‘imagin-indie’? asian-themed cinema moves on
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It may come as no surprise to fans of Asian film that the ImaginAsian Center, a new 235-seat movie house on Main Street, has shut down for good after less than one year in operation.
The Hodgetts + Fung-designed remodel of the former Linda Lea Theater was plagued by shaky attendance numbers, despite clean lines and comfortable seating.
In its place comes the Downtown Independent, an indie film group owned by Dylan Reynolds and Jim Kirst, which began operating in October. The transition, including a branding switchover, is set to be complete by the end of the month.
With a focus on local Los Angeles-based filmmakers, upcoming programming includes Toots, the story of New York’s famous Toots Shor saloon (preview the film after the jump) and the Zero Film Festival.
Downtown Independent inherits a modern venue with glassy Main Street frontage and cushioned, reclining chairs in front of the big screen. A swank rooftop lounge won’t be lost on the new operator, which hopes to utilize the space often.
The Downtown Independent (formerly the ImaginAsian Center)
251 S Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
downtownindependent.com; MySpace page
32 comments
this is such a tragedy. some schmucky corp comes in, trashes the place (i’m sorry, but the redesign is shit; have you seen it up close lately? it’s falling apart), gets rid of the old charm/linda lea signage, all the while saying they were contributing to the japanese community.
i AM extremely excited about the new content, though. good luck to them and i hope they can clean up the place, make it welcoming, show some good films. we need a good indie house in the historic core. i just wish they didn’t have to shred the place to get there.
WELCOME DOWNTOWN INDEPENDENT!!!!
Disappointed but not surprised the last 2 movies that i saw there were Transsiberian in September and Frozen River in October.
I hated the fact that the ImaginAsian center had not been updating their website film schedule, well now i know why.
I welcome and will support this new venture- Downtown Independent.
I hope if anything they realize how important publicity and marketing is to succeed.
This urban explorer will travel the 8 miles into downtown LA despite having 3 exhibitors within a 3 mile radius- Pacific, AMC and Krikorian.
The difference is mainstream-hollywood blockbusters versus independent-art-foreign.
I choose independent-art-foreign, quality over quantity.
I am excited to see the new programming.
Shuttered for good in another year. Thirty years from now when yet another downtown resurgence is being hyped, someone will want to remodel the crumbling ImaginAsian. Preservationists will decry the destruction of the “turn of the century faux modernism classic.” And the wheel turns. *Yawn.”
i got stoned as shit and saw Sukiyaki Western Django there - ruled!
too bad this place is going going gone - It was a nice respite from bummage and knife wielding drunk mexo’s on the block.
“Los Angeles-based filmmakers” a little redundant doncha think?!
good job idiots. nothing like starting your new theatre dedicated to “Los Angeles-based filmmakers” with a shitty Mike Wallace narrated documentary about some New York rat-pack BS. if you can’t see the irony in that you can’t smell the fart out of your own ass.
nice reading comprehension.
are you being sarcastic or just retarded?
i’m with you MexiCant.
no business can fail downtown, cuz thats where the $$$$$$$$ is AT.
take for instance the EDISON, super money joint. lots of big tits. now thats money.
@No Way:
Holy crap that’s negative. What did these people do, kill your puppy?
I will be supporting the place, for one. Too bad ImaginAsian couldn’t make a go of it, but frankly I was not interested in seeing Asian films every week. And apparently the population of Little Tokyo wasn’t either. It’s too bad, but a lot of businesses fail. Here’s hoping the new operators can make a go of it.
The people behind the new venture (Downtown Independent) have a great idea, and should have no problem getting local support. The guys are real film fans, and have been throwing around some really good ideas for upcoming events. I am sure we all will benefit from Downtown Independent, starting with Zero Film Festival.
It is sad that the theater closed however as someone else pointed out there was little long term buzz or ‘ta-do’ about the theater itself and what was playing. Without press and sufficient coverage about what the film was about, when it was playing -in the limited run- I basically let the place drop off my radar. Films in native tongues, some without subtitles…
It wasn’t a love affair, we had to stalk the ImaginAsian Center to get into a relationship with it!
I for one like the redesign, in spite of the venomous and sour comments by some posters. That little theater needs to boom, to shout, to stand out because it won’t be long before our mega-plex theater will come into the Nokia and I hate to think about the life span of the little guy set back by a huge movie complex just a half mile or so away.
On a side note, I always find humor in the anonymity of angry trolls, you shouldn’t let their piss and vinegar rub you. Rule number 14, “Don’t argue with trolls - it means they will win”. Or as I’ve heard mothers say, “OH just let them scream themselves to quiet. If you respond to the tantrum, you feed it”
Keep smiling.
Scott
I don’t think the exterior of the building was built with great materials, which is why it looks crappy up close. What’s funny is the nostalgia for the “old” Linda Lea. Although Main Street is the home of many theaters, many dating back to about 1900, the Linda Lea was NOT one of them. It was put together on the cheap in the early 60s. It’s decrepitude before this upgrade was beyond repair. The “renovation” was a total reconstruction which left only the exterior walls standing. So much for nostalgia.
Here’s what the street and that building looked like in the 20s (it the one with 10¢ on top):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11938637@N00/3047846691/
Is it me, or was downtown NICER 90 years ago? I wonder if we can ever get it BACK to being as nice as it was before any of us were here to fuck it up. Its very LA to just cover it up or pick and choose our spots, turning a blind eye to the building next door. I personally think that the new company taking over this theater is wasting their time and money. The idea for an independent theater isnt bad.. but how many people are going to come from another part of town to downtown to watch an indie movie on a block where parking is bad and dangerous when they can go to any number of other theaters all over LA that offer the same programming? I for one would rather LEAVE downtown and drive to hollywood than right up the street to the Amaginasian or whatever it is now. Call me crazy.
#14: No, it’s not just you. Downtown was a much different place in 1918. But the problems associated with city living weren’t confined to Los Angeles.
And I think parking in Downtown’s various affordable lots is a lot easier than parking in Westwood, Hollywood, or WeHo.
There are tens of thousands of people living downtown. That ought to be enough to provide a base market for the theater. I doubt they would get much business from people elsewhere for anything but a special event. It’s the same reason that I would not go see a movie in Santa Monica or Long Beach.
I agree with Rich. It’s not hard to park anywhere in the Core, neither is it dangerous. Better yet, take the train.
I was really excited when ImaginAsian opened, but everytime I checked their listings, nothing looked good! And there is so much great Asian cinema. Good idea but failed in their application. Otherwise I would have been there a lot. If nothing else they should have played good, older Asian movies sometimes (unless they did and I just missed it).
Tens of thousands of people living downtown? Right.
I guess that’s more than the two dozen or so I see on the street while walking home to the fashion district from the 7th street metro station each evening. (At least half of while are homeless or waiting on busses to go away from downtown.)
Seriously Bert, enough with the misplaced optimism. Downtown is what it is. It ain’t next big thing. It’s just another thing.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen such negativity in the comments. Maybe some posters are becoming light-deprived in these shorter days and it’s affecting their moods. As for me, I think it’s great to have an indie theater within walking distance. I hope their programming is such that I can be a regular customer.
James, I’ve lived and worked downtown for more than 5 years. Maybe we walk different streets every day, but the difference between then and now is huge. I’m not practicing any stupid boosterism, just stating facts. The population downtown was 19,000 just a few years ago, it is over 40,000 now. Not sure why you have a problem with that.
If a theater can’t draw an audience, the problem is likely the programming, not the location.
I think if the VISTA theater can be successful with hollywood films that are available at many other theaters and offer no parking, then this theater can also. know its different programming, but I love the VISTA for the fact that its a great small one-screen. I will try to support this place as much as possible, I just hope the programming is good. I am also excited to see the Zero Film Festival.
I very much wanted this place to work, and on several occasions (with a free afternoon) I headed there to see what was showing. But every time there was nothing I wanted to see.
I have nothing against Asian film, but it doesn’t speak to me. I remember thinking that the owners were appealing to a relatively small audience - definitely a niche market. That’s always a risky business strategy, esp. for movie theaters these days.
I definitely plan to check this theater out again. Indie films should have a broader appeal throughout the downtown community.
James won’t accept the fact of 40,000 people living downtown because that fact does not jibe with his prejudices.
James can be forgiven for not having seen Downtown several years ago, much less ten years ago. Back then it was a much different place. Even in the past couple of years, my own block (Main and 6th) has been transformed.
Think these things are happening by chance? No way. It takes dedicated people who live and work in the community for these changes to occur.
Yes, tens of thousands of them.
I’m sorry nothing at the ImagineAsian ever caught my interest enough to make me catch a flick there.
The Vista languished for years before it got a renovation in the late 1990s (?) that included much needed seat replacement. The popularity of the Good Luck Bar seemed to help at one time as did the wisdom of the management to do 24/7 shows of the first Star Wars prequel back in 1999.
Bottom line is the Vista picks the movies it thinks are going to be the must-sees for the arty types in the business of Hollywood. A theater in Gallery Row could do well by mirroring the Vista’s picks as well as folding in documentaries and foreign films — think Vista meets the Sunset Five.
I do agree that the design of ImaginAsian isn’t up to par. I hope the new indie tenant does something change it a bit. Every time I see that place i think of pinkberry and all of the other yogurt shops with that exact same design. (side note - I have not actually been inside the theater)
Don’t be offended by my downtown slang, but F$#@ all you haters… This isn’t easy for them there. One they have to make a new name for themselves. All despite the negative reputation and bad programing of the previous Imaginasian. Two they have do it on no budget. People in some cases volunteering time. These people are film lovers to the core and anything that you want to see they will try and get. Talk to the people that run things there. They will let you check out the projection room, take you to the roof, and talk to you. They are like friends there. All the kids that work there are involved in film making. Anyone that wants to support and be a part of an art house should support. Seriously, they are planning a lot of events and any one interested should go in and contribute. Are you a musician, DJ, comic, magician, film maker, photographer, painter, chef… Whatever! Downtown Independent wants to bring the people together with art and culture. We are all a part of this, lets make a place we can come together in these times and express ourselves.
Any new business is a challenge and, as several of the people posting here can personally attest to, an art business is usually more a labor of love than profit.
I do not believe there is ‘hate’ towards either the new or old operators of the theater in the comments here. I think people living Downtown and nearby in the Historic Core would really embrace a broader array of programming than ImagineAsian offered in the niche it claimed.
Particularly in rocky economic times, retail/service/consumer businesses will have to sway to what customers want if the want to be self-sufficient financially and even then some will likely close in the coming deflation.
I would hope the new operators would take note of the feedback here rather than dismiss it as hate.
Between OnDemand, NetFlix and direct Internet distribution, niche theaters are going to be a challenging business model. That’s note hate, that’s just the 21st Century.
I, for one, will make an effort to track what shows the new operators are running and will be glad to walk (not drive) to see movies I would otherwise go to see elsewhere outside Downtown.
Ben: For the record, I did delete/moderate a number of vitriolic/unintelligible/hateful comments.
I saw that they are offering $5 tickets to anyone who lives or works downtown!! so stoked. The guy at the concession stand also pointed out that they lowered concession prices considerably. you now no longer need a second(or third?) mortgage on your soft-loft to go the movies.
Besides the choice of films that were shown, two other problems under the previous management were lack of promotion and lack of a traditional marquee. Hodgetts and Fung forgot to replace the old Linda Lea marquee with a new one, so you couldn’t look up or down Main from a block or two away and see what was playing. And as for promotion, the old management seldom if ever went around the immediate neighborhood with posters/postcards to so that those of us living within six or so blocks would know what was playing.
An Uwe Boll festival? Are you kidding me? Has anyone else looked at “Downtown Independent” ‘s schedule? Snooooze. Wont be long before they move on as well.