The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • E4

E4 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR coholmenu(companyexecu- tives declined to say how much it cost to build). The multiplex located onRinaldi Streetwill serve as the enter- tainment anchor for the Vineyards shopping district, which features a Whole Foods, a nail spa and several restaurants. Southern Califor- nia expansion is expected to continue in thecomingyears. The company recently signed a deal to build a high- end12-screen, foot theater at Westfield Topanga, which will replace the nearby Prom- enade16 theater. Despite the high number of screens serv- ing the L.A.market,McDon- ald said the company will keep looking forplaceswhere it can grow, like in the Inland Empire where the company is building a theater at the Montclair Place shopping and dining center.

It will also continue to retrofit older the- aters. continue to look for pockets of opportunity, like what we did in Porter Ranch or McDonald said. I think just as likely to see us do things like what we did at Marina Del Rey, Fullerton or South Bay Galleria, where we re- model the theater. L.A. is a very important market for us, andwecontinue to view it as one of our cornerstone markets in theU.S.” LosAngeleshas longbeen akey locale forAMCbecause of its status as the home of the filmbusiness and an avid moviegoingpopulace.

Twoof theaters, Burbank 16 and Century City 15, are among the flag- ship locations. The new Porter Ranch theater, scheduled to open next week, is intended to draw locals from the affluent San Fernando Valley neigh- borhood.Thetheaterreflects a broader trend for new cinemas, which sacrifice size and seating capacity for comfort and upscale ameni- ties. Over the last decade or so AMC and other chains have invested billions to upgrade their existing theaters with more luxurious seating, full kitchens and bars to combat long-term declines in movie theaterattendance. A local demand As populations like L.A.’s become denser and consum- ers demand more conven- ience, theater companies have focusedonbuilding the- aters specifically for local communities. Mexican cine- in late 2018 revived the classic Bay Theatre in Pacific Palisades as a five-screen locationwith coastal-themedmenu items, vegan options and an exclu- sive wine list.

Austin, Texas- based Alamo Drafthouse in July opened its new location at theBloc indowntownL.A., with 12 auditoriums and a lounge area that includes a video store offering free rent- als. along with every- one else, has to be a little measured because of how many decent theaters there are said Jim Amos, former studio distribution executiveandfounderofcon- sultancyScout 53. is a concentration around these localizedmovie theaters that people cancall their The move toward smaller, cozier thea- ters represents a significant change from the when AMC led a boom in megaplex theaters starting with its 24-screen behemoth in Dallas, followed by its 30- screen, Ontario Mills colossus the following year. industry in the last decade or so has kind of right-sized the number of screens and McDon- ald said. Ranch will have state-of-the-art ameni- ties that we have in our newer-generation theaters.

They tend tobeverypopular, but first theater here, theAMCFashionSquare4 in La Habra, opened in 1969, just a few years before McDonald joined the com- pany. Early in his tenure, McDonald managed loca- tions including Rosemead 4, Hawthorne Plaza 6 and Or- angeMall 6, all of which have since closed. The original La Habra cinema shut down in 1992. In the mid-1980s, AMC grewsignificantlybyopening its multiplexes in Burbank and Century City. The latter wasagamblewhen it opened in 1987 because most movie- going was concentrated in WestwoodandHollywood.

we first built Cen- tury City, we had a difficult time getting McDonald said. eventu- ally gotColumbia to give us a titlewewere able to gross on, and it proved that Century City could gross just as well Industry challenges last newly built theater in Los Angeles was Atlantic Times Square 14 in Monterey Park, which pre- mieredin2010.Sincethen,the company has stuck to retro- fitting older theaters, like the Marina 6 in Marina Del Rey, which it opened as its first Los Angeles dine-in location eight yearsago. The company, owned by Dalian Wanda Group, has faced steep chal- lenges because of box-office headwinds and a significant debt load. Industry-wide ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada last year totaled $11.4 billion, down from the previous year despite mas- sivehits including and Lion The company has made moves to buttress attend- ance.

Spurred by the popu- larity of the now-defunct dis- count service MoviePass, AMC in 2018 debuted its sub- scription service Stubs A- List, allowing patrons to at- tend up to three movies a California. AMC also recently launchedaprogramming ini- tiative called Artisan Films, meant to promote the non- blockbustermoviesthattend to get drowned out byHolly- big-budget fran- chises. The initiative has pro- moted movies including Autumn Celine of a Lady on and Nat Faxon and Jim AMCEntertainment rev- enue reached $1.32 billion in the third quarter of last year, up from a year ago. The company posted a net loss of $54.8 million in the quarter, but the losses were much narrower than the same pe- riod in2018. On a November earnings call, AMC Chief Executive Adam Aron credited the Stubs A-list program with boosting sales.

not the only reason for the surge in ourU.S. thea- ter attendance, but it is cer- tainly one of the major rea- said. AMC builds up its Los Angeles-area profile nine-screen theater in Porter Ranch is its first new cinema in the L.A. region in a decade. Dania Maxwell Los Angeles Times from troublemaintainingcontrol.

rivals, inasign of the intense competi- tiveness of the TVnews busi- ness, were quick to share the negative online comments with reporters after the two- hourdebate. In an interview after the debate, CBSNews President Susan Zirinsky shrugged off the barbs and defended her team. She believed the net- work delivered a strong de- bate that covered a wide range of issues not exten- sively discussed in previous face-offs. The aggressive attacks by the seven candidates on stage were to be expected, Zirinsky added, as Sanders could accrue an insurmount- able lead in the number of delegates needed for the nominationbynextweek. nextweek there are going to be a lot fewer people on that debate Zirin- sky said.

at the preci- pice of the most dynamic partof The rough-and-tumble session shown Feb. 19 on NBC and MSNBC demon- strated there is an appetite for the feisty exchanges, with nearly 20 million viewers, a record for a primary debate. The CBS debate which was simulcast on cable net- works BET and BET Her also performedwell, drawing 15.3millionviewersaccording toNielsendata. Asked if the network plans to pursue another pri- mary debate in this cam- paign season, Zirinsky replied, CBSNewscountedonthe debate to be a high-profile platform for itson-air talent. and King were joined on stage by the Brennan, chief Washington correspondent Major Gar- rett and corre- spondent Bill Whitaker.

Zirinsky also convincedCBS to provide anhour for a post- debate analysis featuring the anchors and correspondents from CBSN, the online streaming news service the division has operated since 2014. It was a chance for a wider audience to see the live post-debate coverage the digital service hasbeenoffer- ing throughout the cam- paignseason. The news stars took notice of the upgrades. Hours before taking her place at the moderators ta- ble, was admiring the setting for that event on the majestic stage fromaseat in theaudienceat the Gaillard. The massive digital screens and dramatic red, white and blue spot- lights illuminating the stage of the hall a look created with the help of a producer who has worked on the Os- cars had a showbiz feel that has been missing in the special event cov- erage in recent years as the division was under pressure tocontaincosts.

Higher stakes is a new she said. have spared no disclosing how much CBS shelled out knowledged that adds to the excitement of the She looked at the first debate of 2020 asanopportunitytoenhance image. Thereare alsonewbosses to impress now that Viacom and CBS have merged. The logo of the new corporate parent, ViacomCBS, occa- sionally flashed on the screenson thedebate stage. The monthly match-ups of the candidates sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee have drawn big audiences forCNNandNBC, which led Zirinsky to have what she described as bate But her deputies Isham, theWashing- ton bureau chief, and Caitlin Conant, the politi- cal director urged her to wait until later in the cam- paign cycle when the large field of candidateswinnowed down.

While viewer interest was bound to increase for the lat- er contests, so was the feroc- ity of the dialogue of the can- didates. The NBC debate in Las Vegas was loaded with heated attacks from the can- didates who steamrolled through time allotments for answers a precursor of whatwasahead forCBS. the stakes get higher, especially for the can- didates who are trailing, and the intensity level is going to Ishamsaidbeforehand. Henotedtherewasaconcern that candidates would talk overeachotherandthemod- erators, as they did last week on NBC when former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a free-spending late entry in the race for the nomination, came under heavy fire.

CBSNewsexecutives and moderators believed they first half of the debate when the subject was ability to beat President Trump in the general elec- tion, now the most con- tentious issue for the Demo- crats. They spent hours attemptingtoprepare for the mayhem that ensued on- stage. The network used its campaign embeds the young reporters and produc- ers who have spent months ontheroadfollowingthecan- didates to ralliesandappear- ances around the country as surrogates in mock de- bates. Most of the sessions took place in hotel conference rooms so that Democratic Party officials and campaign staffers did not hear ques- tions ahead of time. The Times was allowed to ob- serve a technical rehearsal at the Gaillard on Monday where camera angles, light- ing and timing of the debate couldbeworkedout.

Farcical questions that would not be used in the ac- tualdebatewereofferedupto the surrogates who gave real responses in the character of the candidates. They repli- cated the familiar talking points, rhetorical flourishes and interruptions. thepreparation, trying tode- termine how much the mo- derator can push back at the candidatesand force themto follow the debate rules is oftenano-winproposition. a different role to be the lion Garrett said. too much of one, it sounds like interfering and putting your thumb on thescale.Ifyou’renotenough ofone, Brennannoted there isno template todealwith apresi- dential campaign that now includes a leading candidate who is willing to praise as- pects of left-wing dictator- ships as Sanders did in an in- terview last Sunday on She said such a re- mark would have been dis- qualifying in thepast.

Not up for debate Bernie Sanders does is talkaboutanAmerica that needs to atonea little bit and an America that made Brennan said. country is arguing about who we are. I think figured out how to talk about that. I knowthatadebategetsto King acknowledged be- fore the debate that she felt a mixtureof andexhila- inthedaysbeforetak- ing the stage. She even went the extra mile when she de- cided against the bright green dress she chose to wear, was plan- ning towear red.

King said. Themorning host had an assistantgotoherhomeback inNewYork to pick out an al- ternative. King showed a se- ries of texts directing the as- sistant tovariouspartsofher apartment to locate dresses and accessories, and bring themdowntoCharleston. know it sounds very lofty to say someone bring me my King said. I think there is too much at stake and I wanted toget itright.Partofthecom- fort level is that you feel good King went on the air re- splendent in purple.

But changed thingsup too. She decided to wear white. FORMER mayorsMike Bloomberg, left, and Pete Buttigieg; Sens. ElizabethWarren, Bernie Sanders; former VP Joe Biden; Sen. Amy Klobuchar; and Tom Steyer.

WinMcNamee Getty Images NORAH left, of Evening and Gayle King, of This co-moderated. Evelyn Hockstein CBS Their frenetic debate for attention from.