the movies in motion

Sony Pictures acquires iconic Austin theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema South Lamar Austin

Alamo Drafthouse should stay about the same, according to the Sony division.

Photo by Heather Kennedy

Alamo Drafthouse, the movie theater chain that set the standard for Austin's movie and food-loving audiences, has been acquired on Wednesday, June 12, by Sony Pictures Experiences, a new division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE).

SPE says it will "preserve Alamo Drafthouse’s distinctive movie-dining experience." Alamo Drafthouse CEO Michael Kustermann will remain in his position, as well as heading the new SPE divison.

This news comes hot on the heels of recent sales of Alamo Drafthouse theaters across North Texas. A local franchisee declared bankruptcy, resulting in the sale of five regional locations.

SPE, the studio behind recent films like Bad Boys: Ride or Die and The Garfield Movie, has also acquired genre film festival Fantastic Fest in the same deal. Sony said it will continue to welcome content from all studios and distributors at the dine-in theaters.

For many years, Hollywood studios were banned from owning movie theaters, but that changed in 2020 when the Paramount Consent Decrees were terminated. Netflix owns several theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and the Walt Disney Co. owns and operates the El Capitan in Los Angeles.

Alamo Drafthouse was founded in 1997 as a single screen, family-owned repertory theater in Austin, Texas and has grown to 35 locations in North America. It distinguished itself in the exhibition landscape with drinks, dine-in food service and a cool vibe that became a favorite of cinephiles.

“We are beyond thrilled to join forces with Sony Pictures Entertainment to expand our company vision to be the best damn cinema that has ever, or will ever, exist now in ways we could only ever dream of,” Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League said in a statement. “They have a deep respect and understanding of cinema’s ability to both drive growth and create lasting cultural impact which aligns perfectly with everything Alamo Drafthouse stands for.”

For Sony, the Drafthouse acquisition is also tied into its experiences initiatives, including its Wheel of Fortune Live! Traveling tour and the Wonderverse space in Chicago. Ravi Ahuja, the president and chief operating officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment also noted that the studio’s Crunchyroll films are particularly aligned with the interests of Drafthouse fans.

Alamo Drafthouse has seen its ups and downs over the years. In March 2021, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, closed some locations and canceled plans to open new ones. Alamo emerged from bankruptcy at the end of May 2021, under the ownership of League, Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group. This is when Kusterman, a former executive at Caveman Foods, was named Alamo CEO. He will now report to Ahuja, the statement said.

Last year following the frenzy of Barbenheimer, employees at the Alamo Drafthouse in Manhattan and Brooklyn voted to unionize. Similar efforts were attempted at locations in San Francisco and Austin and were met with resistance from the leadership.

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."