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    Cliff Notes

    The Angelika dilemma: Will Houston support a downtown art house?

    Clifford Pugh
    Aug 30, 2010 | 4:49 pm
    • R.I.P. Angelika Film Center Bayou Place
    • Angelika Film Center in Dallas has been a big success
      Photo courtesy of Angelika Film Center Dallas
    • Could the Alamo Drafthouse be a possible Houston art house savior?
    • The River Oaks Theatre is the city's only non-profit theater showing independentfilms exclusively. Would owner Landmark be interested in the Angelika space?
    • The Angelika space as it sits empty now.
      Photo By Nic Phillips

    When the Angelika Film Center opened in the brand new Bayou Place on Christmas Day 1997, it was a big boost for downtown Houston.

    The nation's premier art house chose the Bayou City for its first location outside of New York and promised the latest in cutting-edge and independent films on eight screens, along with a lobby cafe. Houston film lovers were ecstatic.

    But before long, Angelika screens were as likely to show mainstream blockbusters as that rare foreign film. Much of its target audience for broader-based fare hadn't been to downtown Houston in years and were thoroughly confused about the parking policy in the underground garage, which required them to get their ticket stamped or pay a garage attendant and get reimbursed at the box office. Business just wasn't that great.

    So four years later, Ellen Cotter, whose family founded Angelika, came to Houston and promised a fresh start, with free valet parking and a return to "interesting films with an independent edge."

    It's been downhill ever since.

    Though film buffs hate to admit it, the Angelika has been on its last legs for a while now.

    The free valet parking proved to be a failed experiment, the lobby restaurant closed a few years ago, and the theater had fallen into bad disrepair. When I went to see the Joan Rivers documentary a month ago, I was appalled at the dirty seats and paint peeling from the floors. And that was before the air conditioning failed in a couple of the theaters.

    Meanwhile, in Dallas, Angelika is thriving, with two multiplexes in the trendy lower Greenville area and affluent Plano. I have a hard time believing Dallas is that much more open to independent cinema than Houston. So there must be another reason: Location.

    When I interviewed Cotter in 2001, she was not happy about the downtown Houston location with its confusing parking situation. She much preferred the Dallas Angelika, located in a mixed-use complex, Mockingbird Station, with a stop on the popular light rail line.

    It's hard to know who to believe over the Houston Angelika's abrupt closing — the Angelika posted a sign blaming the landlord for terminating its lease and the landlord issued a statement saying that Angelika "changed its mind" about "saying they would commit" (sounds like a really bad breakup to me) — but I'm not convinced that enough moviegoers are willing to trek downtown to make an art house there a roaring success.

    Sure, Houstonians head downtown to the Theater District in large number for performances of the Houston Ballet, Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Broadway touring productions and the Alley Theater. But a cineplex is different. It depends on hundreds of patrons every night to turn a profit.

    While the number of downtown residents has grown in recent years, it's still not enough to support a cineplex on its own. Houstonians are used to going to movies with adjoining acres of free parking and when we have to pay for parking — like at the Edwards Grand Palace Stadium 24 — we don't like it.

    The only way for a downtown art house to survive is to offer the affluent moviegoing audience something they can't find elsewhere. A unique movie and a unique moviegoing experience.

    Alamo Drafthouse or Studio Movie Grill are logical replacement choices because they have married a food-and-beverage experience with the movies and have achieved spectacular results in the Houston suburbs. The Angelika has a full kitchen, but the theaters would have to reconfigured for a premium moviegoing experience. It's gonna cost some bucks to do that because it will almost be like starting from scratch.

    Alamo spokeswoman Lacy Smythe Edmundson won't confirm rumors that the Austin-based theater chain is looking at the Angelika space. "At this time we are looking to explore inside-the-Loop and are exploring different possibilities," she said.

    Sundance Cinemas, a small chain affiliated with Robert Redford's film project, and Sunrise Cinemas, a 58-screen Florida chain that specializes in independent films and hosts The Miami Jewish Film Festival, France Cinema Floride, The Israel Film Festival and The Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Film Festival are also rumored to be looking at the Angelika space. Other possibilities: Landmark, which owns the River Oaks Theatre, and the California-based ArcLight cinema chain.

    In a vaguely worded statement Gary Rhodes, general manager of Bayou Place Limited Partnership, said, "We will be upgrading Angelika with an operator of the highest quality and we will be making the announcement shortly."

    I certainly hope so. But I'm not holding my breath.

    So right now, the River Oaks Theatre is the only for-profit theater showing independent movies exclusively (on three screens). And rumors of its demise crop up constantly.

    How embarrassing for a city that likes to tout itself "world class."

    unspecified
    news/entertainment

    bigger and stronger

    Winner of Ren Fest lawsuit plans to keep the event mostly unchanged

    Jef Rouner
    May 14, 2025 | 2:34 pm
    Texas Renaissance Festival
    Photo courtesy of Texas Renaissance Festival
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    The Texas Renaissance Festival will soon be under new ownership, but will remain much the same as it has been for the last half century, attorney Anthony Laporte of Houston law firm Hanszen Laporte tells CultureMap.

    "All of the vendor contracts are in place for 2025," says Laporte. "Everyone who was already there will be there this year. Maybe one Dippin' Dots guy here and there will be swapped out with another, but we're sticking with what works. Even when the litigation was ongoing, they're having entertainment auditions. Both the old owners and the new ones are planning to give visitors a great time."

    Founder George Coulam has owned the Texas Renaissance Festivals since 1974. Now in his late 80s, Coulam has teased selling the festival multiple times, a process chronicled in a recent HBO docuseries. After pulling out of the latest sales agreement, the prospective buyer sued Coulam for breach of contract. Grimes County Judge Gary W. Chaney ruled against Coulam on May 7, paving the way for the sale to finally go through.

    The identity of the new owner was a mystery for some time. Court documents listed only the corporate entities RW Lands, Texas Stargate, and Royal Campgrounds. The prospective new owner is Meril Rivard, a real estate investor with no prior festival experience who sought to purchase the fair for $60 million. However, Rivard's son is married to the daughter of Geoff Wilson, owner of several Greek food establishments in the festival. Wilson's clan, referred to as "The Greeks" in the HBO documentary, were one of the groups featured in the show trying to buy the fair.

    "This is a family business now," says Laporte. "He has family that lives it, works it, and is part of it."

    According to Laporte, an appeal by Coulam and his counsel seems unlikely. He reports that all parties mostly feel relief that the case is over, though until the judgment is finalized in the next couple of months there is still the possibility that Coulam will try one last time to remain king of the festival.

    The rough final sales price of the Texas Renaissance Festivals is $60 million, Laporte says. This includes the intellectual property rights, some physical property owned by the festival but not strictly part of its grounds, and other assets. The festival is also partially owned by some of the larger business owners. The recently-settled lawsuit does not change those arrangements.

    "It's hard to say what will happen [to the partial owners]," Laporte says. "This judgment does not affect them, per se, but there will be ripple effects. However, no one wants the festival to fail."

    Coulam will no longer have an official role in the running of Texas Renaissance Festival, though he may advise in an unofficial capacity. Laporte did say there will be no more parades in his honor. Coulam has repeatedly been accused of sexual harassment by former employees.

    Until the judgement is finalized, no official date for the transfer of ownership will be set. In addition to the money changing hands for the sale, Coulam owes Rovard and the other plaintiffs $22 million in damages and another $1 million in attorney fees, the judge ruled. None of this is projected to impact the October opening of the festival in any way.

    "Everyone is ready to make Ren Fest bigger and stronger," says Laporte.

    news/entertainment

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