Landmark Theatres
Encyclopedia
Art film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
movie theater
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
chain in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is owned by Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban is an American business magnate and investor. He is the owner of the National Basketball Association's Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, and the chairman of the HDTV cable network HDNet....
and Todd Wagner
Todd Wagner
Todd R. Wagner co-founded Broadcast.com and now co-owns 2929 Entertainment with Mark Cuban, along with other entertainment properties and has also founded the Todd Wagner Foundation.- Early life :...
through their 2929 Entertainment
2929 Entertainment
2929 Entertainment is a media company with holdings in film and television production, film distribution, theatrical exhibition, home entertainment, television, and syndication. Billionaires Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban founded and currently own the privately held company...
. The chain shows mostly first run independent, foreign film, and restored classics though some Landmark theaters also show more mainstream movies. The chain occasionally shows digital movies on digital projectors in place at most theaters. The theaters are also known for selling gourmet concession stand offerings such as gourmet coffee, espresso drinks, fresh-baked goods, imported chocolate and candy offerings. It has its headquarters in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Landmark Theatres (originally Parallax Theatres) was founded in 1974 by Kim Jorgensen
Kim Jorgensen
Kim M. Jorgensen is a film director and the owner of Landmark Films. Jorgensen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was the founder and president of an art house movie theater chain in the United States named Landmark Theaters until 1989 when he sold them...
. The first theater acquired by the chain was the Nuart Theatre
Nuart Theatre
The Nuart Theatre is L.A.'s premier art house movie venue and the flagship movie theater of the Landmark Theatres chain in the United States of America.-Location:...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Jorgensen hired Steve Gilula and Gary Meyer in 1976, who later became stockholders, with the acquisition of the UC Theater
UC Theater
The UC Theatre was a movie theater at 2036 University Avenue near Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, California.-History:Opened in 1917, the 1,300-seat theater was acquired in 1974 by theater owner Gary Meyer as one of the first theaters—along with the Nuart Theatre in Los Angeles—in his Landmark...
in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. In the 1980s, Landmark acquired Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
-based Movies, Inc. and Seattle-based Seven Gables. In the 1990s, Landmark Theatres was acquired by The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the famous Hollywood mogul, Samuel Goldwyn, in 1979.-Background:...
. Landmark Theatres continued to grow throughout the 1990s and developed multiplex theatres of its own in San Francisco; Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
; St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
; Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
; New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
; Atlanta; Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
; and the largest one on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Jorgensen later became a movie producer, selling out his interest in Landmark in 1989. Gilula and Meyer sold their interest in 1995.
In March 2007, the group took over ownership of three Ritz theaters in Philadelphia. A Landmark Theater opened in downtown Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
's Harbor East neighborhood in November 2007. Landmark Theatres presently operates about 57 theaters in 15 states and the District of Columbia. Atlanta's Landmark Midtown Art Cinema serves as the official venue for the Atlanta Film Festival
Atlanta Film Festival
The Atlanta Film Festival is an Academy Award qualifying, international film festival held in Atlanta, Georgia. Started in 1976 and occurring every April, the festival shows a diverse range of independent films, including genre films such as horror and sci-fi...
and Atlanta's gay film festival, Out on Film
Out on Film
Out on Film, Atlanta, Georgia's gay film festival, was established in 1987 and is one of the oldest gay film festivals in the United States devoted to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The festival is now held in Midtown Atlanta in October to coincide with LGBT History Month...
. In 2007, Landmark opened a flagship theater complex at Westside Pavilion
Westside Pavilion
The Westside Pavilion is a shopping mall located in West Los Angeles. It is owned and operated by The Macerich Company. It is a three story urban-style shopping mall with 150 shops and is anchored by a Macy's and a Nordstrom...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
that includes "Living Room" brand auditoriums. The "Living Room" concept features smaller capacity theaters (30-50 people) with sofa
Couch
A couch, also called a sofa, is an item of furniture designed to seat more than one person, and providing support for the back and arms. Typically, it will have an armrest on either side. In homes couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den or the lounge...
s, ottomans
Ottoman (furniture)
An ottoman is a piece of furniture consisting of a padded, upholstered seat or bench having neither back nor arms, often used as a stool or footstool, or in some cases as an improvised coffee table. Ottomans are often sold as coordinating furniture with armchairs or gliders.An ottoman can also be...
, side-tables and other home-like amenities.
In April 2011, Cuban placed Landmark Theatres up for sale, but he added that he wouldn't sell the company unless the offer was "very, very compelling."