By Thomas Hodgkins
Medill Reports 

Chicago’s Music Box Theatre, an independent movie theater, is expanding despite national movie theater attendance declining. Owner and CEO Brody Sheldon, as well as Assistant Technical Director Rebecca Lyon, explain why the Music Box is so successful, from the 70mm film projection to the theater’s ornate interior design.

TRANSCRIPT:

Narration: This independent movie theater is part of an industry in crisis. Theater attendance has been consistently down ever since the pandemic, with Variety’s Brent Lang recently reporting about AMC Theatres’ disappointing holiday box office returns. 

Brent Lang: Their revenues were down, I believe, and more troubling, their attendance was down, their admissions were down. 

Thomas Hodgkins: But here at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, attendance is not a problem. In fact, they’re expanding. 

Narration: The theater is currently constructing a third screen and also recently acquired a new location outside of Minneapolis. But what sets the Music Box apart and allows it to buck national trends? To start, the theater’s programming is different from what you’d normally find at a chain. 

Brody Sheldon: I think what we do well that other theaters could copy and could try and emulate and do … the diversity of programming. 

Narration: Brody Sheldon owns the Music Box but also helps out with the programming. 

Sheldon: We have quality films. We integrate festivals, repertory, classic films, special events with first-run arthouse movies. So each day is something different. And each day in itself could be multiple different things. 

Narration: The theater sometimes projects these diverse films on 35– and 70mm film. 

Sheldon: We have a professional projection staff that cares a lot about presentation. 

Narration: Rebecca Lyon is a part of this projection staff; she serves as the assistant technical director, as well as a programmer. She says the 70mm projection takes a lot of work but draws in large audiences. 

Rebecca Lyon: I think we spent a lot of years just like talking to people about it and making them feel like it was special. 

Narration: Compared to digital projection, projecting the analog way brings a vintage, authentic aesthetic to the screen. 

Sheldon: The presentation itself is superior. You can see so much more detail. Light, grit, grain. And people who have studied film or are interested in film appreciate that. 

Lyon: We show a lot of original prints, so prints that were made at the time the movie actually came out.  

Narration: The Music Box Theatre opened in 1929, only two years after synchronized sound was introduced in film. This means the theater is almost one hundred years old, and its architecture and presentation reflect this. 

Sheldon: When you walk in, it’s an experience into itself. Our lobby is grand and generally decorated in some thematic way by our creative staff. The theater itself was built in a decorative style with ornamentation everywhere, a red velvet curtain. 

Narration: According to the theater’s website, the interior design is intended to make the audience feel like they’re watching a movie in an open-air palazzo. 

Lyon: Somebody once told me they feel fancy when they come to the Music Box. 

Narration: And the Music Box takes pride in their friendly, hospitable staff that makes audiences feel like they’re part of a bigger moviegoing community. 

Lyon: I think there’s, like, the human touch, which sometimes you don’t get when you go to a multiplex, and you’re ordering your popcorn on a touch screen and that sort of thing. There’s a lot of people here that love movies and will talk to you about movies. 

Narration: It’s that sense of community that sets it apart from a chain theater. 

Sheldon: Getting immersed in a story with 700 people can be very cathartic or exciting. 

Narration: From sold-out showings of cult classics to the numerous filmmakers and actors that visit every year, the Music Box feels like a movie theater made for movie fanatics. 

Sheldon: Some are quirky, some are funny. People come to us for all different reasons. 

Narration: Considering national trends, the Music Box Theatre’s success is anomalous. But if you watch just one movie in the theater, it really isn’t hard to see why people keep coming back. 

Lyon: I think it’s a cool place to come. Like if you’re a young person, it is a place where like you can go on a date. It’s become very hip, I think, to come to like older, weirder spaces. 

Lang: In periods of great disruption, there’s also opportunity. And so if you were looking at how these major chains are failing their customers, if you’re scrappy and kind of focused on the small stuff, I think you could really benefit from that. I think you could provide something that is a much better experience. 

Narration: From the Southport Corridor, Thomas Hodgkins, Medill Reports. 

Thomas Hodgkins is a video and broadcast specialization graduate student at Medill.