Madstone Theaters Hazard Center,
Mission Valley, San Diego, California, USA
After a two-month remodeling effort, the Madstone Theatres chain opened their San Diego complex in August 2002, at the former site of the Mann Hazard Center 7 Theatres. The theatre now features a mix of independent and classic movies and continues to host film festivals, including the San Diego Latino Film Festival and the San Diego Asian Film Festival.
Marquee sign at the north side of the Hazard Center property.
The freshened theatre entrance.
The concierge station, just inside the entrance. Among other things, visitors can find information on current and future engagements, seek out recommendations on a restaurant to complement their moviegoing night out, and, if they are member of the theatre's frequent-moviegoer club, take advantage of express ticketing.
The snack bar. In addition to the usual movie-house favorites, upscale treats such as sandwiches, espresso drinks, and smoothies are also available.
Even popcorn gets the gourmet treatment with a selection of flavored toppings.
The auditorium lobby. Screens 3-7 are to the left; Screens 1 and 2 are to the right at the far end.
The lobby sports new paint and carpet. The auditoriums themselves (see
the Mann pictures) were given a good cleaning during the remodeling; but
are otherwise the same.
Projection equipment for Screen #3 at the southernmost end of the booth.
All projection, sound, and print makeup/inspection equipment have been
carried over from Mann except where noted below. Alas, THX went bye-bye
with the Mann folks; bypass cards now reside in the THX monitors where
the proprietary crossovers used to reside.
Projection equipment for Screen #4. Screens 1-5 run Century SA-TA projection heads, R3E soundheads, Xetron XCN35-2K consoles, and ORC PG-2005 automations (not VA-301s as I erroneously attributed in the Mann page). All platters are Christie AW-3Rs. Osram lamps are used in all Screens #1-6
Projection equipment for Screen 5, including 16mm projection equipment I provided for the 2002 San Diego Asian Film Festival. (Yes, that's a Kodak Pageant 250A Marc-300 16mm projector.)
Sound rack for Screen 5. Screens 3-5 sport Ultra*Stereo JSX-100 processors and QSC amplification.
Sound format selector on the Ultra*Stereo.
Projection equipment for Screen 6, including more 16mm projection equipment I provided for the 2002 San Diego Asian Film Festival. The Fumeo I used in 2001 went back to Mann corporate; I provided an Eiki EX-4000P to take its place. The Eiki throws a great picture; its cooling fans sound like an air-raid siren!
An outside company provided the Mackie mixer, wireless mike, and Betacam
deck seen in the lower-right corner; all needed for the film festival.
Projection head and soundhead for Screen #6. During the remodeling, the Century mechanisms were given a thorough once-over. They are now good as new and run very smoothly.
Component Engineering reverse-scan red LED readers were installed in every soundhead.
No self-respecting art house should go without lenses and aperture plates
for the 1.33:1 and 1.66:1 aspect ratios. Here, a lens and plate for 1.33:1
is cleverly stored in the soundhead "mystery compartment." Several sets
of 1:66:1 lenses and plates are stored in a similar fashion elsewhere in
the booth.
Film workbench on wall opposite the Screen 6 console. This bench was brought in by the Mann folks early March 2002 to up the count to three benches in total. When running a film festival like the San Diego Latino Film Festival, with over twenty-five 35mm features over a ten-day run (not to mention dozens of short subjects on film), three tables come in very handy if film is to be done right through a proper bench inspection.
Video projectors are placed on the roof of the auditorium entrance foyer when when video projection is required. Christie RoadRunner L6 computer projectors (essentially relabled Sanyo units) handled the video projection duties in two screens for the 2002 San Diego Asian Film Festival. Unlike 2001, the correct lens was used and the picture was very good (for video, anyway).
Particle Transfer Rollers are used for all showings. The PTRs are cleaned after each showing.
The Century SA-TA in action.
An observation-port view of the Christie 4K xenon lamp powering Screen 7.
Special thanks to Jon Miller for the pics.