Opinion: Movie theaters get new life, the old-fashioned way

By Liv Blair

When Sean Baker stood on stage after winning best director at the Oscars for "Anora," he used the time to speak on something seemingly simple: going to the movie theater. During his speech, he highlighted the nearly 1,000 movie theaters lost in the United States during the pandemic and emphasized that directors must continue to make the kind of movies meant to be watched in a theater.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, movie theaters struggled to remain profitable, and many have been forced to file for bankruptcy or close their doors — the Metropolitan chain being one of them. In 2024, the company who owned seven Metropolitan Theaters declared bankruptcy in an attempt to reorganize its debts and lower rent costs by renegotiating leases. Their bankruptcy announcement left locals wondering what this would mean for their future moviegoing experiences.

The Arlington and Metro 4 theaters were unaffected because the company owned the buildings, but the other five were in significant danger. Then, in fall 2024 it was announced that SBIFF would be taking over the Fiesta 5 theater.

The Arlington, one of the Santa Barbara Metropolitan movie theaters, is one of two who have been unaffected by the local chain's bankrupcy.

In a unanimous Santa Barbara City Council vote, they decided that Santa Barbara International Film Festival director Roger Durling would transform the downtown theater into a space that could show SBIFF films all year long, keeping moviegoing integral to Santa Barbara and garnering excitement around it through the festival’s prestige.

Every year SBIFF brings Oscar-contending film stars to Santa Barbara to accept its prestigious awards. Through buying Fiesta 5, SBIFF will have an even greater presence in the Santa Barbara community, allowing a theater on the verge of closing to become a hub for those saying no to streaming and invested in preserving the art of moviegoing. A win-win scenario. Plus, Darling’s recent Fiesta 5 remodel encourages patrons to think of moviegoing as an irreplaceable experience.

Durling has intended to manage the theater like an art house, so that art house and foreign films can have longer runs. He is turning the Fiesta 5 into a space where people can experience movies beyond traditional blockbusters and keep moviegoing integral to Santa Barbara’s culture. 

At this year’s 40th edition of SBIFF, the Fiesta 5 was up and running — marking the first time SBIFF had a venue that they owned to screen films. Durling stated far more people frequented the venue rather than the gradual turnout they expected. This theater on the verge of closing down just a year ago marks a resurgence in moviegoing.

The Fiesta Five theater in downtown Santa Barbara recently changed ownership. New owner, SBIFF director Roger Durling's vision is to screen art and international films year round.

SBIFF is also big on film education, an important factor since UCSB is only 20 minutes away from downtown. With the Metropolitan Camino Real Cinema in Goleta also in danger of closing in the near future, having theaters which are guaranteed to stay open will assure college students that they will always have a place to watch new films. Additionally, the festival regularly has opportunities for film-minded students such as internships and a Film Studies Program which is open to 30 undergraduate students nationwide. SBIFF also featured three films made by UCSB students this year in their official festival lineup, giving these students a way to showcase their work on the big screen. With the Fiesta 5’s buyout and SBIFF’s continued success, UCSB students will have access to a silver screen for the foreseeable future.

SBIFF’s buyout serves as a case study in how to keep moviegoing alive. New owners can choose what to screen and tweak the programming to their liking, like foreign films or tributes to older directors in Roger Durling’s case. When assessing whether it is better for a theater to close down or private ownership to take the reins, the latter is far better to preserve the overall moviegoing experience. Streaming services continue to dominate the market, so moviegoers must recognize the human value in communal, in-person screenings. 

SBIFF has demonstrated that partnerships between festivals and other film institutions can provide an answer to the struggle to preserve theaters. And for Goleta and other college towns in particular, movie theaters are a quintessential space for students to mingle and interact.

These recent closures have acted as an omen of what’s to come if Hollywood doesn’t find a way to resurge moviegoing. If anything, one can hope that Sean Baker’s speech acts as a call to action for filmmakers and audiences everywhere.