Joe Masher: Last News

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterMovie theaters in a handful of cities around the country will soon be checking for proof of vaccination — creating one more obstacle to the full return of moviegoing.In New York, the requirement goes into effect on Tuesday. Joe Masher, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York, said he worried about the logistics of enforcing the rule.But his greater concern was that the citywide mandates would trigger another round of release delays by the major studios.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Not this again. After the two years of havoc that COVID inflicted on their business, movie theater owners thought they were past the days of blank marquees. Studios, miraculously, have been releasing films at a regular rate.

New York exhibitors had their hopes dashed Monday as Gov. Andrew Cuomo made no move at a press conferences to boost capacity at movie theaters in the five boroughs from 25% to a hoped-for 50%.

Joe Masher, the COO of midsize exhibitor Bow Tie Cinemas, says he noticed that families from New York City — where movie theaters were closed for nearly a year, until March 5 — had been flocking to the circuit’s locations in Connecticut and New Jersey that were able to reopen in recent months amid the pandemic. “It’s amazing how many people were coming from the city,” says Masher, who is in charge of the New York chapter of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday set reopening dates for amusement parks, indoor family recreation centers and summer camps — the latest venues to get a nod as movie theaters in the city remain shuttered. That’s despite Manhattan having the lowest Covid-19 infection rate in New York — 2.5%, confirmed at the governor’s press briefing today — and the fact that zero cases of the virus have been reported from theaters in the rest of the state or anywhere else they’ve been open with strict health and safety protocols.

Jill Goldsmith Co-Business EditorNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo said bars, restaurants, establishments with New York State liquor licenses (like bowling alleys), and gyms must close at 10 pm statewide starting Friday in a new crackdown to contain COVID-19.The tightening and hyper-vigilance doesn’t bode well for movie theaters, which have been lobbying to reopen in New York City before more key studio releases drop from the holiday schedule.“It looks like the rest of 2020 is going to be a bust for movies theaters. Even though Wonder Woman is still on the schedule right now, as much as we’d like it to stay there, it doesn’t seem that is going to,” said Joe Masher, president of NATO New York State.