Georgia to allow theatres to re-open April 27

[Marcel Birgelen]

"a handful of other people" is pretty much the definition of a super spreader. In a sold out theatre it would be disastrous. Assuming a multiplex, it's not just the eight seats within 6ft, he leaves a trail through the lobby, in line at the concessions counter, on his way to and in the restroom, down the hall to the auditorium, up the aisle to his row and through the row to his seat. Then do most of it again in reverse at the end of the show. Even with social distancing, one has to assume a vapor trail many people will come in contact with. Have this happen several times a day and you have contagion central. Masks help, but if it is like around here, most people are not wearing them.

Despite the fact that I think it's way to early to open-up movie theaters right now, I somehow doubt you'll be able to fill up a movie theater in a way that it becomes a "super-spreader". You'll need to severely limit the capacity of each room to keep within minimum requirements. You could ask yourself if it's even economical to operate this way and will you be able to draw guests with such severe restrictions?

Stupid bathrooms (and soda)! If I didn't think that I'd be seeing people peeing in the bushes, filling plastic bottles and dropping them on the ground (which occasionally happens anyway), I'd be tempted to open the drive-in with NO bathrooms. There aren't any public washrooms open in Canada right now and you know, I still don't think we will do this, but I bet you if you said "folks, arrive empty, enjoy the show, no bathrooms" that at this point, people would show up to watch older titles or classics outside their home and we'd "sell out" (reduced to half capacity) anyway. It's a silly thought, and I'm sure I won't, but they'd come.

I don't know what your local legal situation is, but in many jurisdictions, you'll be required to provide some minimal public bathroom services. Maybe during the pandemic, rules are temporarily relaxed, but still, I don't think you can operate entirely without bathrooms. You probably should inform people on-line and maybe via a leaflet that bathroom services are limited, so maybe they don't drink that half-a-gallon soda and take precautions before they arrive. Still, I think, as a drive-in, if you're allowed to operate, you have a unique opportunity. Maybe you should consider making that bathroom thing work out?

[David Bird]

I don't know what your local legal situation is, but in many jurisdictions, you'll be required to provide some minimal public bathroom services. Maybe during the pandemic, rules are temporarily relaxed, but still, I don't think you can operate entirely without bathrooms. You probably should inform people on-line and maybe via a leaflet that bathroom services are limited, so maybe they don't drink that half-a-gallon soda and take precautions before they arrive. Still, I think, as a drive-in, if you're allowed to operate, you have a unique opportunity. Maybe you should consider making that bathroom thing work out?

I'm not really sure to be honest, never contemplated it. Although my wife certainly says bathrooms are a must, I'm not sure the law requires it here. Purely take-out restaurants aren't required and there aren't too many "drive-in specific" laws anymore. By the same token, I wonder if indoor theatres are required since they sell food and you sit inside like a restaurant, or if theatres just consider it necessary themselves and so there was no need to consider a law.

Certainly, we are starting to hear from customers saying "you can figure it out". But if my family or the staff (parents of staff) are uncomfortable with the safety of it for ourselves, we just won't open until we are.

[Martin McCaffery]

Marcel: Agreed. Between the limited number of seats and the limited number of people willing to sit in them to see the limited number of new movies available, I don't see how a multiplex can cover its overhead, much less make money. I have a 200 seat single screen. Based on guidelines we'd only be able to let about 20-25 people in (not sure how to deal with couples). We'd lose money hand over fist.

[Frank Cox]

Around here bathrooms are part of the building code. There are a certain number of bathroom stalls required per seat in the theatre.

[Lyle Romer]

So today's the day.

Have any theatres actually opened in Georgia?

The "day" isn't until Monday.

"a handful of other people" is pretty much the definition of a super spreader. In a sold out theatre it would be disastrous. Assuming a multiplex, it's not just the eight seats within 6ft, he leaves a trail through the lobby, in line at the concessions counter, on his way to and in the restroom, down the hall to the auditorium, up the aisle to his row and through the row to his seat. Then do most of it again in reverse at the end of the show. Even with social distancing, one has to assume a vapor trail many people will come in contact with. Have this happen several times a day and you have contagion central. Masks help, but if it is like around here, most people are not wearing them.

That's not accurate based on the studies of how it spreads. The generally accepted theory is that the virus mostly spreads when people are in prolonged, close contact with each other. In the example of a single infected person in a 300 seat, sold out auditorium, the infected person is only likely to spread it to somebody who is within 6 feet or so. If they infect somebody, the newly infected person is not instantly contagious and won't be able to "pass it along" like a game of telephone.

While the "vapor trail" sort of exists (the heavier particles fall very quickly), the experts don't believe that there is significant spread through those means. There needs to be some minimum threshold (which is not known at this point) of virus particles that enter your body in order to lead to an infection. If this threshold was extremely low for this virus then it would be so contagious that everybody would have been infected before its existence was even known.

I'm using an extreme example with no capacity reduction. If lines are socially distanced, people are asked to keep distance while walking though hallways and parties are separated in the auditorium, movie theatres shouldn't be a great risk for becoming spreading centers.

[Lyle Romer]

I was able to find the guidelines in the executive order:

Each party of patrons must be seated at least six (6) feet apart.
No party seated together may number more than six (6)
individuals;

At least one usher must be used in each theater room before
and at some point, during each showing to ensure that proper
Social Distancing protocol is enforced;

Seats, armrests, handrails, doors, doorknobs, and door
handles in each theater must be thoroughly sanitized before
and after each showing;

Tape must be applied to floors at ticket counters and
concession stands to enforce proper Social Distancing
protocol for patrons who are waiting in line;

Restrooms must be cleaned and disinfected regularly, and
touchpoints must cleaned no less than once per hour;

Food service areas must adhere to the same guidelines set
forth in Section IV, titled ?Restaurants SE Dining Services?,
above;

Party rooms located at theaters may not host parties or
Gatherings; and

Closing playgrounds and arcade rooms, if any.

The most difficult thing to do seems to be sanitizing "Seats, armrests, handrails, doors, doorknobs, and door handles" after each showing.

[Bruce Cloutier]

It'll come down to only people who have tested positive for COVID-19 or have tested to have immunity that can enter the establishment (including employees). Others might be able to sign a waiver and then enter but that shouldn't be allowed until local medical services are not stressed for capacity. Otherwise you are going to run around cleaning everything over and over. You will never clean enough. Everyone inside will feel like they don't belong. Do you think the patrons are going to come back? Enough to cover costs? The cleaning could even make things worse if not done correctly.

Things won't be back to normal until the risks are mediated with a vaccine and then only when most have had a chance to be vaccinated. Just my opinion. Those who have had it should be able to get back to work with the proper procedures.

I am certain that I had the virus back the first week of March. No, I haven't been tested but I normally do not get the flu and the symptoms were on the nose. I have a nephew (who is far from here) who spent a week on a ventilator the end of February. This has been around far longer than they think. More have had it than they know. I am not so concerned about becoming sick but I don't want to make someone else ill if there is any chance that I might be killing them. So... let's not rush this.

Just saying...

Be patient regardless of your governor. INTEG won't reopen until your orders force us. Right now business levels are 1/20th normal. Hey! But we are still here for you.

[Martin McCaffery]

That's not accurate based on the studies of how it spreads.

Yes, it is exaggerated for one person, worst case scenario. The problem is, it is unlikely there will only be one infected person per show or multiplex and each of the things described is a possible vector and no one knows how much is enough. I'm not living in fear of getting it, but not really interested in Russian Roulette either.

And as with everything else in this crisis, the guidelines depend on a dedicated staff of minimum wage employees to ensure distancing protocols are followed.

[Lyle Romer]

Yes, it is exaggerated for one person, worst case scenario. The problem is, it is unlikely there will only be one infected person per show or multiplex and each of the things described is a possible vector and no one knows how much is enough. I'm not living in fear of getting it, but not really interested in Russian Roulette either.

And as with everything else in this crisis, the guidelines depend on a dedicated staff of minimum wage employees to ensure distancing protocols are followed.

Outside of the NYC area I'm not sure that the chances are very high for multiple people in multiplex at one time to have an active infection. Here in Florida, in Miami-Dade county, the cumulative confirmed cases are about 0.4% of the population. It is probably really 7-10 times more taking into account asymptomatic cases but they are also not all active infections.

When you dig into the numbers in Florida, a very disproportionate percentage of the cases are in nursing homes, residents of which don't tend to visit the cinema. When I calculated the other day, 25% of the cases in the state were nursing home residents who make up 0.33% of the population.

With social distancing in place both in the auditorium and on any lines, the risk of transmission in a movie theatre will be relatively low. Now, whether a movie theatre can at least break even with parties separated by 6 feet is another question entirely. I would think that to be possible, you would have to show fewer titles at a time and assign multiple screens to even run of the mill type movies.

[Marcel Birgelen]

For what it's worth, there are pretty persistent rumors floating around on the Internet-o-sphere that Disney considers to keep all of their parks closed until January of 2021...

While Disney may have the deep pockets to sit this one out until then, I doubt many other companies in the entertainment industry will be able to survive until then, without some considerable measures taken by the local governments.

[Scott Jentsch]

As of our latest update today, only two movie theaters in Georgia have any showtimes for any date:

• Strand Cinema - Jesup
• Jesup Drive-In Theater - Jesup

[Rick Glaus]

I thought Starlight Drive In in Atlanta opened. I could be wrong

[Mike Blakesley]

This whole thing has got be be sending shivers down Disney's spine. Their entire theme park business model, along with their theatrical movie model (which drives the theme parks, at least partly) is ALL based on lots of people gathering together and having fun. How much fun is it going to be when everybody has to stay apart, wear masks, have their temperature taken, and be self-conscious every time they so much as clear their throat? In the parks, they're going to have to reconfigure their queue areas (no more touch-screen diversions!), the whole notion of "kiosks" is going to be a thing of the past. The various "3-D" attractions will probably have to be converted to 2-D, because who wants to handle a pair of glasses? Who's going to want to sit in the seats of those rides, which are tightly packed, and even by using "every other row" spacing, what about the side-to-side? They'll have to rethink the seating on EVERYTHING, including every transport vehicle. So capacities will be greatly reduced, and it'll take way longer to cycle between rides because everything will have to be sprayed and wiped after each ride. And all of this is going to cauuse the prices to go up, because of the reduced capacity and more labor required. There will be fewer people, but longer lines.... and where are they going to put the lines? Down the streets? With every family spaced 6 feet apart?

Restaurants are going to see their business drop because they can't bring in as many people. Hotel rooms will have to remain unoccupied for a couple of days after people leave. In short, it's gong to make us all be fearful of EVERYBODY and just about everyTHING. This is a bigger victory over people than any terrorist could have ever hoped for. I'm a little worried about the future of just about everything, except maybe Amazon, which is making a killing off of this mess.

The movie business.... what studio is going to want to release a huge movie into a world where half of more of the people either can't go to a theater (because it's closed, or because it's reached "half capacity") or are afraid to? Have we seen the end of the $100 million dollar opening weekend? Are theaters really going to be able to disinfect every seat, armrest, door handle, restroom, railing and concession counter often enough to satisfy the demand of the now-uber-sensitive customer?

I sincerely hope and pray to the Lord God above that I am 100% wrong in all of this, because this is NOT the way I figured the world, or my theater owning career, would end.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Mike, I think a lot of us can relate to your worries and share many of them. The problem is, nobody has any real clue of how to correctly handle this, we're pretty much in an undiscovered country here.

While there is an enormous push to re-open everything up as fast as possible, there are also tremendous risks associated with doing just that obviously. If you're going too soon, you could very well ramp up that curve again, with all the potential consequences associated to it. But keeping stuff closed down for months, will simply destroy the economy. I'm not even all that worried for Disney, although I like their theme parks and I've worked for them in the past and yes, their movie output is elemental for the industry. But, I'm worried for all the little businesses out there that don't have the cash at hand to sing this thing out for months in a row. I'm also worried we might hit a second or even third wave, after we finally brought back some normality to our lives. How does society react if we have to go into a complete lock-down a second or even third time? Lots of questions, lots of uncertainty and it's the uncertainty that's probably the most killing of them all.

Like I indicated before, depending on how this all develops in the coming months, we might want to rethink how we handle the thing we call "economy". After all, "economy", just like "politics" is largely a man-made thing, it's by and large controlled by our own actions. The virus is something real, something which we barely can control, at least, until we've got a vaccine.