on one of the podcasts.

It's called Little Games and I've been working on a Little Games episode and it's an actress named Ellen Kirk, who I think is just absolutely fantastic - Oh, yes.

- And then another-- named Seth Mackie who is just, again, just a jaw-droppingly good actor.

And so, we were kinda doing a FaceTime conversation and then figuring out the technology of like-- you've got an earbud in so that you can hear everybody on the FaceTime and then you're recording into something else, and then Ellen was actually recording onto her phone.

So then, like, - Wow.

- She had the FaceTime up on her computer-- so it's like everybody-- - [John] Yeah.

- And then you've got cans on so you can hear yourself.

And then the internet connection was just terrible so it's like I can hear every fourth word - (chuckles) Right.

- And so I'm like, "I think we got it?"

Like-- - [John] Yeah.

Yeah, that kinda like, "Okay, sounds good."

Yeah.

Wow.

- I guess we'll see.

I guess send me the final-- - Yeah.

- So, legitimately, that was like a week and a half or so ago and I'm just now getting to the edit now.

And, legit, I had an extensive phone conversation and I love both of those human beings like family.

- Sure, sure.

- So I had pretty sensitive conversations with both of them like yesterday and this morning because I was like, "Okay so...

I'm just going to have you guys re-record pretty much everything (chuckles) and let me just give you some notes based on what you did in the thing that I couldn't hear."

And then I would kinda give some redirect and we would have conversation and I'd go, "I don't really need to be a part of it.

"Like, you can just do it."

- Right.

- "I've given my direction.

"Now, you know, "Sally forth and create."

And so, you know, I'm getting files back now and it's super trippy.

It's really weird, but like, oddly, kinda fun.

And doing so much voiceover in the podcasts and doing all the sort of animation stuff-- man, I'm really starting to get really passionate about it.

Like I really-- You know, I don't know what the world looks like on the other side of this but if it's me doing, you know, animated shows and movies then that would make my life, so.

- Dude, you're so talented.

You set your mind to anything, Anthony, you can do it, man.

So...

So Adam-- - I'm terrible at basketball.

- I know.

(chuckles) Like Noah.

He's got no jump shot or something (mumbles) So Adam, what about like-- what was amazing when we talked on the phone was just the timeline.

I don't think people realize that-- when are we going to go see a movie?

When can I go out?

I mean it's 10% now-- Tell me the whole story like you told me on the phone, how it's 10% now and that you think maybe December or whatever.

What's the timeline look like?

- Yeah, so what's kinda interesting is.. .

As our city starts to reopen and other cities and communities around the country do, some are restricting movies.

The biggest one being California.

So, California has put it in phase three, which people are assuming is gonna be like late July, August, possibly in September, for movie theaters to open.

So they're not-- they're restricting as of a few days ago.

They're restricting movie theaters from opening at all.

So we'll see what that changes, you know.

Our city's been acting different than our state, so I'm assuming some of the cities might have different rules than the states can allow.

But, you know, everyone's gonna follow California's-- California and New York are where so much of box office comes from and that's kinda what the-- and those studios exist in those cities, so...

Surely nothing will be released until they all decide, but right now, the next movie that hasn't moved from the release schedule is slated for July 17th, which is, to the day, four months since we closed our doors, so.

You know, right now, in Clay County, we could open our doors if we wanted to.

We're subject to-- well, they're researching, but we're subject to some level of capacity, whether that's per auditorium or overall building capacity.

So, likely, it's gonna be auditorium capacity, which-- this big theater behind me is 240 seats.

We're talking 24 people if it's 10% or maybe 50 people if it's in the 20% range.

So...

I'm looking to maybe dip our toes in, like get a one off or a couple day event and see kinda what the crowd looks like, what 24 people look like, what the concessions look like, and just kinda see what that looks like.

But... You know, I know the chains are talking about July 1st being when they begin to reopen and kinda look at those things.

Today I've just received emails from just about every studio with options-- they're going to have available classic options.

Of course, they have most of their prior libraries, but somebody like Disney, who owns Fox, doesn't allow anything unless they specifically release it.

So this is interesting because they've never done anything like this, theatrically.

So there's like some pretty cool stuff that-- one title in particular that I won't name yet, but maybe - Oh, come on!

- (mumbles) - What?

Come on.

- Okay, so...

I don't know what version.

I don't know anything, but it's-- one of the titles is Empire Strikes Back.

- [Narrator] The empire strikes back... (dramatic music) - What?!

- [Narrator] The next episode in the Star Wars saga... - [Adam] Which has been unavailable to show in theaters since Lucas owned it.

So... - [John] You're kidding me.

- [Adam] It's interesting - [John] That would be like-- - [Adam] To see-- - [John] Oh my gosh.

Keep going.

- [Adam] Because we don't know - [John] Sorry to interrupt.

- [Adam] They're all digital versions so I'm not sure if it's the same version that's on demand.

We know that there is restorations of the original releases that Lucas had completed himself.

There was also 3D versions.

So we don't know what that's going to look like, but that was, of all the titles that were sent out to us, Empire Strikes Back is a very exciting title to have on there.

And that's like later in May that it was available.

But I mean, truthfully, we just don't know.

Even though we might open July 17th with Christopher Nolan's new film, - [Actor] Welcome to the afterlife.

(dramatic music) - [Adam] Which is a great, I think, film to start with.

I mean, it's the guy who loves movies probably the most in Hollywood right now.

- [John] Yeah, in a theater.

He's the guy that wants you to see his movie in a theater.

Right.

- [Adam] Exactly.

He loves movie-- You know, it's like him and Tarantino.

They love celluloid and they love the theatrical experience more than anybody.

(chuckles) - [John] Oh yeah.

- [Adam] Although, Edgar Wright's right up there.

- [John] Yeah, he's-- Yes.

- [Adam] He's been very - [Edgar] Bang.

And then, at the two minute mark, the chase starts.

- [Adam] And he's helped us quite a bit to get our word out there.

But yeah, even July 17th-- if that's when we start opening and maybe we have a 25%, we're probably not gonna open all four of our screens here.

We'll probably open one or two for a number reasons.

I mean, sanitizing the entire - [John] Ah, yeah.

- [Adam] space between shows-- I mean we're gonna be spacing them out probably... Somewhere between 60 and 90 minutes apart, whereas usually we do 30 to 45 minutes.

But just to ensure we can clean and our staff isn't just beat down-- we'll probably show a movie, for example, at like 4:00 and if that's over at 6:30, we'll probably show a movie at 8:00.

So we will kick everyone out, sanitize all the bathrooms, all the concession, every theater that's been open, every surface we can, and then, essentially, just reopen.

So we'll probably be only showing one or two movies a day, instead of three to six movies a day which, again, hurts our business.

So I don't know what the reality is, really.

The big question is how's it gonna look at the concession stand where we all really make our money?

Are people gonna wanna crowd around each other?

Wait in lines, even with a six foot rule?

You know, it's... Are they gonna want to sit here and just experience it with a mask on and not drink or eat anything?

Which... To me, to not eat or drink anything at the movies isn't the movies.

You know, I go to the movies not only to escape but to kind of live a little and engorge in some bad foods and drinks.

So I don't know what it's gonna look like.

So... We're nearing our two month closure next week.

So that's gonna be... Something interesting.

You know, it's strange.

Movie theaters don't close, you know?

Snowstorms rarely make us close.

In the nine years I've had this, I think we've closed probably five days, probably.

And that's like really bad, horrible ice storms that I can't-- you know, I can't get here.

Usually it's like, "Oh, well I'll be here."

You know, weekdays that most businesses close, like holidays or things like that-- those are our busiest days!

We have to be open, you know.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, all those things-- There's no breaks for movie theaters.

We're a 365, seven days a week and that's because it's very expensive to run a movie theater.

Shutting down for a day is like-- we might as well just set your bank account on fire.

Now we're approaching 60 days and we're looking at, possibly, 100+ days without movies by the time we get a new one.

That's...

Pretty detrimental.

And I think we've all seen the big articles.

Doom and gloom for the big chains like AMC and, you know, Cinemark and things like that because their debts are so high.

It's the same thing for all us little guys.

We've all upgraded to digital, added new seats.

We've all tried to maintain a level of new technology and that's-- technology is very expensive and it takes 7 to 15 years to pay it off and then you buy something new.

So you're constantly upgrading these things that cost a lot.

For us, we just added two new screens on, so it was two new everything last year.

And while our last year was tremendous and the first portion of this year-- you know, Tony mentioned Panic Fest.

It was our biggest Panic Fest.

We had a great-- And our Panic Fest keeps getting bigger, but-- You know, we're thankful for that.

We're one of the last film festivals in all of America and we had a great year, but now we just don't know the reality.

We're in the same boat as everyone else.

So... We're trying to be creative, but there's only so much you can do.

You can only sell so much popcorn and soda on the sidewalk, you know?

- It'd be safe to say that you're kind of in a holding pattern.

You're like-- All your questions haven't been answered yet, right?

- Yeah, so this past weekend-- - [John] That's gotta be frustrating, right?

- A couple theaters around the country tried to do some limited programming.

There's a couple in Texas and there's one, I believe, in New Mexico.

The New Mexico one was in a relatively small community and they showed-- they had a newer, religious-themed film and it was outside.

So they had a really big attendance and they were kind of-- there's some articles that were kinda making things seem a little different than what actual reality were.

But the ones in Texas that were showing things that we would be showing, similarly-- either films like The Invisible Man that were already out in theaters that are now on VOD-- - [John] Okay.

- [Adam] A number of months have gone by.

- [John] Right.

- [Adam] They were showing those and their attendance, we've heard, is not great and, likely, not worth opening.

I mean, it's just really expensive.

That's why the chains-- you know, people like AMC are gonna be the ones to open last because you're talking 12 to 30 screens per location with no product.

You're talking the need for 25 to 50 people, any given moment, to be able to-- probably more than that because the sanitization's gonna be through the roof.

And, not to knock chain theaters, but cleanliness have never been one of their top priorities and now it's gonna have to become that.

And just on our side, one theater with four screens, the cost of chemicals that we had to undertake in those first couple weeks we were open in March was four or five times what we're typically looking at.

So just the cost of operations and the number of bodies we need to do it right and make sure people are actually safe-- so there's just a lot of question marks.

When is the product gonna be new?

When are they gonna feel safe enough to go out and sit in the dark next to a stranger?

And how do we survive when our cost of operations are just through the roof?

- God.

Yeah.

Well, so... Let's wrap this show up.

So, Anthony, you're the vet, man.

You've been doing this a long time.

What advice do you have for everybody?

What's the future-- maybe not advice, but what's the future in this whole COVID thing with not just watching movies, but making movies, and just in general?

- Um... You know, I don't know that I can really prognosticate too much, but... You know, I think-- I came into this business at a time when we were leaving the age of the specialist and I kinda came in at a time when you had to be able to do kind of everything and do it well.

So this sort of creative generalist, this person who could shoot and edit and direct and, you know, write and produce-- It's been really interesting and fun to watch over the past like 5 to 10 years that we've sort of entered the age of the specialist again.

So there are camera assistants who are just camera assistants and there are audio people who are just audio people.

I know that that's not gonna go away and I think that there are always gonna be sort of bigger jobs for, you know, people who are just literally nothing but specialists.

And, you know, myself-- like I stopped doing basically anything other than direct.

But I think that, you know, for me, I'm gonna dust off all my hats and I'm gonna be nimble and I'm gonna be ready to work with the people that I know.

I brought several people into the business and trained them to be able to do kind of everything and then they went on to become really incredible specialists.

You know, camera assistants or whatever.

And, to be honest with you, it's like those are the people that I'm probably going to do a lot of two, three person shoots.

And it'll be a while before I'm super comfortable being around a ton, a ton of people.

But every single client's gonna (chuckles) get an email that says, "Hey, just wanted you to know that every single shoot's gonna cost three or four thousand dollars more than it would because we're gonna be testing-- we're gonna be testing people for the virus.

We're gonna have to have a crew position of somebody that, you know, is basically like a health czar.

We're gonna have to, you know, purchase masks and gloves and all the sort of PPE stuff for crew.

I think that all of those things are things that we should be doing if a crew gets over-- a casting crew gets over five or six people.

So...

I don't know.

I go back and forth between being like, "Everything's going to be cool.

"There's going to be an avalanche of work.

"There's gonna be--" And I do definitely have that feeling that maybe there's gonna be an avalanche of work and we're just not going to know how to handle how much brands and agencies want to utilize-- everybody's always gonna need content.

They're always gonna need stories.

And then the other part of me is scared to death that the phone's never gonna ring again.

- Yeah.

All right, well... We'll end it there.

Thank you so much, you guys, for being on the show.

Adam, I wish you so much success.

I know everybody here at Art House is gonna do everything in their power to keep your amazing, amazing theater.

It's not just seeing movies, man.

You connect filmmakers.

Panic Fest-- I mean, you do so much for the film community that we really hope things work out with you.

And Anthony, my man, I know you're gonna make it.

You always have.

(chuckles) You're the shark, man.

Yeah, you know you're a shark.

You're constant-- - A cockroach.

- [John] Constantly moving to stay alive, so.

(chuckles) Okay, see you guys.

Thanks for being on the show.

(chuckles) And I wish you the best of luck.

- Thanks for having us.

- All right, well that's another edition of Art House, a Flatland conversation about all things art and cinema.

I want you to do me one favor though, if you can.

Please, if you can, go out and see a movie.

Thanks for joining us.

(upbeat music) [Narrator] For all things KC, flatlandkc.org/subscribe