Sonoma County theaters turn to virtual cinema, sell popular snacks to stay afloat amid pandemic

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For movie lovers missing hot buttered popcorn and a little escapism, several Sonoma County movie theaters have a solution during the era of coronavirus-?related social distancing. Stream a film, join a watch party and stop by for curbside concessions to create a virtual cinema adventure at home.

“You can have at least that experience,” said Melissa Hatheway, director of marketing and community relations at Sebastopol’s multi-screen Rialto Cinemas, where concessions include tubs of fresh-popped popcorn, packaged candy like Raisinets and Junior Mints and ice-cold sodas.

At the historic Sebastiani Theatre on the Sonoma Plaza, curbside offerings include wands of fluffy, fresh-spun cotton candy - vanilla or blue raspberry - while multi-complex Reading Cinemas in Rohnert Park serves up beef hot dogs and turkey club sandwiches along with snack items through its newly launched “Reading Cinemas Eats at Home.”

The Clover Theater in Cloverdale also offers to-go popcorn, candy and soda on Friday nights, so locals can have snacks for their at-home movies. The theater also has offered watch parties via Twitch, a live streaming platform.

The efforts are a way to keep local movie fans engaged, while also bringing in a trickle of revenue to shuttered movie theaters. Not everyone has at-home movie services like Netflix and Hulu. Others want more diverse offerings, or are looking for a way to support their favorite movie theaters.

The range of movies is considerable, too, with documentaries, limited releases and indie films available for streaming from $4 to $12. Popular selections include “The Booksellers” and “Military Wives.”

When Mike and Maureen Crumly want to catch a movie, they typically head to the one-screen Sebastiani Theatre. The Sonoma residents watch more movies at the downtown moviehouse than they do anywhere else.

While they prefer the big screen over their TV screen for movies, they don’t have that option while restrictions are in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Crumlys are among those who’ve been streaming films through “The Sebastiani at Home,” a virtual movie experience launched in response to the county’s shelter-in-place mandate.

The couple recently streamed an award-winning local documentary, “Call of the Valley,” that details the history of the Valley of the Moon, featuring interviews with longtime residents and Sonoma Valley historians.

“We loved it. It was great,” Maureen Crumly said. By following a tutorial on the theater’s website, they were able to hook the film to their TV, rather than stream directly to a computer. “We would do it again,” she said. “We love the Sebastiani.”

Sonoma Valley residents Gina Cuclis and Roy Tennant also have been supporting the theater during the quarantine. Like the Crumlys, they’re longtime fans of the venerable theater, which welcomed its first moviegoers in 1934 as a brand-new and much celebrated addition to the Plaza.

Tony Ginesi, the theater’s general manager, said there are plenty of people who miss coming in to watch movies and attend live performances. On weekends when the theater offers curbside concessions, customers often echo the same sentiment: “We can’t wait for you to open again.”

“We do have our hardcore fans,” Ginesi said.

It’s something heard at other theaters, too. “We’ve gotten a pretty steady stream of people asking if we’re open, or if we’re going to open soon,” said Taylor Green, general manager of the local Reading Cinemas. “We’re a fixture not just for the community but for families (looking for outings).”

While movie fans wait for theater doors to open and projectors to roll, they can go online to watch trailers and select films to stream. It’s not quite the same experience, theater staff agree, but with some familiar snacks, it’s a decent substitute.

Several local nonprofits also are providing film streams, watch parties, drive-in movies and other resources. They include the Alexander Valley Film Society (avfilmsociety.org/event-guide); Jewish Community Center of Sonoma County (jccsoco.org/filmfestival); Sebastopol Center for the Arts (sebarts.org/digital-?offerings); and Sonoma International Film Festival (sonomafilmfest.org). In Mendocino County, the Mendocino Film Festival Virtual Cinema Series runs through July 31, with details at mendocinofilmfestival.org/virtual-cinema-series.

In addition, the Sebastiani Theatre also has free original programming including behind-the-scenes tours of the moviehouse and “Magical Mystical Theatre” shows featuring Roger “The Magic Man” Rhoten, executive director of the Sebastiani Theatre Foundation and a popular Sonoma Valley magician.

Viewers also can watch a showcase of student films created by teens enrolled in Sonoma Valley High School’s esteemed media arts program.

Ginesi said films like “Call of the Valley” have been popular streaming options. Other local independent film offerings include “Haunted Wine Country,” a documentary tour of reportedly haunted Sonoma County locales; “Seeing Brave,” a documentary series detailing the lives of three women transforming lives around the globe in response to crises; and “Tiny Vineyards,” which follows the efforts of amateur oenophiles operating hobby vineyards in Sonoma Valley.

Green said the streaming services provide distributors with audiences for limited run films like “Fantastic Fungi,” a documentary hailed as an entertaining exploration of the world of fungi and their powers for planetary survival.

Creative marketing is something Hatheway considers a win-win. The “Popcorn Pick-up” program at Rialto offers popcorn at a discounted rate, with an even better deal available through its “Popcorn Pass” that will be valid once the theater reopens. Customers can buy advance-purchase 10-week popcorn passes for $49, or 20-week passes for $99, as part of the Rialto’s 20th anniversary celebration.

“Come on down,” she said. “It’s a way to support us while we’re closed.”

Former national intelligence director James Clapper on stage at Sonoma’s Sebastiani Theatre

CHRISTIAN KALLEN

INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER | April 30, 2018, 5:51PM

FACTS ABOUT FACTS AND FEARS

WHAT: James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, will read from his book “Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence.”

WHERE: Sebastiani Theatre, 476 First St. E., Sonoma

WHEN: Thursday, May 24, 7 p.m.

TICKETS: $30, from SonomaSpeakersSeries.com.

The event is an equal partnership between Readers’ Books, the Sonoma Speakers Series and Sebastiani Theatre.

It’s not often the head of national intelligence comes to Sonoma, at least that we know of. But James Clapper’s new book is being released in mid-May, and that little independent bookstore on East Napa Street lobbied for, and got, the retired Air Force lieutenant general and President Obama’s Director of National Intelligence to put Sonoma on his agenda.

So there he will be on the Sebastiani Theatre stage on May 24, at 7 p.m. in support of “Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence.” The reading is co-sponsored by Readers’ Books, the Sebastiani and the Sonoma Speakers Series, from whom tickets are available.

“Facts and Fears” is likely to generate the same kind of buzz as did James Comey’s recent “A Higher Loyalty,” if not Michael Wolff’s more gossipy “Fire and Fury.” The Trump Administration is a veritable gold mine for an inside-the-beltway memoir (and the president is said to love his gold). Donald Trump is unlikely to be fond of a critique from Clapper, whose outrage and dismay over the Trump White House is almost palpable in appearances on CNN, MSNBC and elsewhere – including as a witness before Congress.

Clapper won’t need “fake news” to sell books. His viewpoint is from the center of the National Security Administration and the capture of Osama Bin Laden through Russia’s influence operation during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. And his 55 years of military, private and government experience gives him the perspective to ask questions about ethics, morality and policy, if not the very nature of “intelligence” itself.

Just five years ago, some members of the press and Congress called for an investigation into Clapper, when he was the DNI. He was accused of leaking information about classified briefings, and giving erroneous answers about mass surveillance to Congress in March of 2013. Edward Snowden said it was Clapper’s misleading statements, among other reasons, that provoked him to release the secret NSA documents he did in June of that year.

Clapper weathered that storm and continued to serve the Obama administration until its end, in January 2017. Since then he has been a harsh critic of Trump’s policies and fitness for office. He continues to be a target of criticism from the conservative press.

“The Russians succeeded, I believe, beyond their wildest expectations,” he told a Congressional hearing in 2017. “Their first objective in the election was to sow discontent, discord, and disruption in our political life, and they have succeeded to a fare-thee-well.”

He raised eyebrows when in December he said that former KGB head Vladimir Putin “knows how to handle an asset and that’s what he’s doing with the President.”

He also told a CNN host that Trump’s behavior at a campaign rally in Arizona was “downright scary and disturbing.”

This high profile makes Clapper the kind of national figure who doesn’t often show up in Sonoma, doing a book reading on the stage of the Sebastiani Theatre. But Lilla Weinberger, co-founder of Readers’ Books, pointed out that national figures are not unknown to Sonoma audiences – she cites Arianna Huffington, Bill Moyers and J.K. Rowling among former Readers’ Books guests.

But this one feels different.

“Every quarter, publishers send out list of available authors for appearances,” said Weinberger. “You request the ones you want, and sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t. Clapper worked out, and we’re very excited.”

A large part of the reason that the Random House/Viking publisher booked Clapper to Sonoma, thinks Weinberger, was the Sonoma Speakers Series. “Sonoma is not a big media market, so we’re lucky to get someone of his stature. I think it had something to do with SSS and their format.”

The fact that two former NPR reporters – John McChesney and Alex Chadwick – co-founded the group was a definite plus. “I’m sure that had an impact,” said Weinberger. “And we can almost guarantee we will have a literate and engaged audience.”

It will mark the first time that Readers’ has directly partnered with the Sonoma Speakers Series in producing an event, though they have provided books for most if not all previous events.

Those have invariably been held at the spacious Hanna Boys Center Auditorium, but this time the Sebastiani Theatre volunteered to host the event at its downtown venue.

“Our intent with the Sonoma Speaker Series is to continue to attract more and more well-known speakers to our Valley,” said Kathy Witkowicki, co-founder and president of the group. “In some cases, those speakers are authors who have books coming out and are on book tours. That’s the situation with James Clapper. “

Witkowicki said McChesney will interview Clapper on stage for half an hour, then the general would read from “Facts and Fears,” then take questions from the audience. Copies of the book can be advance-ordered from Readers’ Books, or purchased at the May 24 event. Its official publication date is May 15, from Viking Press.

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.