The Alamo Drafthouse has stepped up measures to create a $2 million emergency relief fund for furloughed workers, following national closures that prompted pleas from out-of-work staff members impacted by venue shutdowns.
The contingency funds are applied to those operating in client offices and corporate locations. Earlier this week, Alamo Drafthouse closed 40 sites, of which more than half are corporate owned. The remaining multiplexes are franchises and will rely on independent resources to cope with the closures.
Alamo Drafthouse, like so many other companies across the mainland United States, has had to make the painful decision to furlough a large proportion of its staff members.
Earlier this month, sources learned from some Alamo Drafthouse workers in New York City that their health insurance policy would expire at the end of the month, and the company was proposing to co-pay them COBRA benefits for April.
According to a media statement, "furloughed staff members working for corporate-owned theaters will earn an annual pay period of two weeks, and their insurance benefits will be extended by the end of April."
The company owns and operates about 50 percent of Drafthouse's 41 establishments, including theaters in Los Angeles, Houston, Kansas City, New York City, San Antonio, Atlanta, and San Francisco. The announcement has no impact on franchised theatres.
The new relief fund was established in collaboration with Emergency Assistance Foundation and seeded from the Alamo Community Fund. Approximately 80 percent of the cinema chain's personnel, along with nearly all theater staff, were furloughed.
News of their fund comes on the heels of yesterday's announcement by the National Association of Theatre Owners, in which they pledged $1 million to theater employees and asked the government for a movie theater bailout.
Alamo Drafthouse has suspended all memberships as of Monday, and monthly payments for active season pass subscriptions, scheduled to restart once the theaters reopened.
Anyone wishing to un-pause their current season pass subscription, or launch a new one before doors open, will have 100 percent of their proceeds donated to the Alamo Fund.
Theater chains around the country, including Arclight, AMC Theatres, Regal Cinemas, and Cinemark, were forced to shutter indefinitely to lower the risk of coronavirus spreading.
Beginning last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested calling off for the next eight weeks for public hearings with more than 50 people. The limits apply to bars and sit-down restaurants along with the cinema theatres.
