Petition to Re-open Brownwood Theater
 

Sign here to reopen Barnstorm Theater in Brownwood square. Petition * Reopen Barnstorm Theater to Provide Adequate Public Theater in Brownwood, The Village FL! * Change.org

If the developer thought that reopening the theater would either be a profitable endeavor or help them to sell more homes do you think it would have happened a long time ago?

It’s a dying industry

Words ain't going to cut it.................put your money where your words are...............tell TV you will invest in the project because you can guaranty the viability. Get about a half of million............that might get their attention.

:crap2:

I signed the petition, but I think it’s futile.

You should be petitioning the film industry, to make some decent movies.
Cinemas are no good if there is only a steady stream of rubbish to watch.
JMO.

Do you think the developer has plans for a movie theatre in Middleton, with all the families that will be living there, and thus the reason for not re-opening Brownwood? Those families in Middleton will be far from theatre options. I know I am speculating here.

With quality movies, I would be going to Brownwood 3-4 times a week to see movies. I also would go to all the “special event” reissue of older classic movies that came to the theatres.

One person and counting…………..

The industry has changed.
Mark Morris did a nice job (I thought) explaining.
You might try to find the video....it was at one of those Morse Town Meetings.

I love movies and would love for it to reopen. However, I also understand that it is a business that needs to have a profit. There are VERY few times that I have gone to the Playhouse in Sumter Landing when a theatre has been even close to full. Went this week and there were maybe a dozen people watching the movie we attended. We just have to accept that the Big Screen is going the way of the Drive In Theaters. Into extinction! Enjoy it while you can!

I agree. I think the petition should be for fund raising and pledges to support re-opening. Not citizen demands that somebody else accommodate us.

That last movie I saw was Message in a Bottle, my wife talked me into it. I have no use for movie theaters but tonight, 9:00 on the History Channel, "Alone" is on, great reality show if you haven't watched it.

If they would sell me the theatre for .5m I would seriously consider it. At least worth getting the stats on it. I was thinking a golf cart drive in would be fun in TV. In SRQ during the pandemic years we held a drive in on weekends at UTC. Filled every spot every weekend.

"invest in"................not sell the theater for $500k............."invest in" it and cover their losses for a while. :popcorn::popcorn:

The Villages is a unique market and should not be compared to places like NYC, Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, etc.

We have a huge number of people who are retired and loved going to the movies.

But the Villages' developers can do anything they want within the law.

Signed and shared on Facebook.
 

I signed the petition and shared it on Facebook. You would be surprised who shows up on my Facebook and who has shown up. For instance, I had a member of the N.C.I.S. staff ask me about my employment and family life. This was by a Private Message. I told him/her it was complicated. That is the N.C.I.S. show and not the N.C.I.S. even though many law enforcement sites also pop up on my Facebook page along with various universities. To my dissatisfaction it was not Katerina Law.

If the Developer was planning a movie theater in Middleton…..it would be in bold letters in their marketing.

You got that right. And the last I looked they are still marketing the Villages as having three movie theaters. It is just that two of them are not open.


The Villages - Florida's Friendliest Active Adult 55+ Retirement Community

No, I don’t think so. The younger generation has grown up in a world of streaming and are very unlikely to frequent a movie theater.

As DEWILSON said, if there was revenue opportunity, the theater would be open.
The movie theater industry is contracting at 15% a year.

they already have the alternate use in the plans for Brownwood (just my opinion).

With creative advertising they could easily get people into the theater. Especially if they show older movies and bring them in with the interests of various clubs here in the Villages.

Church groups, schools, nursing homes, sports groups, etc., could bring in their own special audiences.

Have to disagree.

From a business prospective............which this is, a business and not a non-profit.....it ain't going to fly.

Villagers, nursing homes (the clean-up could be a nightmare), etc., are not going to come at full-price.

The business model is not there.

I think these guys are right, the evil Developer knows, with creative advertising they could fill the theater and make a fortune, but they want us to be miserable without a theater.
The Developer knows nothing about branding/advertising/marketing, all 100,000 of us just stumbled our way into the community.

The developers already have made themselves millions. But they do still advertise the Villages as having three movie theaters. It is not about making money but having things like pickleball courts, basketball courts, swimming pools, billiard tables, dancing venues, etc. Quality of life for the home owners and their families. And movie theaters were part of that promise.

But this is a company town so they can pretty much do whatever they want until people leaving makes them do something else.

You mean Mark Morse..... This thing is like beating a dead horse. It's been discussed and explained ad nauseum. They didn't close the theatres to make folks angry. There isn't enough revenue in it and it all "died" during the plandemic. Make many block-busters and "maybe" the industry will come back but with all the streaming devices, apps etc. it just won't happen. The Morse family isn't to blame---Hollywood is!!

The entire village of Richmond sold out in about 10 minutes, and it wasn’t because of the 3 movie theaters.

You nailed it. Why do people think the developer has not reopened the theater, he usually does not shy away from money making opportunities

Again. It is not about making money. It is about the style of life. And golf and very little cold weather are what sells houses here in the Villages as well as word of mouth. The developers make money hand over fist.

Challenge for all the movie theater opener crowd, list the 24 movies in the last year that would have gotten you and at least 10 of your friends to the movies over the last year every 2 weeks. Old movies do not cut it, people can watch those at nauseum on tv anytime they want, you can watch Rambo 10 times a day in multiple languages.

Many of the movies I have gone to of late at the Old Mill Playhouse were almost full to capacity especially on Monday All Seats $6.

You are being too kind. They are just flat out lying about having three theaters. I have asked them several times to update their website, and they have refused to do it. It is an intentional lie.

Streaming crushed movie theaters. Why AMC went under.

Maybe the developer will lease the theater to some enterprising movie buff and they can take a run at it.

Yes, they know if they remove the three theaters from the web site, NO ONE will move here and buy houses.

Point missed.

Throughout the history of The Villages, potential homebuyers were drawn to the community because of various amenities, activities, features. Over time, some of the features were replaced, and others simply eliminated.

If they will intentionally mislead potential homebuyers over something as benign as "three movie theatres" vs. "one movie theatre" what else will they intentionally mislead potential homebuyers about?

Friendliest home town?

Have you noticed that movie theaters are not being opened by movie buffs? For better or worse the economics of movie theaters have changed and the industry is shrinking.

I would say that movie making is booming but it is now on many platforms with many more countries getting involved in it as well as many more states in the US. Hollywood is spread out all over the United States.

Nothing I’ve seen in any plans or flights over the downtown area of Middletown indicate any plans or intentions to build a building big enough for a multi screen theater (single screen theater don’t make money). While some theaters are still popular and profitable, many are not and the trend continues to worsen nationwide. Younger audiences have different viewing preferences- phones and tablets - and do not desire to enjoy the big screen experience that previous generations have.

The low attendance at LSL’s theaters continue to prove the lack of profitability of the current market. The developer is not everyone’s rich uncle who is here to provide for our every wish, they are a business and businesses exist to make a profit. That’s not a bad thing, it’s how most of us living here in the villages were able to get here, the companies we worked for or owned made a profit and we received a portion of the profits, saved some of it, and eventually retired here.

So to the OP, your petition idea is a waste of time, a fool’s errand. If you want the theater opened the prove the developer’s business decision is wrong, open you checkbook, lease the property and make it a profitable business venture. Don’t expect someone else to fund your fool’s errand.

Don’t agree with me, fine, prove me wrong.

Again. The Villages is not made up of 20-30 year olds. It is made up of people from maybe 45 to 100+ years young. People who grew up with access to big screens in many theaters.

It is a question of promises made and not kept. Three open movie theaters is stated plainly TODAY on their website. It is a selling point.