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Health & Fitness

Arena Cinema - Hollywood's Neighborhood Indie Cinema - Get to Know Us

What would it take to open and operate my own movie theatre in Hollywood? It was a question I asked myself back in 2011 as I drove through Los Angeles. I realized the entertainment capital of the world literally has only 5-6 places that show true independent film.

So about six months ago we opened Arena Cinema, which is literally right next door to The Egyptian Theatre.  During the day the space is inhabited by Theatre of Arts Acting College and at night we show movies under the auspices of Voltaire Media.  The Arena was formally a part of the Egyptian theater in the 1970s and 1980s when the venue was known to LA moviegoers as Egyptian 2 & 3. At that time United Artists ran the venues.  So in the early 90's UA closed the venues. 

We've been showing new independent films from IFC, Tribeca, First Run Features, Kino-Lorber, Breaking Glass, Sony Classics, Oscilloscope... all great distributors. The great part has also been that filmmakers contact us directly and we're able to work with them and show their movies at Arena.  Most if not all the movies we are showing are not on any other screens.  We're looking to bring smart, intelligent films to Hollywood and to the community, films that are not being seen.

I grew up with a movie theatre in my neighborhood.  I guess you could say the cinema has always been a part of my community.  I don't want the movie experience to become isolated with me downloading movies and watching them by myself.  That's the whole reason we have spent thousands of hours just engineering getting this little cinema operating.

Arena Cinema is a testament to the fact that Hollywood can have a community driven, alternative commercial cinema venue.

Our concessions are healthy foods. We don't have popcorn, we have popchips! Kettle Korn and Natural flavors. We have S'mores bars and Roasted Seaweed snacks. We serve no soda beverages only room temperature bottled water.  Different yet sufficient, we have to keep it simple.  We don't go crazy overcharging on concessions or serving you with a big gulp sized cup you have to carry with two hands.  We don't believe in a 'give them more-pay more' concession model. That's stupid and wasteful.

We're a little hard to find. Our entrance is the back gate, on the side of the building tucked next to and behind The Egyptian.  The front has very little signage.  We have convenient parking next door and across the street for $5 (with validation at box office.)
Look for the flickering lights and our ARENA letters. 

All of us involved know that Hollywood needs more independent platforms.  This week we are screening "Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay."

Check us out online at http://arenascreen.com





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