SECOND Theater Near Scientology Headquarters drops Going Clear Film

[CommunicatorIC]

SECOND Theater Near Scientology Headquarters drops Going Clear Film.

The Hollywood Reporter:

SECOND Theater Near Scientology Headquarters drops Going Clear Film

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/going-clear-dropped-second-theater-825890

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by Pamela McClintock, Mia Galuppo

9/21/2015 1:25pm PDT

Residents of Clearwater, Fla., — home of the world spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology — will now have to drive to Tampa to see the documentary.

A second Florida theater near the world spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology has scrubbed plans to play Alex Gibney's controversial documentary Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.

AMC Woodlands Square 20 in Oldsmar, Fla., has told HBO it will no longer be screening the film due to "space" reasons. Last week, the AMC multiplex agreed to rent HBO Films the use of an auditorium beginning on Oct. 2 after a nearby cinema in Clearwater, the Cobb Countryside 12, dropped the film. The Cobb Countryside 12's owner had told HBO it backed off screening the movie after receiving pressure from the church. Woodlands Square is a short 10 minute drive or so from the Cobb Countryside.

Now, AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa, Fla., will play the film instead. A spokesman for AMC said the Tampa location, a 45-minute drive from Clearwater, is a larger venue, allowing the chain more flexibility.

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[CommunicatorIC]

AMC Entertainment Inc.
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Customer service: 1 (888) 562-4262


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[Panda Termint]

"Head-in-sand" Tech wins again!

All this publicity is bound to raise some curious heads, though.

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Two local theaters drop Scientology documentary 'Going Clear'

Tampa Bay Times: Two local theaters drop Scientology documentary 'Going Clear'

http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-d...p-scientology-documentary-going-clear/2246524

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Steve Persall, Times Movie Critic

Monday, September 21, 2015 7:25pm

Two Pinellas County multiplexes have dropped plans to show an Emmy winning documentary critical of the Church of Scientology.

Those decisions effectively distance Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief from Clearwater where the church's spiritual headquarters are located.

Cobb Countryside 12 in Clearwater and AMC Woodlands 20 in Oldsmar each agreed to schedule Gibney's examination of alleged abuses within Scientology.

Their change of plans led to AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa picking up the Oct. 2 engagement. Later on Monday, a likewise opening at Muvico Palm Harbor 10 was announced.

What led to the original bookings being dropped is disputed. Going Clear director Alex Gibney believes the church pressured theater chains to back off. Scientology calls that charge ridiculous. A Cobb Theaters executive calls it business as usual.

"I find it shocking," said Gibney in a telephone interview with the Times. "Yet it seems to be consistent with what we know about how far the church will go to keep members from hearing anything negative about the church."

Gibney said it would be "very important" for his movie to be shown in Clearwater. He was told the movie was possibly removed due to threats from the church. Similar threats have been reported by anonymous sources in the Hollywood Reporter.

A statement from Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw called accusations of church interference "just another of Gibney's publicity stunts to go along with all of the other phony 'threats' he has manufactured to get attention. It is pure fiction just like his film."

A recent advertisement on Countryside 12's website announced Going Clear opening on Oct. 2. The ad has since been removed but the Times obtained a screen grab with the ad included.

Cobb Theaters COO Jeremy Wellman said Monday that was a "coming soon" ad for any number of Cobb theaters. Going Clear, he said, was never officially booked at Countryside 12.

"(The booking) was something we were considering doing as a rental but we chose not to do it," Wellman said, citing obligations to studios and Cobb's policy of not exhibiting movies that debuted on other entertainment platforms.

"In the case of (Going Clear), it had played on HBO, and was also available online through streaming or video on demand," Wellman said.

While not singling out Scientology, Wellman said hot-button films like Going Clear often invite complaints.

"Like many films, especially ones that could potentially be controversial, we get a lot of email from both sides," he said.

"We have people tell us we must play this film, and we have people tell us how dare you play this film? We play films based on what we think is the right thing to do."

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[CommunicatorIC]

Huffington Post: 'Going Clear' Dropped From 2 Theaters Near Scientology's Base

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/going-clear-scientology-screenings_56008b12e4b0fde8b0cf82f5

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Two movie theaters near the Church of Scientology's world headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, have canceled screenings of HBO's damning documentary, "Going Clear," after one was pressured by church members.

"Going Clear," an Emmy-winning documentary directed by Alex Gibney based on Lawrence Wright's acclaimed 2013 non-fiction book of the same name, debuted at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO in March. The film was released to a limited number of theaters in the spring, and is slated to return to theaters on Sept. 25.

Cobb Theatres' Countryside 12, located seven miles northeast of the church headquarters, had been scheduled to begin showing the documentary on Oct. 2. But last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the theater's owner told HBO members of the church had been pressuring the theater over the film.

HBO responded by moving the screening to the AMC Woodlands Square 20 in Oldsmar, Florida, 10 minutes from the Countryside 12. But on Monday, managers of that theater told HBO they would be unable to accommodate the film because of "space reasons."

Gibney told the Tampa Bay Times he found the cancelation "shocking," adding that "it seems to be consistent with what we know about how far the church will go to keep members from hearing anything negative about the church."

The documentary uses extensive interviews from former Scientology members to reveal how the church has suppressed criticism of its practices. One example was a smear campaign the church allegedly called "Operation Freakout"against journalist Paulette Cooper, who had written a book critical of Scientology.

A church representative told The Huffington Post in an email that it would be "inaccurate to say the Church has 'pressured' any theater."

"Like the movie, these stories are fiction and represent yet another shameless publicity stunt about Gibney’s movie," the statement continued.

HBO representatives said in an email to HuffPost that "Going Clear" will be screening in two movie theaters in the Tampa area, rather than the one that the network had planned. It will be showing in the AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa and the Muvico Palm Harbor 10 in Palm Harbor, Florida, starting on Oct. 2. The documentary also will be screening in 16 other theaters around the country.



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[Leland]

Are these 16 theater showings by HBO a test to see if a nationwide theater release is possible for this Documentary....?

 

[CommunicatorIC]

https://twitter.com/AFC_Raz/status/646186110843011072/photo/1

 

[Helena Handbasket]

They said the movie was pulled from AMC Woodlands due to "space" reasons. That just means they were expecting SO MANY theatergoers that there wouldn't be enough room for them all. Maybe it's true the Church was NOT pressuring the theater company, but given the Church's history, no one believes that. Either way, it's good news.

All this publicity will drive people into the theaters en mass.

Helena

 

[Mimsey Borogrove]

They said the movie was pulled from AMC Woodlands due to "space" reasons. That just means they were expecting SO MANY theatergoers that there wouldn't be enough room for them all. Maybe it's true the Church was NOT pressuring the theater company, but given the Church's history, no one believes that. Either way, it's good news.

All this publicity will drive people into the theaters en mass.

Helena

Noo. It is about space - because they think the film doesn't matter, and it's time has passed and no one in Clearwater has the energy to go there, nor could they be certain of it's place, form and there was another event scheduled at the FH. So what else is left? Space. Space that needs to be filled up with extra showings of the new Tom Cruise film that Flag Crew is being told to see nonstop till the danger sit is handled with an outpouring of big being theta daring do..

Mimsey

I actually liked this film - BTW - though it's not his latest one.

 

[Helena Handbasket]

Why don't we just get some OT's to spacate more space?

Helena, just barely making sense

 

[Churchill]

Huffington Post: 'Going Clear' Dropped From 2 Theaters Near Scientology's Base

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/going-clear-scientology-screenings_56008b12e4b0fde8b0cf82f5

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

Two movie theaters near the Church of Scientology's world headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, have canceled screenings of HBO's damning documentary, "Going Clear," after one was pressured by church members.

"Going Clear," an Emmy-winning documentary directed by Alex Gibney based on Lawrence Wright's acclaimed 2013 non-fiction book of the same name, debuted at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and aired on HBO in March. The film was released to a limited number of theaters in the spring, and is slated to return to theaters on Sept. 25.

Cobb Theatres' Countryside 12, located seven miles northeast of the church headquarters, had been scheduled to begin showing the documentary on Oct. 2. But last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the theater's owner told HBO members of the church had been pressuring the theater over the film.

HBO responded by moving the screening to the AMC Woodlands Square 20 in Oldsmar, Florida, 10 minutes from the Countryside 12. But on Monday, managers of that theater told HBO they would be unable to accommodate the film because of "space reasons."

Gibney told the Tampa Bay Times he found the cancelation "shocking," adding that "it seems to be consistent with what we know about how far the church will go to keep members from hearing anything negative about the church."

The documentary uses extensive interviews from former Scientology members to reveal how the church has suppressed criticism of its practices. One example was a smear campaign the church allegedly called "Operation Freakout"against journalist Paulette Cooper, who had written a book critical of Scientology.

A church representative told The Huffington Post in an email that it would be "inaccurate to say the Church has 'pressured' any theater."

"Like the movie, these stories are fiction and represent yet another shameless publicity stunt about Gibney’s movie," the statement continued.

HBO representatives said in an email to HuffPost that "Going Clear" will be screening in two movie theaters in the Tampa area, rather than the one that the network had planned. It will be showing in the AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa and the Muvico Palm Harbor 10 in Palm Harbor, Florida, starting on Oct. 2. The documentary also will be screening in 16 other theaters around the country.



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The first person whom Alex Gibney should thank, in the event Going Clear wins an Oscar is



(drum roll)






(opens envelope)











David Miscavige!

 

[Free to shine]

Visualizing Scientology’s latest ‘Going Clear’ public relations disaster
As former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder pointed out yesterday, Scientology’s attempt to frighten a Clearwater, Florida movie theater out of showing Alex Gibney’s documentary Going Clear only ended up with straight up and vertical expansion: Now two theaters in the area will be showing the movie.

If that doesn’t sum up Scientology PR, we’re not sure what does.

http://tonyortega.org/2015/09/22/vi...latest-going-clear-public-relations-disaster/

 

[CommunicatorIC]

Regraded Being handles the Scientology documentary Going Clear

Regraded Being handles the Scientology documentary Going Clear.

Mike Rinder: Regraded Being

http://www.mikerindersblog.org/friday-regraded-being-16/

Sample panel: