Dear Friend of the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre,
Thank you for joining 3255 concerned citizens who have signed the petition urging the board of the American Cinematheque to hold a public meeting, explain the problems facing the troubled non-profit, halt any potential sale of the Egyptian Theatre and be transparent about its plans moving forward. The petition is directed to the board, to the local city councilmember's office, and to the California Attorney General, who was already investigating the American Cinematheque before it sought to sell the theater.
On May 29, when Netflix announced it had completed the purchase of the Egyptian Theatre from the American Cinematheque, the news broke in the Los Angeles Times, and was soon echoed by the industry trade papers. Every story was essentially the same, sourced from the official press release, quoting the same people.
Only one journalist took the time to read that press release, call us for a quote, and do additional reporting into what the sale might mean for the American Cinematheque, the historic theater and the Hollywood community. We shared Chris Lindahl’s IndieWire piece in our last update.
As we were wrapping up our conversation with Chris, we told him what we’ve told every reporter since last spring: “If you really want to understand what’s going on with this transaction, send the Charities Registry a blank check and ask for all documents related to ownership of the Egyptian Theatre, an asset held in the public trust.”
Well, he did it! And last night, he published a follow up story based on 500 pages of documents turned over in response to his public records request.
The documents reveal that the Attorney General did, as we suspected, initially block the theater sale. The AG also imposed a major price cut, and required creation of escrow accounts to hold repair and seismic retrofitting funds. These restrictions came about because the American Cinematheque was not the “owner” of the theater. It was a charitable asset, and its transfer out of the public trust was at the discretion of the state.
There are more surprises.
Under the terms of the deal, Netflix can sell the Egyptian in 2032, and the nonprofit can be evicted a year later, breaking its 99 year lease.
Although Netflix now owns the Egyptian, and the American Cinematheque will host programming there three days a week, it isn’t accurate to call Netflix the nonprofit’s landlord. The nonprofit will pay no rent, and will receive $44,520/month from Netflix to cover staff salaries.
And Netflix competitors will be barred from screening films there.
All we have asked for since launching this petition is that the nonprofit board be transparent with its members and the community, explain why it believes the only option was to sell the Egyptian, and lay out plans for the proposed Netflix deal. That never happened. It shouldn’t take a reporter filing a public records request to bring these details into the light, but it did.
American Cinematheque: do better. You are a member supported nonprofit, with a mission and ethical requirements of your board and your employees. And you matter to Angelenos. Don’t screw this up!
We continue to call for an open public meeting, between the board of the American Cinemetheque, the dues paying members of the non-profit, and the general public, and with the new owners of our landmark Egyptian Theatre, Netflix, so that people can finally get answers to the many questions that have been stirring around the theater for more than a year.
In light of the pandemic, this can be a virtual meeting. Surely, Netflix has the technical capacity to organize such an event.
Please continue to share the petition with friends who love the American Cinematheque and want to see it thrive in the historic Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. And stay tuned for additional news as we have it.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim Cooper & Richard Schave
Friends of the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre