News

Movie Theater Owners Launch Lobbying Effort for Federal Loans

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has launched an effort dubbed “#SaveOurCinemas” with the goal of convincing members of Congress to pass the “RESTART Act” which would provide forgivable seven-year loans to theaters.

“Without your help, we could lose our beloved cinemas and a cherished American pastime. I urge you to support the RESTART Act (S. 3814/H.R. 7481), and to please press Treasury and the Federal Reserve to implement more relief measures for cinemas of all sizes,” reads a pre-written text which users can send to their representatives at saveourcinemas.com.

The bipartisan bill currently sits with 13 sponsors in the House and 11 sponsors in the Senate. It expands the Paycheck Protection Program and established a new program that provides up to seven-year long loans for businesses with less than 5,000 full-time employees.

AMC Theaters, the nation’s largest theater chain, employed 3,952 full-time and 34,920 part-time employees as of December 31, 2019.

NATO represents over 35,000 domestic screens and also organizes the annual CinemaCon convention, which was cancelled this year.

Martin Samoylov

Recent Posts

Black Widow to Include 22 Minutes of Expanded Aspect Ratio in IMAX

As with previous Marvel films, the upcoming Black Widow will include expanded aspect ratio scenes…

3 years ago

Nick Nicolaou on the Alpine Cinema Renovations, Selling Brooklyn’s Last Adult Theater and More

There are only a handful of independent movie theaters left in New York City and…

4 years ago

Warner Bros Asks New Yorkers To See Tenet In Theaters Despite 6 Month Delay

Even though the movie was released last August and is already available on home video,…

4 years ago

AMC Closes Six Locations Following Deal With Landlord

AMC Theaters, the largest theater chain in the United States, permanently closed six major multiplexes…

4 years ago

Here’s How You Can Watch Tenet With Subtitles At The Theater

As previously reported, Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" features one of the directors key tenets: inaudible dialogue.…

4 years ago

First Tenet Audiences Describe Inaudible Dialogue

Inaudible dialogue has been a signature trademark of director Christopher Nolan and his newest film…

4 years ago