Save the Tahoe Art Haus
Donation protected
The Tahoe Art Haus & Cinema was founded in 2014 out of a deep love of the Tahoe-Truckee community and with a mission to bring quality entertainment to locals and visitors. The Art Haus is run by Steven and Melissa Siig and Mark Gogolewski, long-time locals who have put their heart and soul into making the Art Haus a community gathering spot and a showcase for not only major motion pictures but many different forms of art and education. Over the years, the Art Haus has become known for not only showing the highest quality first-run movies, but also bringing independent films, local ski and environmental movies, speakers, athletes, dance, slideshows, fundraisers and plays to the theater. Some of our most popular events include our annual Academy Awards Party, opening week of Star Wars movies when the entire staff dresses up in costume, ski movies by local filmmakers who present their films and our Cartoons & Cereal events. The Art Haus bring a personal touch to all its movies, which are carefully curated to match community interest and often introduced by Siig. Of course, customers also love our popcorn-spice bar and craft beer and hard cider on tap.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit movie theaters especially hard. Movie theaters are in the business of bringing people together, and the pandemic has brought that to a halt. The Tahoe Art Haus closed its doors on March 16 and, except for a brief two-week period in late June when we were allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, was closed for six months. In order to survive and remain relevant, in June the Art Haus pivoted to create a drive-in movie theater in the Cobblestone parking lot that could fit 27 cars. The drive-in operated for five months and was extremely popular. However, the drive-in was not a moneymaker but only helped reduce the amount of money we were losing by having the theater closed for so long.
The theater reopened in mid-September at reduced capacity. However, we are facing two major challenges to survival: 1. Studios are delaying all blockbusters until the spring and summer of 2021 because of the pandemic, so we have no movies to show. To quote the Cineworld CEO, “We are now like a kind of a grocery shop that has no food to sell.” (Cineworld closed all of its 500 Regal Cinemas, the second largest movie theater chain in the U.S., in September because of this issue.)
We are trying to be as creative as we can in our programming, but this leads us to Challenge #2: The majority of people are not yet comfortable returning to movie theaters because of Covid. We have taken every measure possible to make the theater as safe as we can (taking out seats to create social distancing, installing an air scrubber that uses UV light to kill germs and bacteria, and increased sanitization), however, we are barely getting anyone through the door. In September we played 'Tenet', the biggest blockbuster to be released since Covid started, and averaged 10 people per show. Leading up to Halloween we showed 'Possessor', and were only getting 2 to 4 people per show. We cannot survive on these numbers, and are in fact losing money just by opening our doors.
The Art Haus faces the very real possibility that we will have no movies to show until the pandemic gets under control. We don’t expect the movie theater industry to start bouncing back until summer or fall of 2021, so we need community help to survive the next six to nine months. We will use any money raised to pay for operating expenses (rent, utilities, employees) and invest in any new equipment that sanitizes the air and surfaces in the theater and lobby. We received a PPP loan and several other grants, but all that money has been exhausted.
We love being a part of the Tahoe-Truckee community, and we hope to weather this storm so we can, once the pandemic is over, bring people together once again in celebration of movies, art and the pure joy of having a shared experience.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit movie theaters especially hard. Movie theaters are in the business of bringing people together, and the pandemic has brought that to a halt. The Tahoe Art Haus closed its doors on March 16 and, except for a brief two-week period in late June when we were allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, was closed for six months. In order to survive and remain relevant, in June the Art Haus pivoted to create a drive-in movie theater in the Cobblestone parking lot that could fit 27 cars. The drive-in operated for five months and was extremely popular. However, the drive-in was not a moneymaker but only helped reduce the amount of money we were losing by having the theater closed for so long.
The theater reopened in mid-September at reduced capacity. However, we are facing two major challenges to survival: 1. Studios are delaying all blockbusters until the spring and summer of 2021 because of the pandemic, so we have no movies to show. To quote the Cineworld CEO, “We are now like a kind of a grocery shop that has no food to sell.” (Cineworld closed all of its 500 Regal Cinemas, the second largest movie theater chain in the U.S., in September because of this issue.)
We are trying to be as creative as we can in our programming, but this leads us to Challenge #2: The majority of people are not yet comfortable returning to movie theaters because of Covid. We have taken every measure possible to make the theater as safe as we can (taking out seats to create social distancing, installing an air scrubber that uses UV light to kill germs and bacteria, and increased sanitization), however, we are barely getting anyone through the door. In September we played 'Tenet', the biggest blockbuster to be released since Covid started, and averaged 10 people per show. Leading up to Halloween we showed 'Possessor', and were only getting 2 to 4 people per show. We cannot survive on these numbers, and are in fact losing money just by opening our doors.
The Art Haus faces the very real possibility that we will have no movies to show until the pandemic gets under control. We don’t expect the movie theater industry to start bouncing back until summer or fall of 2021, so we need community help to survive the next six to nine months. We will use any money raised to pay for operating expenses (rent, utilities, employees) and invest in any new equipment that sanitizes the air and surfaces in the theater and lobby. We received a PPP loan and several other grants, but all that money has been exhausted.
We love being a part of the Tahoe-Truckee community, and we hope to weather this storm so we can, once the pandemic is over, bring people together once again in celebration of movies, art and the pure joy of having a shared experience.
Organizer
Melissa Siig
Organizer
Rampart, CA
