Article and photos by Marcus Siu

On June 22nd, Variety Magazine published an article reporting that over 50% of exhibition executives surveyed believe the “traditional cinema experience” has less than 20 years remaining as a viable business model and that curated and repertory programming will play a significant role in the survival of movie theaters. Big blockbuster movies will not exist in mainstream theatre but only on IMAX or large format screens.

That certainly is troubling news to theater owners, such as Derek Zemrak who co-owns the Orinda Theater in the Bay Area. However, he has been adapting with the times within his community and continues to curate programming such as his latest “50 Films series”, “Cult Movie Night”,”Matías Bombal’s Hollywood” and even “Free Movie Night”.

“Theaters can’t exist unless you have alternative programming and you are curating your own stuff …that’s what saves us.”, Zemrak explained. “Omar will have 80 people on a Cult Movie on a Saturday night, Matías will have close to 100 on a Tuesday at 1:00 pm. There’s no theater anymore at 1:00 that has 100 people in the theater.”

All of these repertory programs create a unique experience in comparison to home streaming. It’s unique because you can’t readily see them anywhere and it also builds community together along with nostalgia and discovery among its audience.

“There is nothing like sitting in the back and sitting in the front there and listening to people laugh when they should have laughed”, Zemrak explains at the opening of his new “50 Films” series featuring Rob Reiner’s “Flipped”.

“I saw some tears in people’s eyes but you’re not gonna get that sitting at home with whoever it is. It’s just that emotion that rolls through to people and that’s really what it’s all about… I mean it’s moving pictures…and that’s you’re getting moved one way or another…obviously depends on the movie but I hope we’ve curated nice program that everyone will enjoy.”

50 MOVIES YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN, THAT YOU SHOULD!

Movie patrons at the Orinda theater often ask Zemrak, who has also been a film critic for over 25 years, for his favorite movie titles and he would always provide an answer.

“That’s a difficult question – here’s a few movies that I think you may enjoy that you may not have seen. Because movies are just like wine”, as Zemrak explains, “I mean, it’s hard to suggest to somebody because you don’t really know what their palette is…but we’ll take a shot.”

“So during the pandemic I wrote this book, then got it published…and here we are today.”

That book is called “Fifty Movies You May Not Have Seen That You Should!” It was written during the 2020 pandemic and published the very next year. The films are mostly after 1991, when Zemrak really started getting into films right after his college days leading up to him becoming a film critic, as well as the founder of the California Independent Film Festival in 1997. He is also a film producer (PGA) and theater owner. To say he has seen lots of movies is a bit of an understatement.

Before compiling his first draft of fifty films for his book, I suggested other noteworthy films for his consideration that might have been under his radar. One of those films was the 2007 film, “Death at a Funeral”, directed by Frank Oz, which should no means should be confused with the forgettable Chris Rock American remake in 2010. I was very lucky to see it at an industry screening with the director in attendance and was lucky to sit right next to Pixar’s director, Pete Doctor, who absolutely loved the film, as well. Needless to say, it made the cut as one of the fifty movies in the book.

The talented but unknown British ensemble cast (at least to an American audience), alongside Peter Dinklange, is insanely brilliant in this little known gem of a movie that did not get much of an audience in its original release. However, it was given a second chance and played last March at the “Free Movie Night” at the Orinda Theater hosted by Tommy O’Dowd. The audience was very grateful for the introduction of the movie and generated renewed interest in the “50 Movies” book, which sold out that same night.

After that gratifying evening, it didn’t take long for Zemrak to realize he should create and curate the film series “Fifty Movies” for the theatre, which actually started in early July with Rob Reiner’s 2010 box-office flop “Flipped”. Zemrak recalls seeing the film at the now defunct Landmark Embarcadero in San Francisco at a press screening and was so impressed with the “coming of age” film that he booked it at the Rheem Theater in Moraga when at the time he owned two theaters.

While it only made $1.7 million at the box office and lost millions of dollars for the studio, it played six weeks straight and became one of the highest grossing theaters in the country for the Rheem Theatre in Moraga, California.

“The Spitfire Grill”, “Mary and Max”, “Finding Your Feet”, “You Can Count on Me”, and “Lovely, Still” round off the movies for the remainder of the year for the series.

Perhaps, it is the movie “Lovely, Still”, a film about lost love and Alzheimer’s that will always have a indelible impression not just with Zemrak, but also with the two Oscar winning actors who starred in the film, Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn. Ironically, the film never found a distributor.

Zemrak who knew Landau well, gave the script to him while he was still the head of the Actor’s Studio in Los Angeles. He called Ellen Burstyn and said, “you have to read this script…this kid is amazing.” Burstyn read it and she agreed to do it. “Martin always said that this was his best work that he had ever done on the screen and I do agree with that,” Zemrak concluded.

“We played it at the California Independent Film Festival and when I saw the film it was just unbelievable” Zemrak explained “then we found out when the director (Nik Fackler) shows up – he was 18 years old when he wrote the script and 19 years old when he directed Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn.”

It’s certainly challenging times for independent theaters around the country, but the ones who have the most creativity and diversity of curating repertory programs whether it’s for movies, music, comedy, plays or special events, like the Orinda, will bring and attract more patrons within their community like never before. If that’s not diversity in programming, I don’t know what is!

It was also announced that this year the Orinda Theatre will replace the Castro Theatre to host the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in November.

That’s definitely worth shouting about.