Dear Friend of the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre,

Thank you for joining 3272 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.

The Egyptian was sold to Netflix for $14.4 Million, and like all Los Angeles venues, has been shuttered for months. Netflix has let it be known that they have plans to keep the Egyptian closed for an indefinite period of time while they undertake major renovations / alterations, with the intent of shrinking the number of seats in the theater, removing the small Spielberg screening room and balcony, and changing the lobby layout.

Because the Egyptian Theatre is a designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, Netflix cannot continue making decisions about the property in secret, but must make a public presentation to the Cultural Heritage Commission, requesting their approval to move forward with any changes to the landmark.

This means that for the first time since Ted Sarandos, Netflix executive and American Cinematheque board member, began negotiating on behalf of two masters to transfer the American Cinematheque’s sole asset into corporate hands, the public has a voice. Please use it.

On Thursday, January 7 at 10am, the Cultural Heritage Commission will hold a Zoom meeting, with Netflix and its architects making a presentation on what they want to do.

A PDF link to the agenda and instructions for attending the meeting is here. And the instructions are also at the bottom of this message. Additionally, visual materials will be made available sometime today here. And you can preview some of the project renderings now at this link.

You can attend the CHC meeting on your computer, or call in on your phone. Members of the public will have an opportunity to make public comment expressing their opinion about items on the agenda—The Egyptian is Agenda Item 5. If you’d rather send an email, you can do that by Wednesday night to chc@lacity.org, subject line: "Re CHC meeting 1/7/21 Item #5 EGYPTIAN THEATER AND FORECORT STOREFRONTS, HCM #584."

If a lot of people call in on Thursday, public comment may be limited to one minute, so be prepared to be brief. You can say a lot in one minute. Please note that the CHC is only concerned with safeguarding the landmark building, not in any concerns you might have about the non-profit and its programming.

Here’s a suggestion of something you might say if you call in — feel free to use this as your starting point, and to personalize it where you see a *:

“My name is (* My Name) and I’m a resident of (* My Neighborhood) and a Longtime (* Member and/or Patron) of the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre. I am concerned about Netflix’ plan to keep the theater closed indefinitely while making major changes. Is this work true to the spirit of preserving the landmark, or mainly intended to give Netflix a state-of-the-art red carpet venue? Please provide strong oversight to make sure the Egyptian Theatre is protected, that it continues to project film—including the highly flammable vintage nitrate prints which very few venues can safely show—and remains a treasure of our community for another 99 years. My favorite thing about the seeing a film at Egyptian Theatre is (* Something Special I Want To Share). ”

We are hopeful that with the oversight of the Cultural Heritage Commission and the public, the future of the Egyptian Theatre will be a positive one. Looking forward to hearing from many of you Thursday in public comment.

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

>> CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION MEETINGS CAN BE LISTENED TO BY DIALING (213) 621-2489 OR (818) 904-9450.YOU CAN ALSO VIEW THE MEETING ONLINE VIA ZOOM AT: (https://planning-lacity-org.zoom.us/j/89649527869 AND USE MEETING ID:896 4952 7869.You may use passcode: 864 867. Members of the public who wish to participate in the meeting and offer public comment to the Cultural Heritage Commission, can either access the link located above or call 1 (213) 338-8477 or 1 (669) 900-9128 and use Meeting ID No. 896 4952 7869 and then press #. Press # again when prompted for participant ID. You may use passcode: 864 867