We have a new movie theater in town!
Savor the cinema. Little by little. Almost like a rite that is fulfilled with pleasure. Alone or accompanied, to comment later on the film, beers and tapas through. Savor the cinema and not devour it without barely enjoying it, to kill time, as we have done in recent months. This is the added value of a movie theater. This is the added value of the new Ambassador Cinemas, which open their doors this Friday, July 3 in Madrid.
Like a rare bird in a sector accustomed to seeing how the theaters do not raise their blinds again while the movie posters that were once projected lose color and gather dust on their facades, Cines Embajadores opens at number 5 of the Glorieta de Santa María de la Cabeza, in the district of Arganzuela.
“It is an area with an impressive cultural life, with a lot of social life, a lot of bars, 14 alternative theaters… And the closest cinema is in Mendez Álvaro”, Miguel Ángel Pérez tells Traveler.es the reasons that led him to choose this area of Madrid to launch this project.
Almost 200 seats divided into three rooms (95, 52 and 50) where films will be screened, above all, in their original version. “We will try to put on good cinema, although for each one it is a very particular thing. European and auteur cinema will prevail, without disdaining the American, but of good quality, such as Mulán (the version they have made in real image)”, explains Miguel Ángel.
"In America it's done right now Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, and when Oscar season rolls around, Even those who like auteur cinema want to see the Oscar films, and 90% of that comes from the United States.”
Miguel Ángel knows what he is doing, not in vain he is the owner of the Surtsey Films distributor, and the billboard for the inauguration of the Embajadores Cinemas proves it.
"I was at the gates of opening on March 14, as a distributor, Everything happens in Tel Aviv , about the Arab-Israeli conflict, but from a friendly point of view; and also with a Spanish, the wish list ”. To them he has added invisible , directed by Gracia Querejeta; the animation film Red Shoes and the seven trolls ; and the mythical and delicious cinema Paradiso.
The magic of the big screen, the darkness, the silence, enjoying watching a film with concentration without interruptions
Because in Cines Embajadores there will also be revivals of classic films from the history of cinema; alternative content, such as opera, documentaries or ballet broadcasts; "We want to dedicate one day a week to first films by Spanish directors that have been made in an amateur way, dedicate some time to short films...".
The dream of any movie buff orphan of theaters near his house that was put on standby in mid-March with the declaration of the state of alarm, which caught them lacking a facade, doors in the premises, flooring in the hall and without the installed projectors, screens and seats.
“The rent of the premises has been forgiven me for two months and it seems that up to three, we have not had electricity or water expenses; the workers of the production company have gone to an ERTE and I still did not have people hired in the cinema. My partner and I, who are self-employed, have gone to the self-employment benefit. The company, except for the commitments it had for the purchase of films, has not had expenses”, Miguel Ángel explains how survival has been in times of pandemic.
Now, with tickets at similar prices as the rest of the cinemas (8.50 euros, the weekend at the most important times; 5.50 euros, the day of the spectator; and 7.50 euros, during the week), Michelangelo gets the bills.
In Cines Embajadores there will also be space for classic films from the history of cinema
He calculates that with four daily sessions and 25% average occupancy, profitability is possible. In fact, the margin exists, since ORDER 668/2020, of June 19, which regulates in Madrid what they have baptized as the "new normality" allows a capacity of 60% until July 5 and 75% to from day 6.
“The problem is that people only go to the sessions on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The rest of the week they are at 5% or 10% capacity. In my cinema, and in all the others, they are going to find that the theaters are going to be full on those days and I think that people are going to spread out and they will be able to go during the week. In addition, with teleworking, people will be able to organize their time, and sessions that were empty before, like Monday or Tuesday at 4:00 p.m., will now be full and that way the accounts would come out for us.
And it is that this, the “new normality”, is about changing habits. In the Ambassador Cinemas there will be no lack of that hydroalcoholic gel that flanks the entrance to any business, the rooms will be disinfected between sessions, will be guaranteed the safety distance and there will be until one input circuit and one output circuit for the people. Yes, the mask will also be needed.
The possibility of buying tickets at the box office is maintained, although they assume that there will be much more sale online. “That benefits us by eliminating queues and because people can go directly to their seats. In addition, we will try that the sessions of the three rooms do not start at the same time. Stagger entry and exit times.
Because the cinema is about that, leaving home, meeting friends to go see a movie and then reeling it off
They won't change, that's not, the magic of the big screen, the darkness, the silence, enjoying watching a movie concentrated without any stimulus that interrupts us, the different proposals, those that open horizons beyond the platforms that we have devoured these months . It won't change, no, meeting us. Because the cinema is about that, leaving home, meeting friends to go see a movie and then reeling it off while watering life with beers and feeding it with tapas. As Miguel Ángel says, “now instead of devouring the cinema we are going to savor it”.
'The Wish List' will be one of the films with which Cines Embajadores opens