Kino Lorber Launches Virtual Theater Exhibition Initiative To Help Local Theaters Weather Coronavirus Impact

In an effort to help the shuttering of theaters amid the coronavirus outbreak, Kino Lorber announced that is launching Kino Marquee, a virtual theatrical exhibition initiative that will enable movie theaters that have closed to continue to serve their audiences and generate revenue.

Under the initiative, films will have a virtual release with participating theaters for other currently scheduled and upcoming Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist titles until theaters are able to reopen. The first Kino Marquee screenings have been set at New York’s Film at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Jacob Burns Film Center. All will open with the Kino Lorber Cannes-winning title Bacurau.

“When theaters started to close, we at Kino Lorber turned our thoughts to how we could collaborate with our independent theater partners across the country. We cannot release the kinds of films we do without their support,” said Wendy Lidell, SVP of Theatrical Distribution at Kino Lorber. “Of course we wanted to find a way to keep our current film release in front of audiences, but to do so in a way that would also benefit our exhibition partners. We want to help ensure that these theaters will be able to reopen their doors after this crisis passes. The Kino Marquee program offers an opportunity for theaters to generate revenue while their doors are closed.”

As of now, the following theaters are participating in the Kino Marquee program:

• Film at Lincoln Center (New York, NY)
• BAM (Brooklyn, NY)
• Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville, NY)
• The Little Theatre (Rochester, NY)
• Santa Barbara International Film Festival Riviera Theatre (Santa Barbara, CA)
• The Frida Cinema (Santa Ana, CA)
• Denver Film / Sie FilmCenter (Denver, CO)
• Belcourt Theater (Nashville, TN)
• Loft Cinema (Tucson, AZ)
• Austin Film Society (Austin, TX)
• Aperture Cinema (Winston Salem, NC)

Kino Marquee is hosted on the Kino Now VOD platform and visitors to website will not be able to navigate to theaters’ virtual screening rooms. Each theater will promote its own film page via traditional means and virtual “ticket” buyers from the theater’s Kino Marquee site will receive a link that gives them admission to an online screening room. The Kino Marquee initiative is expected to be scaled up in the coming weeks in response to market demand.