Today’s moviegoers require variety, not just in what they see, but in the cinemas they choose to patronize. In partnership with Spotlight Cinema Networks, Boxoffice Pro is proud to present Indie Focus, in which we explore the wealth of experiences that cinemas—from the high-end luxury multiplex to the beloved community art house—offer their audiences. In this issue, we speak with Eric Brembeck, co-owner of Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse and the Grandview Cinema & Drafthouse, both located in Columbus, Ohio. In operation since 1938, the Studio 35 of today prides itself on providing guests with a unique experience, where they can pick from a selection of 40 draft beers, eat a movie-themed pie from the in-house pizza kitchen, and attend any number of innovative movie events, most famously, Dude-A-Thon, the theater’s annual, weekend-long tribute to The Big Lebowski.
Indie Focus is sponsored by Spotlight Cinema Networks
Your Studio 35 location has such a rich history, having served the Columbus community for over 85 years. How did you come to be involved with the theater?
[Co-owner Rita Volpi and I] bought 50 percent ownership in 2006. Later, we bought our partner out. We did a renovation in 2009 and another in 2019. With the first renovation, we added the bar, and then with the second we added a screen and a pizza kitchen and updated the bar a little bit. We have a small screening room now that seats 28 recliners, [in addition to the main screen, which seats 195].
For independent theaters, every extra bit of revenue you can bring in on top of ticket sales helps enormously. The merch program at Studio 35 is really robust: You have branded clothes and accessories, prints of past Dude A Thon posters, and a whole line based around a mascot named Mr. Pickles. Can you talk a bit about how you have developed your merch program and your brand at large?
We combined various things we’ve done in the past. We’ve eventized our location. It’s a night out. That’s the key to our success, and it’s going to be the key to our success moving forward. Hollywood can be challenging for art houses, so [going big on events] is what we decided to do. It’s heartening to see that repertory screenings are having a boom in popularity, particularly when it comes to their ability to bring in Gen Z moviegoers.
What rep programming has done well for you?
We do something called Saturday Cinema Classics, where for five or six weeks we bring in older movies. We had our best season this past year. We did When Harry Met Sally on Valentine’s Day. Enter the Dragon. We also do something called Calling All Hookers. Basically, people who knit and crochet call themselves “hookers.”
I’ve been wanting to go to one of these! It’s where people can work on craft projects, right?
We did it last month, and it was a huge success.
What did you screen?
We did four of them. We have two locations: the Grandview Theater and Studio 35. We did Bridesmaids and Drop Dead Gorgeous at Grandview and Booksmart and Girls Trip at Studio 35. Every month we do a beer tasting with a movie. We’ve been doing that for 15 years, at least. We recently showed Best in Show with the beer tasting, [and we partnered with] Metazoa Brewing Co., where every label on their beer has a different animal. With Calling All Hookers, we partnered up with a local craft store. The owner marketed [the series] to her email list, and we gave out coupons for her shop. She does on-screen advertising with us. We do a lot of those types of [collaborations with local businesses].
How has Studio 35 evolved since you came on board?
We were not in the business. We didn’t know anything about anything, but we loved movies. When we bought the theater, we never really got that many movies on the break. We’d get them week three, week five. Then I found a film buyer, which was probably the best money I’ve ever spent. Then we pivoted and tried to get more first-run movies. For a long time we only had one screen, and it got to be difficult because of the long terms that [the distributors required]. We always thought, “If we add another screen, it will change everything.” And it certainly has.
As far as audiences go, what’s unique about us is that we keep growing. People in Columbus might not necessarily know who we are, but people who do know us will wait to see a movie with us. As long as they know that it’s coming out, they’ll wait to see it, or they’ll see it with us a second time.
Back in the days before digital, people still came to the theater, even though the sound was difficult and the equipment wasn’t the greatest. Studio 35 has always had a very loyal following, and we really pay a lot of attention to [their feedback]. The presentation is important. The seats are important. The sound is important.
We just installed a new screen; it’s one of those where you press a button and it retracts up into the ceiling. We’re adding new sound. There was nothing wrong with our sound before—we were 7.1—but now we’re upgrading all the speakers and the processing to get as close to Atmos as possible without having the Atmos brand, because [that way you] only pay a third of the cost. We’re still reinvesting in our business.
There’s a lot of talk nowadays about reinvestment. For large chains, that often means adding premium format auditoriums, which isn’t really possible for most indies. You still want to provide a quality audiovisual experience, obviously, but that reinvestment most often takes the form of creating a special atmosphere: special screening concepts, creative menus, etc. It sounds like that’s an area where you really thrive.
I recently joined the board of the Independent Cinema Alliance, and one of the things that I talk about with people who are in a similar situation to mine is that whatever you’re doing, it has to be unique. That will help ensure your survival. What’s your hook? Why are people going to come to you, specifically? Is it the popcorn? Is it a certain person who works there? You have to figure out what that is. We’re fortunate: We have virtually no turnover in staff or bartenders. We’ve figured it out, for today, anyway. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We’re never satisfied, because we’re always trying to figure out what the next fun thing is or the next reason to make someone come hang out with you. You have to have that mentality. If you don’t, then you’re irrelevant. That’s all.
Are your staff and your audience a good resource for you, in terms of sourcing new screening concepts?
Absolutely. The craft night thing, that came from a patron. We just started doing a horror marathon, but we reach out and get that feedback about what people want. So we don’t do a 24-hour [marathon]. We do 12 hours.
Our two theaters are a little more than six miles apart. One of our team members suggested Gump-A-Thon. Basically, we started Forrest Gump at each location, and then an hour into the movie—when Forrest starts running, basically—we hit pause, and everybody ran to the other theater to finish watching the movie. That was a huge hit. We had, I think, 100 people between the two locations. It was really fun. We’re trying to build momentum on that for this year.
What are some of the things you’ve done to encourage repeat visits from your audience?
Physically, our location is different. It’s not just a movie theater. We have a bar, we have food. We’re like the “Cheers” of movie theaters, at least in Columbus. People like our staff. [Guests] know them when they walk in. I think one of the best things we’ve done–we’ve been doing it for three years–is institute a popcorn bucket program. We basically sell a popcorn bucket for $50, and you can bring that bucket in anytime throughout the year and fill it up with popcorn. We get people showing up who just get popcorn and leave, which is fine. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing someone walking down the street with the popcorn bucket in their hand, because you know they’re coming to your theater.
We’re also very fortunate in that we have a 38–42 percent open rate on our emails. We spent a long time trying to give people what they want and putting money back into the theater and our people. It’s not about us. It’s about the community, and it’s about our staff. We have very little turnover. [Our team members] aren’t just kids shuffling popcorn or whatever. Our managers are learning different aspects of the business. We’re always trying to create events or reasons to make [our cinemas] different or special. We had someone show up a couple of months ago from out of town because they saw how we decorated for Barbie, with the bar all pink and everything. That was awesome. A year and a half later, someone comes in and wants to see a location that they saw on Instagram!
How do you work with Spotlight Cinema Networks to make sure your preshow advertising matches the unique vibe of your theaters as a whole?
There are a lot of ads for TV shows. Like shows on FX–the edgier sort of shows that I like to watch. We don’t really have [shows that give us] water cooler moments anymore, and I think some of those shows do, or have the potential to. [The ads we choose] aren’t pretentious–they’re about you, not about showing everyone what you have. It’s not this mass commercialization of products. It’s very targeted and specific.
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