With movie theaters reopened, dedicated employees predict a major Hollywood comeback

Bearden: We had all heard about COVID ramping up around the world. It’s almost like you can see a car accident coming and you brace for it; you know, we don’t have a force field around America. Then, sure enough, when it seemed like things were actually going to shut down, Alamo mailed out a letter, letting us know we were going to be closed. They gave us a rent exemption letter to show your landlord or whoever you needed to let know.

James M. Wood, general manager, El Capitan Theatre: I’ve worked here for 20 years, and I’d dreamed of being the general manager, running this grand movie palace on Hollywood Boulevard. I became the general manager at the end of February 2020. In my wildest dreams I never thought I’d have to shut the theater down three weeks into my new job.

Cassie Gratton, general manager, Laemmle Glendale and Laemmle NewHall: I was watching the news on Sunday and I heard all movie theaters are closing starting tomorrow. I called my boss and I was like, “Hey, they just said theaters are done,” and he said, “Let me get back to you.” That Monday, I had to come to the theater and break everything down. It was nuts.

The marquee of Landmark’s Nuart Theatre photographed in April 2020 after the theater shut down.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Jim Nicola, general manager, Landmark’s Nuart Theatre: We had started having guests that were scheduled to appear for Q&As beginning to cancel, and the “Rocky Horror” cast chose not to perform that weekend. So we knew it was getting serious. There was still some hope that we would get through it just with a limited schedule. But then the news came down that we were closing. That was a sad day, turning off everything in the theater and walking away.

Brenden Perella, theater host, El Capitan Theatre: I was here the last day. It was definitely shocking. You know, you’re working, you’re busy, and then out of nowhere it has to stop. Not by your choice or even by the job’s choice — just the world was shutting down.

Shelly Bridges, general manager, the Landmark: I remember going grocery shopping that night and the shelves were empty and I’m thinking, “OK, well, I’m not going to have a paycheck, and I don’t know how unemployment works.” It was all just bizarre. Each week you’re thinking, “Oh, maybe next week, maybe next week.” And it just kept getting pushed further and further back.

Guest attendant Amandla Bearden wipes down tables between showings at the Alamo Drafthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Perella: I work in a skate park for the city of Glendale on the side and that’s outdoors, so for the first couple of months I kept busy working there. Then they decided that it was time to close even outdoor things.

Gratton: My wife works at a vegan restaurant called the Wild Chive in Long Beach. They had just bought their brick-and-mortar and were set to open last June in the middle of the pandemic. So I helped them open the restaurant and started working part time with them. It was a way for me to stay busy and they needed help, so it worked out.

Nicola: I have two other managers, and I think they were a little more productive [during the shutdown] than I was. One self-published a children’s book with amazing watercolors; another learned an effects editing program. I pretty much spent most of my days taking the dogs out for two-and-a-half-hour walks through Cheviot Hills.

Bridges: I started a YouTube channel about unemployment so that I’d have a way to get that information to my staff without it officially coming from the company. Unfortunately, I found that a lot of people needed that kind of content, so that did well for me. In some ways, there were positives that came out of that year: people doing projects that they had put off for a long time, completing things they had put on the back burner, spending time with family. Two employees wrote novels in the time they were off.

Bearden: I thought, let me just go ahead and take this time, get on unemployment for a minute and focus on acting, writing, reading. I started reading the “Game of Thrones” books. I was just trying to put stuff into my creative cookie jar.

James Wood, general manager of the El Capitan Theatre, poses for a portrait before an afternoon showing of “Black Widow.”

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)