Some of the independents are prospering, some are finding a niche with art films, and some are hanging on - barely - thanks to profits from the concession stand.
The Philadelphia area's surviving seven independents are the Bala in Bala Cynwyd; the Narberth in Narberth; the Merlin in Jenkintown; the Yeadon in Yeadon; the Newtown and the Sellersville in Bucks County, and the Harwan in Mount Ephraim, Camden County. The County in Doylestown is an independent cinema operating as a nonprofit theater.
Recently, there has been a flurry of construction by area theater chains. AMC, General Cinema Corp. and United Artists Theaters are building ever-bigger multiplexes, multiple-screen theaters, and loading them with blockbusters. The distributors like the fact that the chains, with proximity to shopping and parking, have the potential to draw crowds and can show a film several times daily.
Independents, on the other hand, are primarily in neighborhoods, suffer
from tight parking and usually have only one screen. A multiplex can take a distributor's blockbuster and still have several screens for the distributor's other movies. So getting a distributor to take an independent seriously is a constant struggle for these entrepreneurs.
"It's a real crazy business," said Robert Milgram, who co-owns the Yeadon Theater and has been booking movies for almost 20 years. "There's a lot of complaining and whining and pleading, and finally you get to have your picture."
"We just maintain good relationships with the majority of distributors," said Greg Wax, owner and operator of the Narberth Theater. "That's very important. It's the key to getting good films."
He said the Narberth gets serious consideration because it "grosses significantly more or equal to any of the theaters on the Main Line of its caliber."
