While Some Theatres Remain Shuttered, The Bay Gets Creative

The Bay Community Theatre in Suttons Bay, which has operated at 25 percent capacity since July, is experimenting with new draws to keep the doors to this Leelanau County community asset open. Bay Theatre Board President Rick Andrews tells The Leelanau Ticker how the nonprofit-run, volunteer-driven entity, which just formed in 2019, is positioned right now — and what’s happening this fall for film fans.

Until able to obtain new releases from film studios, starting tonight, September 4, The Bay will be showing previously released romantic comedies for $5 on weekends, with seating limited to fifty people per show, and small group seating allowed. The theater also just launched a new private screening program Monday through Thursday: up to 50 family members and friends can view a movie they supply on Blu-ray on the big screen. One staff member is on-site to run the movie, lights and concession stand.

Andrews says, “The private screenings and weekend films are a way to make use of the theater during this downtime in a way that is safe and enjoyable,” adding that the board grappled with keeping the doors shut when the Traverse City region moved to phase five in Michigan’s reopening plan this summer. “Our mission, as a community nonprofit, is to provide our entertainment, culture, and cinema arts to the community, and I personally could not stomach the idea of all these people driving by this classic theater and seeing it closed up. I came into this position not because I am a huge movie buff, but because I know the theater is really, really good for the community and the economic situation of our village. So, we decided to peel back, but still open the doors, and do our very best to keep it a safe, active part of the community.”

He says this summer’s screening of Ghostbusters in particular — where filmgoers arrived in costume — was a signal that “we are an alive and positive force for the community as a whole.”

He also explains that the nonprofit’s financial and legal structure heading into the pandemic positioned it to be able to pull off small-scale offerings at 25 percent capacity. “We are breaking even at best with these new activities, but we were fortunate to come into the crisis in a quite solid position. We took over from the Bahle family — who had owned and operated the venue for 45 years — as a nonprofit on New Year’s Day 2019. And 2019 was a tremendous year.”

Andrews says during The Bay Community Theatre’s first year operating as a nonprofit, “over 17,000 people came through the doors — remarkable when you think of Suttons Bay as a village of only 600 people.”

He adds, “We grew attendance by 45 percent over 2018; had a strong core of 130 volunteers; and had money in the bank. We were able to able to purchase the theater building and the retail space next to us with financing from the sellers. They [the Bahle family] were great partners the whole way. Because the retail space pays rent to us, and we have just two part-time staffers, we have very low operating expenses.”

He emphasizes that “we are a nonprofit and will still be fundraising,” especially once able to launch a schedule of programming they “had in the works and had to completely unplug this spring.” When able to resume full operations, The Bay will be set up for live concerts, speakers, comedy shows, and other ways to engage with the community in addition to film.

First up on The Bay's weekend run on rom-coms: Moonstruck. Andrews tells The Leelanau Ticker that in October the weekend films likely will be themed around U.S. presidents to lead up to the election, and he assures, “at some point the supply valve of new releases will turn back on.” He says The Bay’s programming committee works closely with a film broker who represents about 150 independent theaters across the country.

Also in regional movie theater news: in downtown Traverse City, the front doors of the State Theatre were boarded up Wednesday, which Traverse City Film Festival Founder Michael Moore explained in an email to festival supporters, “is just a sensible preventive move any business takes when it’s shut down, after 170 days of sitting empty.”

The Ticker, our sister publication, reported the TCFF lost $500,000 in revenue after having to cancel this year’s film festival — and lost another $500,000 having to close the State Theatre and Bijou by the Bay since March. The TCFF is currently seeking people, groups or businesses for one-month sponsorships to cover the State and Bijou’s $8,000-per-month lockdown expenses to keep it afloat until it reopens. 

Currently Traverse City’s AMC location is the only AMC theater open in Michigan. Movie theater owners in other regions have been vocal in pressing Governor Whitmer about when they can reopen, with Whitmer responding during her Wednesday COVID-19 briefing that Michiganders can expect an official announcement “in the coming days.”