Studio Movie Grill to Open First Theaters on June 19; Hires Former AMC Executive as Head of Revenue and Marketing

SMG Sunset Walk. Image Courtesy SMG.

Texas-based dine-in chain Studio Movie Grill has announced that they will open three of their locations—The Colony and Tyler in North Texas, and City Centre in Houston—on Friday, June 19.

Studio Movie Grill’s website lays out some of the sanitation and safety measures to be enacted by the chain upon reopening; these include contactless ordering and delivery options as well as reductions in showtimes and available seating.

With today’s announcement, Studio Movie Grill becomes the latest in a string of Texas-based chains to announce reopening. Several others—including Santikos Entertainment, Star Cinema Grill, EVO Entertainment, and Cinergy Entertainment—opened select locations in May. Earlier today, Cinemark—also based in Texas, and North America’s third-largest chain—announced a phased reopening plan that will begin with the opening of five theaters in the Dallas Fort Worth area on June 19.

Information on reopenings at additional Studio Movie Grill locations will be “announced and added weekly,” per an official statement from the company. Ten percent of opening weekend food and beverage proceeds at the chain’s Colony, Tyler, and City Centre locations will go “to support SMG team members at locations nationwide still furloughed due to COVID-19,” per head of revenue and marketing Tonya Mangels.

Mangels is new to the Studio Movie Grill team. Previously, she served as the VP product marketing and executive officer at AMC, where she oversaw loyalty data analytics partnerships, mobile app and kiosk ordering, and both studio and food and beverage marketing; she also helped to build AMC’s dine-in concept and launch their streaming platform. At Studio Movie Grill, that experience will translate to Mangels leading development on loyalty and subscription programs, digital marketing, technology integration, and brand and innovation efforts, as well as the chain’s reopening strategy.

Writes Studio Movie Grill founder and CEO Brian Schultz, “With Tonya’s invaluable breadth of expertise in so many areas of the business and a proven track record of driving industry-leading growth, I can think of no one better qualified to partner with to vision and lead our successful revenue strategy. We believe her joining our team will strengthen our brand’s re-emergence, future growth and our ongoing technology and innovation efforts.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join the committed leadership team at Studio Movie Grill and extremely honored to be a part of the brand’s invigoration and continued growth,” says Mangels. “As a conscious business committed to making a difference, I am moved by SMG’s mission to make the world a better place by opening hearts and minds, one story at a time. Now more than ever, purpose matters. Brian’s inspiring commitment to value all stakeholders and the holistic person is incredibly refreshing.  SMG has a creative, ambitious culture and I look forward to continuing collaboration with the team to define and build the next chapter of the best-in-class SMG experience.”

SMG Sunset Walk. Image Courtesy SMG.