Although movie theaters are still not allowed to open in a traditional sense, the Lumina Theater in Southern Village has gotten creative in order to run its outdoor “Movies by Starlight” program in a way that complies with the current safety guidelines.
The new general manager of the Lumina, Doug Rowe, spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck earlier this week about how that process is going. This marks the third week that the theater has been putting on showings of classic movies outdoors, with those showings happening only on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
Orange County also recently reduced the size of permitted outdoor gatherings to just 25 people, but Rowe said he has been in close contact with the county health department to make sure the procedures in place are up to standards.
“We’re doing 40 pods out there,” Rowe said. “You can fit up to five people in one pod. A pod is 25 dollars. There is six foot spacing between every pod. There are three 12-foot aisles. There are five entrances and exits that remain open.”
In addition, Rowe said the staff are taking several steps to ensure their own safety and the customers’.
“All of our employees are getting temperature checked,” he described. “They’re gloved up. They’re masked up. We have a public restroom that we are constantly cleaning before, during and after [the films.] We’re handing out masks at all entrances before the movie, and before every movie.”
Each pod of five people is marked in a 9-foot-by-9-foot square and is considered its own individual gathering, which is how the theater remains compliant with the new rules. In addition, guests are required to purchase tickets online to reserve their pods to try and avoid having to exchange cash.
Rowe also said there have been discussions about potentially having temperature checks for guests at every entrance, but for now that procedure is still just for employees only.
“It took a lot of different shapes and we kept adapting and learning more and making sure we were covering all of our bases before we opened, not learning as we go, to make sure we were ready when we opened,” Rowe said. “It was a lot of different adaptations.”
The theater is also going through adaptations on the inside, as it is using the downtime created by the pandemic to undergo a complete renovation with updated theaters, chairs, floors, concession stands and a new HVAC system.
To this point, Rowe said the Lumina has had sellouts across the board for its outdoor events since re-opening and considers the changes a success. Despite not having any new movies to premiere and relying on old favorites like Star Wars, Jaws and Jurassic Park, the high turnout numbers show that plenty of people in the community are simply excited to be out of the house and able to enjoy movies together for the first time in months.
Rowe also said the theater will conduct online polls to involve the community in decisions on what classic movies to screen in the near future.
“The community’s been there and they’ve been following the rules,” Rowe said. “We’ve had no issues so far. It’s been really great.”
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