Movie News
Ex-employees of Alamo Drafthouse in Denton create GoFundMe for lost wages
Alamo Drafthouse Cedars
Former employees of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Denton area have organized a GoFundMe relief fund to help tide over expenses following the chain's closure on June 5.
All five Dallas-Fort Worth locations closed when their franchisee, Two is One, One is None, LLC, filed voluntary petitions for relief under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
The five North Texas locations that closed included Richardson, Las Colinas, Lake Highlands, Dallas, and Denton.
According to their GoFundMe, the bankruptcy was filed on the last day of their pay period, meaning that they were not paid for the two weeks they worked prior to payday.
The GoFundMe goal is $10,000, of which $5,618 has been met.
The GoFundMe was launched by two former managers at the Denton location, speaking on behalf of their 73-person staff who were affected by the layoff.
It states that despite media reports, employees were not notified ahead of time by franchise owner Bill DiGaetano and his father, and that employees were not paid for the last two weeks of labor. A spokesperson for Alamo had no comment.
"We are all filing for unemployment but for some of us it may not yield results for up to 30 days," it says. "Most of us were already living paycheck to paycheck and this has made all of our situations even more uncertain."
"It has meant the world to all of us at the Denton Alamo Drafthouse to have been able to serve you guys for as long as we did," the fund-raiser says. "Any money donated here is going to be split between the Denton employees that need help the most in this unsure time."
