Ipic movies5/27/2023 ![]() ![]() The theatre built a solid reputation as one of the better cinemas in Los Angeles. The original theater occupying the location on Wilshire Boulevard was opened on by General Cinema (GCC) as the Avco Center Cinemas, a three screen complex whose main auditorium had roughly 1,100 seats. The iPic Westwood opened in May of 2014 as the company’s 10th location. When it comes to a “high-end” or “luxury” cinema, iPic has chosen to set the bar extremely high, at least at their Westwood venue. To be sure, there was no difficulty in getting the scoop on the iPic Westwood, however we walked away from our visit realizing our preconceived notions of the theatre were dead wrong. ![]() After all, we thought, how hard could it be to cover some upscale cinema in a major modern metropolis? In this day-and-age, such venues are being opened at a breakneck pace by the likes of Arclight Cinemas, Cinépolis and Landmark Theatres. With our publication deadline looming, and June quickly coming to an end, we decided to stick with the iPic Westwood as our Cinema of the Month and cover it the old-fashioned way actually show up in person to do a little fact gathering. Like Muvico, before the chain was sold to Carmike Cinemas in 2013, iPic Entertainment is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. After a public falling out with his investors in 2005, Hashemi parted ways with Muvico and immediately launched iPic Entertainment with the intention of opening high-end, luxurious cinemas. By 2006 the chain had grown into a noteworthy circuit with 13 locations in the United States pulling in $120 million in revenue. Hashemi started out with a single Southern Florida theatre in 1984 and in 1988 began building Muvico Theatres. ![]() Maybe he has been burned by other media outlets during his more than 30 year career as a cinema operator, and thus assumed CJ might do the same. Rather than the informative and relatively promotional pieces our Cinema of the Month posts tend to be, we were told Hashemi was afraid he might be giving away trade secrets to his competitors. Having not received a response after some time, we were eventually informed that Hamid Hashemi, the founder and CEO of iPic Entertainment, wasn’t fond of trade publications like Celluloid Junkie. We also contacted iPic’s public relations agency multiple times and were assured that details about the iPic Westwood would be forthcoming. When we set out to cover the iPic Westwood, an upscale cinema in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, we reached out to the theatre chain directly, as is appropriate in such instances. “Simultaneous release, in practice, has reduced both theatrical and home revenues when it has been tried," National Association of Theater Owners President John Fithian said in a statement.In completing this profile of the iPic Westwood as our Cinema of the Month for June, we were reminded just how important it is to avoid one’s own preconceptions. The iPic deal has already prompted a backlash from the movie theater industry. Making more original content available to non-subscribers is one way the company is fighting slowing growth, especially in the United States. Adam Sandler memorably signed an exclusive four-movie deal with the streaming service. Netflix produces more than 30 original series and has ramped up its production of original films in the past two years. Mascots, a mockumentary from Spinal Tap director Christopher Guest, is up next on Oct. War drama The Siege of Jadotville will be shown at iPic theaters starting Friday. The first Netflix movie will hit theaters pretty much immediately. ![]() The deal specifies that 10 Netflix movies will be shown in New York and Los Angeles iPic theaters, while leaving the door open to expanding to other cities. Netflix has screened movies in theaters before, but this deal is its first long-term commitment to a screening arrangement, the Journal said. Marvel's 'Iron Fist' comes to Netflix in March 2017 ![]()
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