At 4:50 am this morning, Paul Glantz pulled into the parking lot of Emagine Theatre Royal Oak. A news truck from local ABC affiliate WXYZ Channel 7 was already stationed outside main entry doors to the building. [1,2]
Inside, numerous indications suggested that staff had already been busy much longer. Sorely missed smell of fresh popcorn filled the air, backed by active sounds of popping machines behind concession counters with promise of ample supplies to come. [3]
It’s been almost seven months since Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed and put into effect her Executive Order 2020-09. Among other things, it shuttered all indoor cinemas throughout the State of Michigan, including Emagine Royal Oak. Now some one hundred, seventy-four Orders later, that imposition was lifted — effective today. [4-7]
As Co-Founder and Chairman of Emagine Entertainment, Mr Glantz was not here to fire-up projectors, usher customers to their seats, nor run proverbial finger in white glove over countertops. As our own local operation manager Kyle Ryba told Saline Journal in a separate discussion, “weekly” maintenance continued without interruption, deemed essential notwithstanding shutdown. [8,9]
In the “new normal” of COVID-19, that standard is called “Cinama Safe.” [10-12]
Thus, Paul Glantz was here to =explain= this solution to his customers, to all theater-going customers. To him it’s a matter of accountability.
As sunrise approached, early television crews wrapped and a team from Fox 2 arrived. In and among video appearances both live and taped, radio interviews by phone took place before a range of listener audiences, from those of Paul W Smith to Mojo in the Morning. No topic off limits. No question had been shared in advance. [13-15]
Part of our own time on site throughout included the opportunity to get a better understanding of not just what has changed, but the important thinking behind these changes.
“Communications are different,” Mr Glantz began in explaining to Saline Journal. “You see that: Signs that remind our customers to wear masks, floor markings that set off spacing for social distancing. [16]
But this meticulous attention to cleaning and cleanliness really isn’t a new thing for Emagine Theatres. Have you noticed that our restrooms don’t have doors? They were designed that way from the start, and it takes up more space to ensure privacy. It’s also more expensive. But there’s nothing to touch, which means better hygiene.
Look at our theater seating: Our rows are already ‘socially distant.’ We didn’t have to move anything. All we had to do there in preparing to re-open was work with our seat reservation software to provide for two empty seats between people in the same group; that makes more than six feet — over seven feet, I think — of separation.
How might one have become so “persnickety” about such considerations regarding health and sanitation?
“I have to say it comes from my mother,” he responded without pause. “She was stationed in Seattle during World War II, as a WAC. She was serving in The Women’s Army Corps. At the time, enemy forces were doing work on floating viruses across the ocean on balloons. Her job was to preserve those viruses for study. She was a microbiologist. [17,18]
She went to work for Difco after the war. So I grew up with those stories and they always stayed with me. What she did was very important. COVID-19 and 2020 are the latest reminders of that. [19]
I’ve always thought they were serious reminders. I still do.
As the ten o’clock hour approached, one of the reporters asked to record additional video for use in weekend broadcasts and possible network coverage. Once wrapped, Emagine Royal Oak staff went into full theater mode, counting down the last half-dozen hours to first showtime.
Before heading back to his own office, a change in demeanor could been seen in Paul Glantz as well — shifting back to his long established role as host. In this case, to the concession stand, coordinating preparation of popcorn buckets for departing news teams.
Delivered appropriately touchless, of course.
References
- Emagine Royal Oak (home page).
- “Movie theaters reopen Friday in Michigan — here’s everything you need to know” Jen Schanz (October 9, 2020) ABC 7 WXYZ Detroit.
- “In the nick of time! Earlier this week ….” Ticker (September 26, 2020) Saline Journal.
- “Executive Order 2020-09 (COVID-19)” Governor Gretchen Whitmer (March 16, 2020) State of Michigan.
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) (home page).
- “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- “Novel Coronavirus Reports” CDC.
- Emagine Entertainment (home page).
- Emagine Saline (home page).
- “The New Normal and Coronavirus” Lisa Lockerd Maragakis, MD (August 14, 2020) Johns Hopkins Medicine.
- Cinema Safe (home page).
- CinemaSafe (YouTube Channel).
- Fox 2 Detroit (home page).
- “The Paul W Smith Show ~ Paul Glantz” (October 9, 2020) WJR.
- “Mojo in the Morning” Channel 955.
- “Paul Glantz Interview – Emagine Theaters Re-Opening 10/9/20” Movie Show Plus (October 1, 2020) YouTube.
- “The Women’s Army Corps: A Commemoration of World War II Service” CMH Publication 72-15, Judith A Bellafaire (February 17, 2005) US Army Center of Military History.
- “Winds of war: Japan’s balloon bombs took the Pacific battle to American soil” Tim Hornyak (July 25, 2015) The Japan Times.
- “After 100 Years in Detroit, Difco Labs Pulls Out” David Barkholz (November 10, 1997) Crain’s Detroit Business.
