‘We’re trying to survive’: Hilton Head theater told to stop private movie screenings
The S.C. Department of Commerce has told a Hilton Head Island movie theater to stop offering private film screenings amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Park Plaza Cinema, an independent theater near Sea Pines’ main gate, closed in March just before S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster ordered “non-essential” businesses to shutter as the pathogen spread across South Carolina.
To offset that loss, the theater’s co-owners, Larry and Lucie Mann, recently allowed small groups into the cinema to privately watch DVDs they brought from home for $100 or $150.
But after receiving a complaint, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office issued a warning to the theater on July 17, citing McMaster’s executive order on non-essential businesses. The order still blocks various entertainment venues from reopening, including cinemas.
John Carroll, an attorney for the Manns, wrote a letter to the Department of Commerce last week arguing that the theater’s private events weren’t covered under McMaster’s edict.
The department, though, in an email Monday said Park Plaza Cinema had to temporarily cease operations.
“After careful consideration, we have determined that your business falls within the non-essential categories outlined in the Order,” the department said.
In a Facebook post Monday, the theater wrote that it was closing indefinitely.
The Manns have run the cinema since 2010. Cosmopolitan magazine once called it the coolest movie theater in the state, noting its luxury reclining chairs and café, which serves beer and wine.
“I don’t think it’s fair,” Lucie Mann said of the department’s decision. “Everybody has been allowed to open.”
The Manns last month said they think theaters can better control social distancing measures than restaurants and other businesses. The couple also said the cinema could stagger show times by 30 minutes, allowing staff to clean seats.
“There’s no willingness to make it work,” said Larry Mann, who has urged customers to contact McMaster’s chief of staff about the governor’s stance on movie theaters.
McMaster, noting a recent surge in coronavirus cases, on July 1 said he wouldn’t let theaters, spectator sports and similar venues reopen until conditions improved statewide.
Brian Symmes, a spokesman for the governor, said he had no updates on reopening plans for theaters as of Tuesday.
“We haven’t seen the necessary drop in the infection rate,” Symmes said.
As of Tuesday, over 73,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the state since March, according to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control data.
The movie industry has been battered by COVID-19, with many studios pulling their films out of theaters for the summer.
Director Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated “Tenet,” a sci-fi thriller originally set to hit the big screen on Aug. 12, was recently pulled from Warner Bros.’s release calendar.
“We’re trying to survive,” Lucie Mann said. “It’s a bad situation.”
