Cross-posted from the Austin Post:
Tim League is synonymous with the ethic of Keep Austin Weird. As the proprietor of the Alamo Drafthouse and co-founder of Fantastic Fest, Tim is responsible for bringing much of the weirdness to the city. But not everyone shares League’s views, or at least not recently.
League has had a couple of very public scuffles over some of his programming and business’s decisions, both of which this author believes he should be lauded for. But some disagree, begging the question: are we just a bunch of overly politically correct conformos? Do we suddenly value rudeness in the name of “freedom” over making sure everyone has an awesome time?
A new PSA set to run before Drafthouse screenings included an angry phone call from a patron who had been kicked out of a screening for texting on her cell phone. This PSA quickly went viral, as people around the country rallied with the Drafthouse against annoying patrons. Her malopropisms like “MAGNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” will likely be among the top internet memes of 2011 along with Charlie Sheen’s “Duh! #winning” and the musical abortion that is Rebecca Black’s “Frijday.”
So, props to League and Co for catching lightning in a bottle, and for enforcing a rule that we all appreciate.
In a recent episode of Geek Show Podcast, panelists Kerry Jackson of X96’s Radio From Hell and Jeff Vice of MSN’s Parallel Universe and The Big Movie Mouth-Off decried the theater-going experience. Jackson isn’t willing to put up with the talking, the texting, the kids coming to R-rated movies, especially not when he has a nice theater at home. Vice can rarely stand to go to a regular theater because of the nonsense—of course, he admits he is a little spoiled because most movies he sees are in critics’ screenings (where people actually know how to behave like adults and your cell phones are confiscated from you before you enter the theater) but a small price to pay for peace and quiet. “I’m cellphones-in-screenings intolerant!” proudly proclaims Vice.
What makes seeing a film at the Alamo is not just that you can get a beer, that you can get a meal whose ambience matches your film (like a “Royale with Cheese” and a “$5 Milkshake” to go with it), but the fact that they strictly enforce the no talking and no texting rules. Walking into a theater is like part of the Social Contract: everybody STFU so we can all enjoy ourselves because we all paid good money to be here.
So League (rightfully) received praise from across the country from The View to Anderson Cooper on CNN, displaying not only the breadth and diversity of agreement with his and the Alamo’s ethic, but also opened up a broader conversation about theater etiquette which was quite refreshing. With an amazing “aw shucks” attitude, League responded to all the praise in another youtube video.
“>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pog94I8v8c
While box office receipts are up nationwide, theater attendance is down. Blame home theater and hi-def. Blame gimmicky theater extras that don’t necessarily add more to the experience, like 3D or moving seats (as discussed by my AustinPost colleague Gabino Iglesias here), which often don’t add anything to the experience. Blame whomever, but League set out do something different. He wrote for CNN,
Poor projection, bad sound and, worst of all, disrespectful patrons in the cinema were slowly eroding our fun, so we conceived of the idea of opening a cinema ourselves on our own terms. We could program the movies that we loved, create unique experiences around those movies and make sure people behaved appropriately.
In the first couple of months of operation, we came up with some very simple guidelines that all of our theaters still adhere to today. They were all born from our own reactions to experiences we hated and endured when we went to the movies. The insistence on these simple policies is one of the main reasons people are loyal to our cinemas today.
We also serve beer, and that helps.
League told me, “I think it is the whole package. Our philosophy is to create a compelling reason to come to the theater. Our policies, the preshow, the programming and the food and drink are all part of the package.”
And then there’s the Napoleon Dynamite “controversy.” Here’s how KUT told the story:
The Austin Parks Foundation canceled the May 25 screening after protests from disability rights activists over the presence of the word “retarded” in the PG rated movie. In a May 25 post on its Twitter page, the Parks Foundation implied the city would pull its sponsorship, meaning the Parks Foundation would have to pay $2,500 for use of Republic Square Park.
Unfortunately, the screening was canceled. “I actually really appreciate the sentiments and the arguments posed by the “R-word movement.” League told me. “They are right in trying to get people to understand that it is a hurtful word. My issue was really with the city of Austin canceling the screening. I would have rather had the show move forward but have some sort of dialogue acknowledging the controversy before the screening.”
Which is all very ironic given Napoleon Dynamite’s PG-rated content and genesis as a student film at squeaky-clean BYU. “There are so many more hurtful and mean-spirited films out there.” League, known for bringing challenging or extreme films to his theaters for events like FantasticFest, even liked the idea of using a recent promo from Jane Lynch that ran during Glee to introduce the show and then have a discussion.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T549VoLca_Q
“Show the films, don’t bury them, but bring the issue to the fore” is the ethic League explained to me.
When asked about censorship, or if he has any lines where he will simply not show a film because of content, League is more concerned about context than content. If the material is gratuitous or exploitative, it’s out. “We pass on a LOT of films like that. I do like some controversial films, but only if they have artistic merit or spur on dialogue. RAW DEAL, CASUISTRY, SERBIAN FILM, these all fall into that category. I like the latest blockbusters too. We like to show a mix of films.”
A final challenge for League is city politics. Incumbent councilwoman Randi Shade is mounting a comeback campaign after being forced into a runoff after coming in 2nd to challenger Kathie Tovo, and League is a vocal supporter of Shade. “I’ve gotten involved in city politics (from the sidelines) for a few years now. I know Randi pretty well and I think she is whip-smart and very fair and balanced. We need her on city council right now.”
Iconcoclast? Latent politico? Social media maven? Leader of a movement? Entrepreneur? It’s hard to put Tim League in any box. But what it really comes down to is the movies, which is where this all started. While we may not be able to predict the next amazing thing he is going to do, we can be sure we’re going to get some great movies out of it. “I’m gearing up for Fantastic Fest right now, watching lots and lots of screeners. That is my favorite week of the year and the lineup for our seventh edition is looking great. As for in theaters: Troll Hunter, Bellflower, 30 Minutes or Less, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Drive and 50/50. Those are what I’m looking forward to.”
And we’re all looking forward to enjoying them in a comfortable theater with no talking or texting and enjoying our favorite beverage while doing so. Stay frosty, and see you at the Drafthouse. First round’s on me.