On the big screen, this would be a job for John Wayne ? valiantly defending the Alamo against overwhelming odds. Or maybe it would be Charlton Heston as Moses, holding back the Red Sea with the power of his faith.
In Baltimore, it?s Tom Kiefaber, trying to keep the wolves from the door and keep one of Baltimore?s precious landmarks open for business.
The Senator, for those of you who don?t get out much, is the region?s art deco example of how going to the movies used to be. This huge screen ideal can show larger-than-life films to 900 patrons at a time.
Lately, it?s become the city?s most popular charity.
Behind Kiefaber?s last-minute heroics, 3,000 fans from as far away as Europe raised more than $105,000 to keep the Senator operating. Kiefaber had fallen far behind with his now-famous $1.2 million mortgage. This got him back to square one.
Now what?
The Senator?s Belvedere Square neighbors are worried losing the theater would signal a major downturn in their own business community.
But Kiefaber isn?t just facing the typical problems of business in the city. He?s battling unique issues related to movie madness. A territorial practice called “clearance” keeps top films out of the Senator and the Rotunda, which Kiefaber also owns.
That doesn?t stop him. In a statement on the Senator Web site, Kiefaber vowed to “insure that The Senator Theatre will never again become perched on such a perilous precipice.” That?s easy to say and a lot harder to do.
Kiefaber?s been trying to do it for 20 years and has come close to failure before. He may just be fighting an impossible battle. The industry now woos young moviegoers who may not care about the Senator?s history and wide screen. Last year?s national ticket sales rebounded after three straight years of decline, but the films often aren?t good enough to draw people to any theater ? not even the Senator.
According to Boxofficemojo.com, more movies were shown in 2006 (606) than any time in the last 25 years. But 1997 was the last time this few tickets were sold. Why? Too much competition. Too many cable channels, iPods, Web sites, computer games and more.
Zogby?s poll shows 45 percent of moviegoers say “their movie attendance has decreased from five years ago.” Thanks to Netflix, it?s easier and cheaper to watch a DVD in your living room than at the Senator.
Despite all that, the Kiefaber will keep fighting. But the market so far has said it doesn?t care enough to make the Senator a box office hit. Unless that changes, the next film we might see could be “The Last Picture Show.”
Dan Gainor is The Boone Pickens Free Market Fellow at the Media Research Center?s Business & Media Institute, a career journalist and media commentator. He can be reached at [email protected].
