Mann Theatres Tries to Unload

With increased competition from multiplexes causing a financial drain, Warner Bros. and Viacom are selling off the Mann Theatres chain that has locations in the San Fernando and Conejo valleys. Mann has already cut loose some of its theaters in Westwood and other areas in the city and looks to unload the remainder as soon as possible although the chain has yet to receive any firm offers. Mann operates two theaters in Glendale, a 16-screen facility at The Plant in Van Nuys; 9-screen theaters in Thousand Oaks and Granada Hills; and an 8-screener in Westlake Village. The chain’s most well-known location is Grauman’s Chinese in Hollywood, site still home to many premieres and the world-famous courtyard with the hand- and footprints of screen legends. Mann is a joint venture of Warner Bros. and Viacom and is the only U.S. theaters chain either media conglomerate owns. It has long been the interest of the shareholders to sell off the entire chain to another exhibitor or do it piecemeal with individual sites, said Millard Ochs, head of Warner Bros. International Cinemas. While Warner Bros. has invested heavily in creating an exhibition infrastructure overseas and currently operates more than 70 cinemas in Italy and Japan, the exhibition side of the business has never been a focus in the U.S. That is because for decades movie studios were not allowed to have an ownership stake on the exhibition side of the business. Warner Bros. obtained its part ownership in the Mann chain starting in the 1980s. An investment firm bought the chain in the later 1990s but within two years was back in the hands of Warner Bros. and Viacom. “Like any business you have to monitor what is going on and keep the facilities looking good all the time or you are really in trouble,” Ochs said. “It is not a core business. Some (theaters) are profitable; some are not profitable. Overall it is not great.” A major contributor to the exhibition business not being great is the competition Mann faces from other theaters. The single-screen locations in Los Angeles were particularly hard hit by multiplexes. The Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village Mann locations did fine until the opening of the Muvico Thousand Oaks 14 theaters last year. The Muvico chain markets itself as a “premier” movie going experience with digital projection, all stadium seating, VIP services, and 21 and over only seating areas. A similar situation developed in Glendale, where the two Mann theaters did good business until the 18-screen Pacific theaters opened up the street at the Americana at Brand center in May 2008. “There are too many screens now in Glendale,” Ochs said. Mann has told the city that it will not renew its lease on the 10-screen theater at the Exchange and there have been talks with the property owner about what could happen with the space, Glendale Director of Development Services Phil Lanzafame said. Those theaters are dated and lack stadium seating but could still be used to show movies or perhaps other types of entertainment, Lanzafame said. “They could change to something else altogether,” Lanzafame added. “They could be raised and start from scratch.” The four-screen theater operated by Mann at the Marketplace in Glendale is of a more current style.