[HN Gopher] Alamo Drafthouse Files for Bankruptcy
___________________________________________________________________
Alamo Drafthouse Files for Bankruptcy
Author : undefined1
Score : 146 points
Date : 2021-03-03 17:03 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.kxan.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.kxan.com)
| cletus wrote:
| Note that often equity holders are the biggest losers in a
| Chapter 11. Secured creditors and bond holders may well end up
| owning the company.
| csours wrote:
| Alamo Drafthouse is home to some of my favorite memories - from
| live riffs by Master Pancake (with a wide array of guest stars
| including Mary Jo Pehl, the Mads - Frank Conniff and Trace
| Beaulieu, Doug Benson, Sam "Jerry" Jones [Flash, AhAAAH], and
| many others) to Fantastic Fest to Sing Alongs to Movie Parties to
| Classic and Genre Movies.
|
| I know they'll survive in some form, but this is tough, y'all.
| smoldesu wrote:
| Ugh, the Mads are calling again. Crow, can you get that?
| smcnally wrote:
| I hope Alamo asks their fans to pitch-in as they can so
| Drafthouse survives and thrives. Saying this so solely as a
| loyal customer: I bought a bunch of tees[0] and hoodies[1] as
| holiday gifts through their Mondo store. They look great and
| are super high-quality. I have 0 affiliation, but a vested
| interest in having them back online sooner than later.
|
| Between Drafthouses in Yonkers (NY) and DTLA, I've seen Live
| Programs with Crispin Glover, Penn Jillette, and makers I
| hadn't known previously. I've been to moderated screenings with
| audiences half-full of first-timers seeing Blazing Saddles, A
| Day at the Races, Spirited Away (subs v dubs), and me as the
| first-timer seeing Casablanca front-to-back on the big screen.
| Their pre-show reels are crafted with skill and care and with
| clever relevance to their feature films from multiple angles.
|
| The org is run by folks who clearly love movies and create
| experiences for others who do too. They _seem_ like they would
| be ethical in their handling of vendor relations through
| Chapter 11, though that 's always TBD.
|
| 'Alamo Victory' is a good program w/r/t heds-up re event
| schedule, ticket-less admittance & card-less settle-ups, and
| reasonable perks for going to pictures. Victory's newsletter
| and mobile apps are a good place to start letting fans know how
| we can help.
|
| [0] https://mondoshop.com/collections/apparel/products/alamo-
| dra... [1]
| https://s3.birthmoviesdeath.com/images/made/BMD_HOODIE_FLAT_...
| mauvehaus wrote:
| The collected action scenes in Enthiran made the rounds of the
| internet during the four months I was living in Austin. And so
| naturally they got a print and screened it. Gotta love the kind
| of brilliance behind that move. Where else would you ever have
| the chance to see it on the big screen?
|
| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rDHnJvboy0c
| RhysU wrote:
| A "Super Troopers" Mister Sinus Theater presentation featuring
| a syrup drinking contest is burned in my mind. Three audience
| volunteers selected before anyone was told for what they were
| volunteering. The hosts handed out bottles of syrup and said
| "Go!" One contestant gets nowhere. One downs it instantly
| because his bottle had iced tea in it. The hosts lose it
| because the third contestant got halfway through a real bottle
| of syrup motivated by the performance of the iced tea drinker.
| The hosts thought it would be a good show (it was) but never
| anticipated someone seriously trying. Audience howls. All
| contestants given prizes. This was over 10 years ago and I can
| still picture it despite having a crap visual memory. I hope
| Alamo can pick up the pieces.
| jdhawk wrote:
| This is mostly a restructuring to shed some debt before a big
| capital infusion.
|
| Alamo's business model in a post-pandemic world is still a huge
| money maker.
| dublin wrote:
| You're assuming the myriad petty government tyrants will give
| up the control over our lives that they've seized. Let me know
| how that works out for you - history shows that never happens
| without violence.
| majormajor wrote:
| It's happened in the US in the past after previous crisis.
|
| I don't understand the line of thinking that goes that the
| government WANTS to destroy businesses and economic activity
| and reduce their own tax base, income, and ability to
| operate...
| djbebs wrote:
| They dont want it. But the incentive structure that
| determines if they get elected or not is set up in a way
| that makes supporting wealth creation a disadvantage
| fredophile wrote:
| I think there are good reasons to be skeptical. The USA
| PATRIOT act was rushed through congress in a previous
| crisis and it took nearly 20 years before it stopped being
| reauthorized.
| causalmodels wrote:
| I think your comparison misses the fact that COVID
| measures are largely decentralized because they require
| the agreement and participation of everyday people to be
| effective whereas the PATRIOT act centralized authority
| and control. As a result, the COVID measures basically
| lack enforcement mechanisms that could continue to exists
| after the pandemic ends.
| pwinnski wrote:
| It's an odd strain of thinking, where everything is
| compared to Nazi-era Germany except the actual current
| fascism.
| unethical_ban wrote:
| You said a lot of wild things without any real assertions.
| CarelessExpert wrote:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
|
| > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological
| battle. It tramples curiosity.
|
| > Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless
| you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated
| controversies and generic tangents.
| beervirus wrote:
| Presumably the owners will walk away from this restructuring
| with nothing.
| criddell wrote:
| There are some big uncertainties though. For example, now that
| studios can own theaters I wouldn't be surprised to see Disney
| buy one of the chains to show only their movies. It would be a
| huge problem for Alamo and other chains if they didn't get
| Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar movies at the same time as a
| Disney-owned theater would.
| kelnos wrote:
| I would really _really_ hope that kind of acquisition would
| get killed by the DoJ (FTC?) on anti-trust concerns. But who
| knows...
| sevencolors wrote:
| One of the strengths of Alamo is that they do showings for
| indie films and have weekly nights of older films. So cheaper
| to screen these and they make bank on the food and drinks.
|
| And the biggest part for me is they have ZERO commercials
| while you're waiting for it to start. They show silly
| bumpers, youtube clips and internal promos.
| toast0 wrote:
| > For example, now that studios can own theaters I wouldn't
| be surprised to see Disney buy one of the chains to show only
| their movies.
|
| DOJ vacated the consent decree on studios owning theaters,
| but that doesn't mean that a studio exclusively screening its
| films at its own theaters will be allowed.
|
| I kind of doubt there will be a big investment in studio
| owned theaters anyway. Maybe studios will pick up some of the
| closing locations to make sure there's _a_ theater within
| reasonable drive of everyone, and maybe some flagship
| theaters in Hollywood.
| TomSwirly wrote:
| > DOJ vacated the consent decree on studios owning
| theaters, but that doesn't mean that a studio exclusively
| screening its films at its own theaters will be allowed.
|
| Who's going to stop them? "We're pro-business" says both R
| and D.
| evanelias wrote:
| I could imagine Disney owning their own theaters could be
| quite profitable for them.
|
| I can't find an online source for this, but a decade ago I
| heard that the IFC Center in NYC was the most profitable
| (per-screen) cinema in the US, due to IFC Films already
| being the distributor of the films they show -- so no added
| distribution costs.
|
| Then again, they've also controversially used non-union
| projectionists, so this might have just been a talking
| point on one side of that debate.
| imaginationra wrote:
| Our studio was looking to four wall our new film using their
| locations later this year to do our US screening tour. I hope
| most of them survive as without proper theatrical venues,
| appreciation for Cinema in the U.S. will wane.
| donarb wrote:
| Just in case someone else is not familiar with the term "four
| walling".
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_wall_distribution
| smrtinsert wrote:
| I will personally contribute money to them if I have to. One of
| my favorite businesses.
| flabbergasted wrote:
| If you haven't already, consider buying gift cards.
| chrisseaton wrote:
| Buy a gift card from a bankrupt business? Isn't that just a
| donation to their creditors at this point?
| DIVx0 wrote:
| This makes me sad. I _really_ enjoy the drafthouse and I rarely
| see movies anywhere else because all other major theater chains
| prioritize squeezing dollars vs the experience.
|
| I see that the founder(s) are still involved but I can't help
| think that it'll just be a slow decline until the drafthouse is
| indistinguishable from AMC or other chains and their infinite
| commercial pre-rolls and dirty theaters.
|
| I hope I am proven wrong OR another theater that respects the art
| springs up to fill the potential void.
| kelnos wrote:
| Don't worry; this is just Chapter 11. It gives Alamo time to
| restructure their debts, and likely is a prelude to a big cash
| infusion from somewhere. They're a fantastic, profitable
| business in normal times; tearing the company apart and selling
| it for scrap would not be in anyone's best interests.
|
| On the downside, as the article mentions, some of their lower-
| performing locations will likely close.
| bmitc wrote:
| I generally feel that the Alamo Drafthouse experience is
| actually pretty terrible for movies other than big action or
| comedy blockbusters. I don't see how a place that serves
| popcorn in a giant metal bowl takes quietness seriously. And
| although they advertise it, they really don't police talking or
| distractions anymore or even equivalently as other theaters.
| purple_ferret wrote:
| >As part of this bankruptcy, Alamo Drafthouse will close down
| underperforming locations, including the flagship Alamo
| Drafthouse Ritz location in downtown Austin on Sixth Street.
|
| Alamo getting priced out of Austin? Thanks Joe Rogan!
| gizmo385 wrote:
| As someone who doesn't follow Joe Rogan, what is his
| involvement here?
| purple_ferret wrote:
| Nothing direct to Alamo, but he's moved to Austin and is
| trying to convince all his rich LA friends to move there so
| they can essentially take it over and run their own scene.
| IndySun wrote:
| Glad to hear they're not planning on disappearing.
|
| Spent many hours in Austin TX Alamo's during the SXSW festivals.
| A wonderful experience. A little like the UKs Everyman chain (but
| with stunningly entertaining kookie ads running).
| [deleted]
| technofiend wrote:
| Despite the 20+ mile drive I prefer Alamo to any other theatre in
| no small part due to their - depending on your view - strict but
| reasonable or utterly draconian [1] no using your phone rules.
| Having said that, when they got aggressive about expanding they
| shrunk their menu and removed local variations of both food and
| beer. Frankly, Alamo without a Honey I Shrimped The Pigs just
| ain't the same Alamo. I'd like them to let local managers add
| back a bit of flavor, maybe do pop ups in conjunction with local
| restaurants [2] and otherwise improve their food and drink
| offerings back to the quality they were when the chain started.
| Prior to the pandemic I still went to Alamo for my movies, but I
| ate beforehand.
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs
|
| [2] https://www.houstoniamag.com/eat-and-drink/southern-smoke-
| is...
|
| Chris Shepherd's Southern Smoke Foundation is doing pop ups in
| conjunction with other businesses and donating the profits to
| help food service workers impacted by the pandemic; both
| financial aid and mental health care. Laudable and his food is
| good.
| simonebrunozzi wrote:
| > Our European visitors are important to us.
|
| > This site is currently unavailable to visitors from the
| European Economic Area while we work to ensure your data is
| protected in accordance with applicable EU laws.
| tallanvor wrote:
| Considering they've been showing this message ever since GDPR
| went into effect, it's clear that European visitors aren't
| important to them at all.
| weeblewobble wrote:
| I think they mean it's important to them to respect the laws
| of Europe.
| meepmorp wrote:
| It's not inconsistent to say that they care about Europeans
| who are interested in visiting their locations, while also
| punting on GDPR compliance.
|
| Realistically, most Europeans interested in going to an Alamo
| Drafthouse are already in the US, so they won't see that
| message.
|
| edit: I'm unsmart
| tallanvor wrote:
| https://drafthouse.com/ loads fine. https://www.kxan.com,
| on the other hand, doesn't.
| meepmorp wrote:
| You're not missing anything good, fwiw.
| shiftpgdn wrote:
| And why should they be? It's not like you'll be booking
| tickets.
| tallanvor wrote:
| The link is to a news article, not the business in
| question.
| Matticus_Rex wrote:
| Something can be important to you and yet not important
| enough to pay the costs to remedy.
| redisman wrote:
| They only have theaters in the US so I would imagine the
| ROI is very low (a couple of tourists might hit it up at
| some point?)
| mikeryan wrote:
| Alamo is a movie theater chain based mostly in the US South and
| CA that is known for adding food, bars, distributing both major
| studio and indie movies and really enhancing the "in-theater"
| experience. They're a very exposed casualty to Covid
| unfortunately.
|
| While I'm sure European visitors are "important" it's mostly a
| US Brick and Mortar business so it's not that "important" to
| meet GDPR requirements apparently.
| phillc73 wrote:
| Right. I don't even know what is a Drafthouse? And now I may
| never know.
| ch4s3 wrote:
| Alamo Drafthouse is a fancy theater that has limited seating,
| a VERY strict cell phone/talking policy, craft beer, and
| pretty good food.
| [deleted]
| alistairSH wrote:
| _craft beer, and pretty good food._
|
| They do? Looks like typical mediocre American pub fare...
|
| https://s3.drafthouse.com/menus/NOVA_DigitalMenu_JAN21_9x12
| ....
| ch4s3 wrote:
| I've only been twice and haven't had a lot of their food,
| but it was better than I expected. The buffalo
| cauliflower was surprisingly good. Is it as good as food
| in my neighborhood? No, not at all. Is it far better than
| food normally sold to captive patrons? Yes, absolutely.
| duskwuff wrote:
| Which is significantly better than what you'll find at
| most American movie theaters (popcorn, hot dogs, candy,
| soda).
| alistairSH wrote:
| That's a pretty low bar.
| tssva wrote:
| The food selection is better, but every time I have been
| the actual execution has been pretty poor which is why I
| stopped going to the Alamo near me. I would rather eat
| before or after and see the movie in my other local
| theater which also has lower ticket prices and more
| comfortable seating.
| slfnflctd wrote:
| Their food was better in the past. With expansion and
| other business challenges there was some cost cutting.
|
| Someone further upthread suggested they should partner
| with local restaurants, and I think that's a great idea.
| Quality food trucks would be a perfect fit.
| chrisco255 wrote:
| Food trucks work even better with drive-in theaters. But
| Alamo is making most of their profit from food & drinks.
| That's the truth about the theater business: most ticket
| revenue goes to the film producers. Splitting the food &
| beverage profit with 3rd parties would kill most of their
| income.
| ginko wrote:
| I get that the Royale with Cheese is a Pulp Fiction
| reference, but at least they could have made it like an
| actual quarter pounder.
| pseudolus wrote:
| The cell phone policy is a point of pride:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch/1L3eeC2lJZs
| huitzitziltzin wrote:
| finest moviegoing experience in the united states, hands
| down.
| breatheoften wrote:
| I wonder how much Chapter 11 actually makes sense as a response
| to something like Covid versus a swift and merciless Chapter 7
| and then rebooting the business once theaters are viable again.
|
| Assuming that a Chapter 7+then+future_reboot was possible -- who
| benefits the most from allowing the company to attempt to limp
| along until the pandemic ends intact? Are there a significant
| percentage of company employees who are currently getting paid
| with benefits during the pandemic -- or is this mainly about
| making it seem as likely as possible that the business will come
| back so that the current set of non-compensated employees will
| try to limp along on their own without pay in such as way that
| they will come back after the pandemic is over?
| chasing wrote:
| The world at large and Austin in particular are going to take a
| huge cultural hit because of our failure to deal with COVID-19
| properly. NFTs aren't going to solve the fact that people who
| create art and culture are so vital to our civilization and yet
| for the most part live on the edge of financial stability. Sad.
| dublin wrote:
| The way to deal with Covid-19 "properly" was simply to do
| nothing at all and let the virus run its course, like the flu
| or any other communicable disease. This has been a disaster for
| all concerned, and the lockdowns have killed far, far, more
| people than would have been killed by the Wuhan virus just
| being allowed to run amok...
| kelnos wrote:
| Ah yes, the "let the hospitals get overwhelmed" plan. Far
| more people would have died that way. The US's response was
| absolutely abysmal, I agree, but your plan would have been
| much, much worse.
| pstuart wrote:
| Or perhaps we followed the original plan and had masks,
| tests, and tracking in place like the previous
| administrations had done.
|
| The fact that masks are politicized at all shows how badly it
| was managed.
| needz wrote:
| Non-fungible tokens??
| drfuchs wrote:
| Important to note that it's a "Chapter 11" bankruptcy, which
| loosely translates to "Our creditors and shareholders will take a
| big loss, but we'll keep operating and hopefully our customers
| won't notice a thing." As opposed to "Chapter 7", which means
| "we're shutting down and doing a fire sale of all our stuff so
| creditors can get a few cents on the dollar."
|
| For instance, Hertz is going through Chapter 11, but you'd never
| know as a customer.
| csharptwdec19 wrote:
| > For instance, Hertz is going through Chapter 11, but you'd
| never know as a customer.
|
| For most cases yes. I don't know the exposure risk of Hertz in
| this regard, but in a Chapter 11 it's worth remembering that
| any people who are legally owed money (i.e. unpaid lawsuits)
| are counted as 'creditors', I think based on how the
| GM/Chrysler bankruptcies played out, 'unsecured' ones at that.
| bpodgursky wrote:
| It's a huge difference. IMO Chapter 11 bankruptcy is one of the
| greatest strengths of the American legal system.
| adwi wrote:
| Generally agreed, but as a small business vendor on the wrong
| side of this it's very painful.
|
| During Covid, a client representing 20% of my income declared
| bankruptcy after already waiting > 6 months for a group
| invoices to be paid.
|
| They've offered "secured creditors" nearly full repayment,
| while everyone else has been offered literally 1C/ on the $1.
| jaggederest wrote:
| There's insurance that covers this - no idea whether it's a
| good value but it certainly exists.
|
| Here's an example:
| https://www.nationwide.com/business/insurance/accounts-
| recei...
| cletus wrote:
| It's a painful lesson to learn but the key here odd to
| recognize when someone is a sufficiently large customer
| than a default represents an existential risk to your
| business.
|
| Businesses tend to go the other way and be more
| accommodating to larger customers like continuing to
| fulfill their orders and not taking action at, say, 90 days
| late.
|
| Secured credit can be one way to resolve that without being
| super strict on late payments or wanting repayment of
| limited credit.
| acchow wrote:
| Which other countries have an equivalent to Chapter 11?
| robk wrote:
| Uk has the cva which is functionally similar
| momothereal wrote:
| In Canada, there are 2 functional equivalents. A Division I
| Proposal [1] is a means for individuals and businesses to
| resolve "unmanageable debt", with no minimum amount. For
| large corporations with >$5Mil in debt, the CCAA federal
| law is more advantageous [2].
|
| [1] https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-
| osb.nsf/eng/br02052.html
|
| [2] https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/bsf-
| osb.nsf/eng/br02284.html
| pfortuny wrote:
| Probably many. It is a standard way to re-structur the debt
| of something which might be a viable business in non-
| terrible circumstances.
|
| Spain: "concurso de acreedores". The business asks the
| Government for a way to have lenders (acreedores)
| restructure/redimension the debt.
|
| This way workers can still have job in the future, assets
| keep their operating value...
| [deleted]
| mnd999 wrote:
| Nothing like that in the UK afaik. In 2008 Lehman's had
| their London office locked and everything frozen on the
| morning of the bankruptcy. The New York office was afaik
| still open under chapter 11.
| parhamn wrote:
| What are the quick pro/cons here? Assuming creditors take the
| loss (they assumed the risk), debtor loses the debt and what
| else? Do the debtors lose much besides their
| creditworthiness? The main con I assume is the moral hazard?
| shiftpgdn wrote:
| Chapter 11 generally involves a payment plan to debtors.
| rhino369 wrote:
| Depends on how the restructuring occurs, the debtors
| usually lose some or all of their equity. Unless the
| restructuring makes the creditors whole, the previous
| shareholders don't retain any ownership. The entity
| survives, but the old stock is voided and new stock issued.
| FrobeniusTwist wrote:
| The main "pro" of a successful Chapter 11 is that a viable
| but struggling business is saved (along with the jobs
| provided by the business), although the investors in the
| business may see their investment wiped out. As mentioned
| elsewhere, being able to pick and chose which leases to
| assume and which to reject is one of the principal
| benefits. The main "con" is that unsecured creditors don't
| necessarily get the deal they agreed to, but (a) the claims
| of even unsecured creditors are prioritized over equity,
| and (b) bankruptcy is a known risk for unsecured creditors,
| and is presumably priced into the debt in the first place.
| Also, while a Chapter 11 is not going to help a company
| looking for cheap debt, there's a whole industry of
| providers of credit to Chapter 11 debtors. As long as there
| is a viable plan to reorganize, the company should be able
| to find financing or otherwise emerge with a functioning
| business.
| mikeryan wrote:
| Chapter 7 means liquidating all assets - business gone,
| creditors can pick over the pieces to try to recoup
| something. Chapter 11 business is functioning and tries to
| restructure debts in a way to pay creditors back, maybe not
| wholly back but at least partly or with an extended time
| window. It provides a shield from creditors while doing
| this.
|
| For someone like Alamo so adversely affected by Covid but
| with an otherwise (AFIACT) healthy business in non-covid
| times its a reasonable approach to try to get out from
| under-water without undue pressure from creditors.
|
| You see Chapter 11 more around extraordinary operating
| circumstances, recesssions etc. Where businesses think they
| can get back on their feet given some time.
| pdq wrote:
| One of the big items in Chapter 11 is terminating
| expensive long-term leases. Since Alamo probably has this
| as their #1 or #2 expense, they can close locations
| without being on the hook for future rent.
| meepmorp wrote:
| I'd also expect that this would provide some leverage in
| renegotiating expensive leases, particularly given the
| hit commercial real estate has taken during the pandemic.
| I'd bet many landlords are willing to take a lower paying
| tenant already in a space, vs trying to fill that space
| in a low demand market.
| aeternum wrote:
| I've read elsewhere that while this seems logical, it
| often isn't possible for commercial landlords as their
| loan terms are tied to a given rental price.
| 6gvONxR4sf7o wrote:
| This right here is why i've been less and less
| enthusiastic about some of the roles credit plays in our
| society. You get credit assuming the future will be in
| some range, but then you can get screwed if it deviates.
| So now you have to fight for it to stay that way, and
| when shit hits the fan, there's this long chain of
| dependencies that needs to unwind to allow flexibility.
| Like it's trading robustness for efficiency.
| criddell wrote:
| Does this lead to landlords keeping the space empty than
| lowering the rent?
| bsder wrote:
| Ayup. In addition, the revenue from a missing tenant can
| often be added to the end of the mortgage.
|
| I've seen retail space in amazingly hot markets be empty
| for 5+ years now.
| splonk wrote:
| I can't find the article, but supposedly yes. IIRC the
| reason was that the landlord's loan terms are dependent
| on the income from the building, but that number doesn't
| recalculate until a new tenant comes in, so accepting
| lower rent can trigger a large cash call.
| sceew wrote:
| Chapter 11 usually happens when a company has a level of
| debt that was issued at a certain valuation or time in
| their business performance. And then for whatever reason,
| the company has poor performance and the debt level no
| longer makes sense. Good example is oil and gas companies
| that raised debt when oil was $100, and now have to operate
| in a ~$50 oil world. Their operating cash flow has
| decreased a ton (>50% due to fixed costs), and it's unclear
| on whether they can make interest payments (and probably
| can not repay their principal).
|
| The equity will clearly not make any money and the business
| does worse in the long-run which presents more risk for
| more junior creditors (the company can not re-invest in
| growth, business contracts are more onerous as you have
| credit risk, low morale w/ employees, etc.).[1]
|
| But Chapter 11 is not something a company can do at
| anytime. You have to prove that the restructuring of the
| equity and debt makes sense to either (1) your shareholders
| and creditors or, if that fails, (2) a judge.
|
| Additionally, employees and the board will have equity that
| will get cancelled or receive pennies. So if it's marginal
| on whether there could be equity value someday, the company
| is not going to do it. On the flipside, it's pretty
| frustrating if you can't issue stock options that will have
| value someday.
|
| Overall Chapter 11 bankruptcy is a great thing for
| business... it allows companies to breathe again and re-
| invest in growth. As far as cons...obviously the equity
| investors and maybe some of the creditors lose a call
| option on their investment (not worth anything today, but
| could be in the future). But that call option may be
| compensated for in the restructuring agreement. But the
| biggest con IMO is that Chapter 11 is expensive, and
| usually bankers / lawyers make outrageous fees here.
|
| _That was a lot and sorta of scattered. But if you see
| "Chapter 11" bankruptcy you shouldn't always think "this
| business sucks" or "this business doesn't make a profit,"
| but should put more blame on a financier somewhere who
| created a capital structure that wasn't sustainable._
|
| [1] The company may also have upcoming maturities in more
| junior debt, and the more senior creditors don't want them
| to pay the principal. Liquidation preference is a good
| search term if you're interested in this.
|
| Edit: Also worth noting that creditors don't always take a
| 0. Sometimes their debt is reinstated, sometimes they
| receive equity for their debt, and sometimes they receive
| pennies just to get them to agree (cheaper and faster for
| everyone to agree than to have a judge decide). All depends
| on the valuation of the business and where their debt sits.
| SilasX wrote:
| >Chapter 11 usually happens when a company has a level of
| debt that was issued at a certain valuation or time in
| their business performance. And then for whatever reason,
| the company has poor performance and the debt level no
| longer makes sense. Good example is oil and gas companies
| that raised debt when oil was $100, and now have to
| operate in a ~$50 oil world.
|
| That's intended as a good example (in the sense of
| "clear, characteristic")? I thought oil extractors were
| expected to hedge or buy financial instruments that
| ensure they'll be able to sell at a good enough price
| given a project's costs. And even if not, it doesn't seem
| accurate to call that a case of "poor performance" but
| rather, external factors.
| MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
| The business does. The individual doesn't. If that were the
| case, literally every business would be unlendable. Did you
| ever stop to wonder why commercial entities don't have a
| credit system? Commercial loans are devised based off of
| the old fashioned way lending was done. Look at several
| years of your income and financial discrimination on your
| risk.
| toast0 wrote:
| > Did you ever stop to wonder why commercial entities
| don't have a credit system?
|
| Isn't that what Dun and Bradstreet is for smallish
| businesses and Fitch, Moody's and S&P do for businesses
| issuing bonds?
|
| Yes, not every business is in D&B, and it takes effort to
| get a record there, but it's not as if there isn't a
| commercial credit system, it's just not so engrained into
| everything like the consumer one.
| lotsofpulp wrote:
| I don't know exactly what "credit system" means here, but
| the only difference I see is that certain types of
| lending are so low risk or low amount, that lenders find
| it possible to automate the job via the use of the credit
| reporting agencies, who (in the US) use social security
| numbers to summarize people's history of repaying debts.
|
| For any sufficiently large transaction, even for a
| person, such as a home mortgage, there will be manual
| review of people's incomes and assets, just like there is
| for businesses.
| blintz wrote:
| Nothing better than sipping beer and munching truffle popcorn at
| the Alamo Drafthouse at the SF location in the Mission. It really
| makes other theaters look like highway robbery; for the same
| money you get a dramatically better experience.
| MeinBlutIstBlau wrote:
| I honestly miss even moronic banter in theaters. It heightens
| the experience imo.
| yread wrote:
| I like to pop open a beer during the silent tense moment
| technofiend wrote:
| >I honestly miss even moronic banter in theaters.
|
| Oh, so you've seen Master Pancake Theater?
|
| https://drafthouse.com/series/master-pancake
| koolba wrote:
| One of my favorite moments watching a movie in theaters was
| during the film "Independence Day". When the humans of Earth
| finally manage to destroy one of the large motherships, one
| of the people in the audience yelled out, " _Take that you
| fakkin' aliens!_ ", followed by the entire audience cheering.
| It really added to the total experience.
| fuzzer37 wrote:
| Go to a theater in a predominantly African American
| neighborhood and watch a horror movie. You'll love it.
| silicon2401 wrote:
| I wish theaters would have strict talking-allowed and
| talking-banned rooms if they survive the pandemic. People
| talking during movies is single-handedly enough of a reason
| for me to stop going to a movie theater
| TomSwirly wrote:
| > People talking during movies is single-handedly enough of
| a reason for me to stop going to a movie theater
|
| Depends entirely on the movie. If it's yet another stupid
| superhero movie, people yelling at the screen makes it much
| better.
| csours wrote:
| Almost all screenings are strictly no talking, but they
| also have "Alamo for Everyone" screenings and sometimes
| "Rowdy" screenings, and some special quote along, sing
| along, and movie party screenings.
| thelean12 wrote:
| FWIW Alamo is really strict against talking. I've never had
| an issue, and they have staff walking around enforcing
| (they're already walking around for orders anyway).
| criddell wrote:
| I'm in Austin and it's been years since I've seen anybody
| get warned for talking or having their phone light up.
|
| Even if people weren't talking to each other, there's a
| lot of low volume conversations happening with the
| waiters and people use their phone to illuminate menus
| and to see what they are eating.
| technofiend wrote:
| Not only are they very strict, but they have a lot of fun
| with it.
|
| See an angry voice mail from one customer
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L3eeC2lJZs, or the
| playlist with a long list of PSAs, many of which include
| celebrities, asking you to please not talk: https://www.y
| outube.com/playlist?list=PLpX5OvrhWl9I59CYEx_Zt...
|
| Props to anyone who can get Neil Gaiman to make a please
| no talking PSA in the form of an Agnes Nutter prophecy.
| isoskeles wrote:
| Totally. I saw a real shit movie there, I think it was The
| Accountant. Still one of the better movie-going experiences
| I've had solely on the basis of the theater itself.
|
| Contrast that with seeing a rat scurry across the floor at The
| Metreon's AMC.
| alextheparrot wrote:
| Damn, hopefully the SF location doesn't change too much in
| response to this. There and the New Parkway in Oakland are the
| only theaters I really go to.
| sdenton4 wrote:
| (+1 for the New Parkway. They've also been doing pretty great
| 'food crates' to make ends meet while they aren't playing
| movies...)
| alextheparrot wrote:
| Thanks for letting me know, ordered a crate for pickup next
| week (Seems that they are doing well selling them in
| general)!
| corysama wrote:
| Agreed. The Alamo in the SF Mission has completely spoiled me
| and my SO. We are not interested in going out to other theaters
| but love going specifically to that one.
| bsimpson wrote:
| I still haven't made it to the New Parkway. Thanks for the
| nudge.
| Afforess wrote:
| RIP Alamo Ritz:
|
| _As part of this bankruptcy, Alamo Drafthouse will close down
| underperforming locations, including the flagship Alamo
| Drafthouse Ritz location in downtown Austin on Sixth Street._
|
| I've been there for a lot of special Alamo shows, including
| Master Pancake shows. It will be sorely missed.
| uncletammy wrote:
| It had a great run. The silver lining is that there's now
| absolutely no reason one ever has to go to sixth street!
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2021-03-03 23:03 UTC)