“Interestingly and wonderfully we have found our members to be incredibly faithful during this time,” Sonya Chung, Deputy Director of Film Forum in Greenwich Village, said. “Some people were buying memberships during our closure. They understood they weren’t going to get the membership benefits and that we weren’t screening movies, but they were getting memberships just to support us.”

Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater that celebrates their 50th anniversary this year. Some of the 6,000 members have grown up regularly attending screenings. Of the members who were once students in the neighborhood, Chung said that they now bring their children along on the weekends to enjoy junior programming. But since their closure on March 15th, virtual screenings have taken the place of movies on the big screen – bringing in just a small fraction of what normal ticket sales would normally provide but with almost the same amount of work. 

“It requires much of the same work to screen these virtually — we have to watch the films, select the films, do the same kind of outreach to the press,” Chung said. 

Prior to COVID ticket sales, concession and merchandise made up approximately 40% of Film Forum’s total annual income — since their closure, they haven’t had these same income sources, leading to furloughs and layoffs within the company. The majority of their effort now is on fundraising. In spring, they held a fundraiser which brought in $100,000 from over 1,000 donors, twice as much as what they raised in 2019.

“It was clear the supporters were really coming forward to say we really want you to be here when this is all over and we miss you,” Chung said.

In a normal year, Anthology Film Archives in would have roughly 45,000 people attend screenings in their two theaters. Around 35% of their $1million projected income would come from these screenings and renting out the theater, bringing around $350,000 in revenue annually. Anthology has pivoted to provide online programming on various platforms to keep audiences engaged. 

“Last week, I opened a check for $1.79 which was our share of the screening for a certain period,” John Mhiripiri, Anthology’s Director, said. “Obviously that’s on the extreme end. But in half a year of online screenings, I would be surprised if we even earned a couple thousand dollars. There is just no way online movie screenings are going to generate the income we depend on as a theater.” 

Anthology’s loyal customer base view the establishment as a staple in a part of the town that they see disappearing. Mhiripiri said it’s a community hub of sorts in the East Village, where students, filmmakers and artists are able to gather. And due to members’ and donors’ generous donations, the crucial PPP loan, and owning the building — no rent payments just utilities — they’ve managed to limp along. 

“Some emergency grants have been offered, from private foundation sources and others through the CARES Act,” said Mhiripiri. “We had a great deal of support in April, May and June from our own constituents from Anthology’s members and supporters. We appealed to them to help us out at this time and people did.”

Anthology has continued to receive support from members and donors which has helped offset the loss of income from their programming and theater rentals. Eight core staff remain, while about twenty five of the theater staff — ushers, projectionists, managers, and box office ticket agents — have been furloughed. 

Syndicated, a movie theater, but also a bar and restaurant nestled in Bushwick, came to realize only after their doors shuttered how much their customers came for their movie screenings first and the booze and food second. Customers came to show their support for the neighborhood staple once they opened for outdoor dining, but it was only once Syndicated started screening outdoor movies that business really picked up. 

“The outdoor screenings have made it far more illuminating for us that our movie screenings are a main driver of our business, “ Tim Chung, Co-founder and Owner of Syndicated, said. “The food, drinks, and environment are an added bonus.”

Aside from their loyal audiences, the small operating size of these indie cinemas have been beneficial during these trying times. Whereas the large multiplexes are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, being independent allows these institutions to keep functioning because they can control their economies of scale. 

“We’re not so big and that is what helps us a lot, we’re a medium sized non-profit,” Mhiripiri said. “We’re not dependent on having the next Christopher Nolan sell the theater out. We have intentionally remained totally independent and done our programming as free from commercial concerns as we can.”

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So I decided to do a marathon of one of my favorite movie franchises of all time: Lord of The Ri- no, lord no. I mean the “Harry Potter” movies.

I’m part of “generation HP,” the era of kids who grew up watching the movies as their first introduction to the franchise rather than reading the books. I first started with the first three movies as a youngin’ of nine, then read books two through seven long after they came out, watched movie eight, read book one, and then finally concluded with movies four through seven (if you kept up with that tale, well done!). But it’s been quite the hot minute since I’ve taken a few hours (days, more like it) to sit down and watch all eight movies, which I remember as being the gold standards of filmmaking.

Let’s just say, the charm’s (see what I did there?) still there, but maybe the effect’s starting to fade. But let me tell you why you should spend your quarantine watching these movies.

A friend of mine recently described the movies as being “the truest escapism.” And that’s exactly the kind of thing we need to keep ourselves sane during this time. There’s a pure childlike wonder that comes with immersing yourself into the world of Harry James Potter. The movies offer a truly sensory and encapsulating experience. Dare I say, they’re… magical?

The HP film franchise is a true feat of production and cinematography, creating works of film that are just as impressive nearly two decades down the line (feel old yet?). The detailed work on the set pieces, first rate visual effects, and CGI, all make for a visually stunning piece of cinema. Honorable mention to the John Williams scoring as well, iconic in its own right.

The movies truly come together due to the impeccable, IMPECCABLE casting. Having Emma Watson, an actress with a slight air of perfectionism, play Hermione Granger makes her an insufferable know-it-all that you can’t help but root for. Evanna Lynch’s dreamy airhead look makes Luna Lovegood all the more endearing. Helena Bonham-Carter’s truly kooky demeanor is what makes Bellatrix Lestrange feel like a real threat. Even Daniel Radcliffe so easily captures the sort of boyish charm that Harry Potter has without making it too obvious (I’ll give him a pass for missing the green eyes).

Keeping that in mind, though, have you ever met one of those people who always go “umm, the book was better than the movie?” In this case, they’re right. You can argue it, but you’d probably be wrong. Every one of the books (except for book three, “The Prisoner of Azkaban”) was a story-telling marvel that I don’t think the movies could be. The books never overwhelmed us with characters or new developments in the wizarding world, yet managed to keep the storyline moving forward at a brisk pace. And the characters and plot points started to get more and more compelling and seemed to all connect.

In movie five, “Order of the Phoenix”, Sirius Black says, “The world isn’t split into good people and death eaters. There’s a light and dark inside all of us.” But, the thing is, most of the characters in the HP universe can quite conveniently be slotted into “good” or “bad” terms. It can be quite binary. Obviously, there are notable exceptions, like Harry himself, being both brash and intuitive; Severus Snape, loyal yet sardonic; even Ron Weasley, probably the most realistic character, who showcases that being adjacent to fame instead of actually famous isn’t as thrilling.

But that’s just what they are. Exceptions. And the movies make that very apparent, simply because there’s not enough time to explore each and every one of these characters. In the fourth movie, “The Goblet of Fire,” Triwizard champion Viktor Krum comes off as being arrogant and ruggedly handsome. That’s because he barely has any lines beyond grunting like a lunk from the stone age (petition to retroactively fire the actor, Stanislav Ianevski, for turning him into a plank of wood). In the books, however, he’s depicted as being arrogant, ruggedly handsome, secretly charming, awkwardly endearing, and a pretty decent chap. The screenplay often shows you everything that’s going on but shies away from going deeper lest it dive too much and run out of time.

My personal biggest critique would be the movie’s half-baked storylines that, fundamentally, seek to simply bring plots from the paper to film reel. Take, for instance, Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown’s hurricane of a romance in book six, “The Half-Blood Prince.” Lavender Brown had been a constantly recurring character throughout the books, albeit one of little significance. But when she develops a relationship with Ron (a cringeworthy one at that), it feels like an organic arc that brings a consistently cute background character to the forefront. In the movies, however, it just comes straight out of nowhere. Lavender makes her very first meaningful (and whitewashed) appearance in that movie itself and presents less as a “silly girl in love” and more “stalker with an obsessive infatuation.” It all seems too contrived and doesn’t come quite as naturally as it does in the books. #JusticeForLavenderBrown

Also, I consider it a heinous offence that the movies largely forget that the Patil sisters belong to different houses, often showing them both together in the Gryffindor common room, despite one being in Ravenclaw. As a fellow Indian, I demand accurate depiction!

Why do all of these problems matter, though?

People tend to get caught up in the overflowing emotion that the movies bring out, which is why they don’t really see what’s wrong with them. These nitpicks are only here because they could potentially take you away from the escapist element of the films, make you take a step back and, God forbid, remember what’s going on in the outside world. I’d call these disclaimers, maybe. A warning for things to look out for, perhaps.

However, the Harry Potter movies set box offices on fire and turned tomatoes “fresh” for more than a decade for good reason. It almostperfectly put to screen all the images we had in our heads and gave us some of the most memorable movie moments of recent times. Heck, cue Hedwig’s Theme (that familiar piano tune you hear at the beginning of each movie, for all you muggles) and that alone can elicit sighs, probably tears.

There’s something to be said for a series of films that take you on a journey quite like these do. Even if it is a journey of debate, it’s still better than sitting alone and going, “this disease will kill us all, farewell cruel world.”

Side note: would the Coronavirus have been a problem in the wizarding world? Nah, it’d probably be gone with one spell. That’s the reality we’d rather all be living in, as one collective community of Potterheads. And with JK Rowling launching the Hogwarts at Home hub to (slightly) experience some of the magic of wizardry, that might be more possible than you’d think.

Best movie: “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” for achieving everything it set out to achieve and then some

Worst movie: “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” which is, quite frankly, unmemorable and driven by the most stale of the seven books. I almost screamed when I realized Alfonso Cuaron, he of “Y Tu Mama Tambien” fame, helmed this movie. Also, having the characters in street clothes, escandalo!

Best character: While Ron Weasley’s complex and realistic character sketch takes it in the books, I’d have to give it to Hermione Granger in this case, simply for Emma Watson’s fantastically exuberant portrayal (she made being a nerd “cool”)

Worst character: Michael Gambon’s Albus Dumbledore (aka the second one) for playing way too panicky, a stark contrast to the composed figure from the books

Overall film franchise rating: A solid 3.5/5 stars

On that note, let’s end with some of the biggest cues the movies unconsciously made, in my mind, to our present scenario. A checklist, if you will:

• Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, in movie six, decides to clap his hands in the air and vanish with his phoenix in a blaze of flamesbefore letting the Ministry of Magic get any closer. Say what you want about ol’ Dumbledore, he sure has style!
• Dolores Umbridge, as new Hogwarts Headmaster in movie five, makes a declaration that boys and girls should be “at least eight inches apart.” I’d change that to six feet, if I were her.
• Every time someone shook hands with someone else, or the members of the golden trio hugged each other, I was tempted tochannel Cardi B and scream “CORONAVIRUS!” I might’ve given in to that temptation once or twice.
• I’m inclined to believe that all the animals making the rounds in the wizarding world (owls, rats, centaurs, giants, to name a few) could viably spread a lot more than just viral infections.
• JK Rowling believing she might’ve had the coronavirus (don’t worry, Potterheads, she’s better now) is truly as meta as this gets.

Now excuse me while I go check my mailbox…

Tsk, my Hogwarts letter is now 11 years and 257 days late, that owl better not be social distancing right now!

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Film Biz Recycling is a not-for-profit based out of Gowanus, Brooklyn that aims to reduce and reuse waste created by the production industry. by Alyana Alfaro

Amid seemingly endless stacks of boxes and an array of random items—unused medical supplies, old towels, a sheet of plywood with over 50 stuffed bears haphazardly stapled on—Nicolette Stosur-Bassett shows off a colorful mermaid costume that, she said, was part of “one of the best clothing donations” she had seen in the past year.

Stosur-Bassett, 23, is the Director of Outreach and Development for Film Biz Recycling, an organization based out of Gowanus, Brooklyn that aims to find the best “second life” for items that would otherwise be discarded from the film, theater and production industries. For Film Biz, this means recycling, donating, selling and a creative reimagining of would-be discarded items.

“We kind of act as a way station in the film industry between what happens on set and what New York City can use,” she said. “We take in items, our staff spend a lot of time sorting them and thinking about the best possible second life for those items to have somewhere in the New York City community.”

According to David Hirschler, the Deputy Director of Waste Prevention for the Department of Sanitation of New York, over 16,000 tons of material are discarded in New York City every day. He said that, recently, reuse has become a major initiative for the city and that organizations like Film Biz Recycling help to “eliminate some of the stuff that would otherwise just be thrown in the landfill.”

And Film Biz recycling certainly has no shortage of “stuff.” The 11-thousand-square-foot facility is bursting with items —Stosur-Bassett says the only donation qualification is that items come from the production industry—and operates on a “no-waste platform.”

“We work with a metal scrapper and he scraps all of our metal including metal hangers and all that small stuff that usually gets thrown away,” Stosur-Bassett said. “We work with a textile recycler, with an e-waste facility. We make sure that everything that comes into our space goes somewhere else.”

These armchairs are a donated set. The one on the right has yet to be up-cycled, the one on the left has been completely refinished with donated materials. By Alyana Alfaro.

Because Film Biz earns most of its operating budget from resale of donated items, last year, the organization started a new “creative-reuse” initiative to help move and sell some of the “less-desirable” things.

Juliana Obyrne, 23, is Film Biz’s professional up-cycler. Her job is to “make objects into other objects, fix things that are broken, and make things that are ugly more beautiful.”

Juliana Obyrne, 23, is a professional up-cycler. She re-imagines donations to create new items to sell. By Alyana Alfaro.

“When we get donations in I can look though them and see if something has an interesting shape or potential,” she said. “All the furniture and all the supplies and all the fabric is from in-shop, otherwise it would just be in a dumpster.”

According to Hirschler, wood furniture makes up about 50 percent of the reusable material that is often needlessly thrown away and another 20 percent is comprised of old textiles. For Hirschler, up-cycling and resale of old items is a logical step to significantly reduce that number and, therefore, carbon emissions.

“Reuse is very important,” Hirschler said. “There is only so much recycling we can do so the Department of Sanitation really encourages people to rethink something old before they throw it away.”

Though Film Biz Recycling is not affiliated with the city of New York, Hirschler said the mission of the organization and others like it jive perfectly with the work of the NYC Center for Materials Reuse, a DSNY project dedicated to optimizing discarded materials.

“Reuse organizations are great,” he said. “DSNY does a lot, but we can’t take care of everything.”

For Bao-Khang Luu, owner of Releve Design, instructing New Yorkers on how to make items out of every-day discards has become a primary business component. In addition to creating lamps out of items like soda can rings, Luu creates DIY tutorials in the hopes to make people realize that up-cycling can be both fun an economically-savvy.

“Some people do it because it’s frugal or perhaps they are constrained by materials available to them,” he said. “The current popularity of up-cycling comes from two factors—the recession and the extension of the green movement. People are attracted to the money saving practice.”

According to Stosur-Bassett, the interest in reuse among New Yorkers is a trend that seems here to stay.

“We recently started doing some eco-classes and workshops and we see some real popularity and a lot of interested parents who want their kids to know about reuse,” she said. “Next week, we are teaching kids how to build a recyclesaurus.”

Pavement Pieces reporter Alyana Alfaro demonstrates up-cycling

T-Shirt to Totebag Tutorial from Pavement Pieces on Vimeo.

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When Molly Knefel first moved to Brooklyn four years ago to pursue standup comedy, she was a regular at the Creek and the Cave open mic nights. But as a woman, she was also an anomaly.

Rather than greeting the audience as ladies and gentlemen, the host would open with “Molly and gentlemen” because Knefel, 26, was usually the only woman in the room.

“Still at any given open mic, you are likely to be one of maybe three women out of 30 people in the room,” said Knefel. “And if you’re booked on a show, you’re likely to be the token woman.”

Knefel and many other female comics believe that they face more challenges in getting work than their male counterparts. The blame is largely placed on those who book and produce shows, and with fewer women in comedy, the “women aren’t funny” stereotype persists.

“Even though there are more women than men in the world, I don’t think women flock to comedy clubs,” said Suzy Soro, a comedian living in Los Angeles, Calif. “Maybe they’ll go for a bachelorette party, or with a few girlfriends trying to get over a heartbreak, but guys routinely go.”

The small number of women at comedy shows, both on stage and in the audience, means more men are hired. Dr. Nancy Berk, a standup comedian and psychologist from Pittsburgh, Pa., said producers and bookers play a big role in shaping audience perceptions of comedy.

“Because women haven’t had the visibility, people may jump to the conclusion that because they aren’t on stage, they may not be funny,” she said.

Dr. Berk said her two biggest shows were Mother’s Day events, and Knefel is often passed over for the general comedy standup shows.

“A lot of times I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, well we’ve got a ladies night coming up in three weeks, I’ll book you on that one,’ instead of just booking me on a regular show,” Knefel said.

Siobhan Beasley, 29, is a former war crimes prosecutor turned comedian living on the Upper East Side. In the two years that she’s worked as a comedian in Manhattan, she’s seen mostly men booking gigs.

“I’ve heard people talk about how if they have a show booked, they will basically want it to be mostly male white comedians, and then they will put in one woman, and one minority,” said Beasley.

Benjy Susswein books for Stand Up New York, a comedy club on the Upper West Side. He said he tries to book diverse shows based on the actual comedy, not characteristics of the comedians like gender, race or where they come from.

“I really only look at the rhythm of the show, or how it will look for the audience,” Susswein said. “So I wouldn’t put two dry, low energy comedians back to back, or two that get laughs from being loud and vulgar. It just feels like you are seeing the same thing again, and it will ruin the energy of the show.”

Susswein acknowledged that women are underrepresented in comedy. He thinks it’s because fewer women than men are interested in getting into standup because of how revealing it can be, and the immense amount of rejection that comes with it.

“I think women, who tend to be more emotional and sensitive, would be turned off from pursuing such a field,” he said.

Susswein added that he doesn’t think there’s a lot of room for sexism in comedy, and that he hasn’t even witnessed any because the industry attracts more open-minded people.

Susswein and the women comedians agree that women like to see funny women, which was proven last year at the box office.

Bridesmaids, starring Kristen Wiig, showcased five womens’ tumultuous journey as a wedding party and grossed $288,383,523 worldwide and picked up two Academy Award nominations.

“It was the first time we’d seen a buddy-buddy female comedy,” said Soro, comparing Bridesmaids to the likes of Wedding Crashers and 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Wiig hurled female comedians to the attention of moviegoers everywhere.

“If Bridesmaids did that well, it means there’s an audience, and there’s an audience that’s as loyal and as engaged as there was for the Hangover,” said Dr. Berk.

The film brought the “women aren’t funny” stereotype back into the public discourse. Some female comedians are tired of the conversation.

“I wish the news would stop publishing stories like ‘Are Women Funny?’ because I feel like that sets us back decades,” said Beasley. “It’s so disheartening to read that.”

But Knefel believes it’s important to keep talking about sexism in comedy as long as it’s a problem.

“Sexism is by no means over in any aspect of society, but I think in comedy, we are very, very behind,” said Knefel. “There are so few other places where men will blatantly and unapologetically be sexist.”

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Sitting nestled in the country of upstate New York is a drive-in movie theater in hibernation. A soft white blanket of snow covers the ramps cars park on during the summer months. The concession stand sleeps, the ticket booth is vacant and the screen is void. Over the next few months the ice and snow will melt, days will grow longer and temperatures will rise.

Life will return to this drive-in and people will soon steer their cars past the Hollywood’s marquee, pay at the ticket booth and park on a ramp in order to “watch the stars under the stars.”

But nearly 60 years since the theater was built off of Route 66, owner Frank Fisher is worried.

Fisher, 64 of Averill Park, N.Y. took over running the theater from his father in 1968. There was a time when the Hollywood was open during winters, when parking spots were plowed and customers rented heaters for their cars.

But now he spends his winters renovating the theater and planning for the future of the film industry. Although Fisher eats, sleeps and breathes his theater, he can feel the cold chill of technology breathing down his neck. He is afraid his business is in trouble.

“Video On Demand is a real threat to the movie industry period,” said Fisher. “Video On Demand, is what it is, Video On Demand — when a national movie is released, it can be on T.V. exactly the same time as it is in the theaters, which will eventually shut the theaters down.”

Video On Demand will make some movies available for a mere $4.99 the same day they hit theaters, according to Direct TV—and the change could happen as soon as this month.

With indoor theaters charging anywhere from $9.50 to $15.00, drive-ins lead as a family friendly business, charging $8.00 for two new movies. Yet with cable and satellite companies offering their versions of Movies On Demand or Videos On Demand, Americans can flirt a bit more with the comfort of their own couches and eliminate the need for theaters with concessions, the main staple of any drive-in theater.

With less than 400 drive-ins surviving across the United States, Fisher worries the speed of technology is going to kill his business.

“The window is really shrinking really, really fast,” said Fisher. “Why would people actually want to go to theaters when they could sit home and purchase it and watch it on their T.V. in the comfort of their own home?”

Hollywood manager, Nichole Gela, 20 of Averill Park N.Y. agreed with Fisher, but said the community loves the theater too much to let it die.

“I don’t think everyone will stop coming to the drive-in, I think it’s a family tradition, people enjoy the drive-in,” she said.

Richard Jones, 23 of Averill Park, also agreed. “I think you’ll still have people that like to go out and enjoy the drive-in,” he said. “I think you’ll always have those few.”

Along with On Demand movies, Fisher must also face Redbox and Netflix. “It doesn’t come out the same day,” he said. “But what it does is the disc to the movie comes out very shortly after the theatrical release.”

Despite the odds, Fisher has faith in his community and business. “It’s part of Americana, it’s history, its been here forever,” he said. “It’s totally different — the venue is different, the experience is different and people just don’t really want see it go.”

Jones agreed and explained how nature adds more to the experience of the drive-in, offering more than the dark ambiance of indoor theater.

“Instead of going and being crowded at move theater, you have you’re own space,” he said. “You get to enjoy the outside.”

But Fisher said that, so far, the drive-in has survived, television, VHS tapes, DVDs and the economic recession.

“I’ve been here forever,” he added. “I’d really hate to see it die. I would do anything in my power to keep it going, just because I love it.”

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