Oct. 22, 2006

SEND IN THE CROWDS
The refurbished Screenland Granada in KCK is looking for its audience.

By ROBERT W. BUTLER
The Kansas City Star
 

Last weekend the Screenland Granada in downtown KCK showed a new print of “Top Gun.” Twelve people showed up. For the entire weekend.

“It’s every bit the challenge that we assumed it would be,” operator Butch Rigby said of the newly restored movie palace at 1015 Minnesota Ave.

Rigby opened the Screenland Granada in July with a plan to tap into KCK’s — and the metro area’s — burgeoning Hispanic audience. The idea was to show Spanish-subtitled or dubbed versions of mainstream Hollywood films, as well as Spanish-language movies. Rigby ran more than 400 ad spots on local Spanish-language radio.

But the audiences haven’t materialized.

“What we’ve found is that the majority of Hispanic patrons are accustomed to going to see regular English prints,” Rigby said.

“As with all movie demographics nowadays, it’s the young people who go to movies. And they speak more English than do their parents or grandparents. They want to go to the multiplex with their friends, with other kids.”

The Granada reopened with a Spanish-subtitled print of the new “Pirates of the Caribbean.” It did just OK business.

Since then the theater has booked the Mexican film “My Brother’s Wife” and several recent English-language pictures, none to tremendous success. The Granada’s biggest hit to date was a revival of “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

“ ‘Raiders’ did great,” Rigby said. “It played to 200 people.”

What next?

Rigby said he’ll be booking family-friendly, mainstream movies at the Granada on weekends. Meanwhile he’ll work to turn Thursday night into a showcase for foreign language films.

“I’m thinking we should borrow an idea from FilmFest. At FilmFest when we show a French film it’s in partnership with the Alliance Francais. And there’s always a good turnout.

“That approach might work for us. And not just with Spanish-language films. KCK has a big Croatian population. No reason we can’t find a film that will appeal to that community.”

Targeting specific ethnic audiences is pretty intensive work, Rigby said. It means making lots of grassroots contacts through churches, men’s and women’s clubs and schools. And it means compiling or obtaining e-mail lists of potential patrons.

It also means listening to the customers.

“We’re going to have to ask the community what they’d like to see,” Rigby said. To that end he’s asking that comments be directed to him, either by e-mail ( Patrick@screenland.com) or by phone at (816) 421-2900.

Rigby has a few ideas. He’s thinking about instituting late-night shows of the “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“We just got our full liquor license last week, so that looks like a real possibility.”

Also being considered: live entertainment. The Granada will host the Northtown Opry, a country-western show, on Nov. 5.

When everything settles down, Rigby said, the Granada may resemble a community center more than a conventional commercial theater.

“It’s been a challenge, but I have to say that the KCK Unified Government continues to be incredible in their efforts to help us out. If I get discouraged all I have to do is talk to these community leaders and I get pumped up again.”

Check out the Granada Theater website http://www.screenland.com/theatre/granadaindex.html

This story was found at the following website:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/15800625.htm