Since the Dome and its surrounding multiplexes closed during the COVID shutdown five years ago, its absence has been a sore point for both Hollywood, the industry, and L.A. neighborhoods. The Dome, with its huge screen that surrounded the audience, was one of the most profitable movie theaters in the country, regularly drawing crowds to Sunset Boulevard for dinner and drinks. It was a Hollywood gathering spot and, five years after it closed its doors, the streets and businesses surrounding the once-historic theater are more rundown and sad.
For Ben Steinberg, the Dome always provided a reason to travel from the San Fernando Valley to Hollywood. However, watching movies at the Dome wasn’t just something to do, it helped ignite his love for film. When the theater closed, he started an online petition that garnered thousands of signatures and started the X account @SaveArclight and Insta @SaveArclightCinemas2.
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LA-based college students remained hopeful as news emerged of the Dome reopening soon, but the dates proposed in news articles came and went. Then, turning to some DIY journalism, Steinberg began contacting the theater owner for updates, taking photos of the damaged Dome façade and talking to lay workers at the theater site. It became clear to Steinberg that Dom was deteriorating. They revealed the news through their social media accounts, leading to more local outrage and media attention.
Then, last month, a sign of hope. The owners filed an alcohol permit for the Dome and adjacent multiplex: The permit “will allow the continued sale and distribution of a full range of alcoholic beverages for on-site consumption from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily within the existing Cinerama Dome theater, 14 auditoriums within the ArcLight Cinemas theater complex, and a restaurant/café with two outdoor dining terraces.” Although no reopening date has been announced, the permits are the biggest sign yet that movement is underway. We spoke to Steinberg about his online pressure campaign and the idea that one person can really make a difference.
What is Dom’s story?
The dome opened in 1963 and is the last remaining Cinerama Dome [structure] Which has not been demolished. It hosted the premiere of It’s a crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy world And it was the top location for premieres in Hollywood from 1963 to 2020.
Who built it?
It was built by the famous architect Walton Beckett, part of his firm. [The firm] He also designed some other landmark buildings in Los Angeles (for example, the Capitol Records Tower and the Beverly Hilton Hotel).
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What is your history with Dom?
I first went there when they were screening the revival 2001: A Space OdysseyFirst interstellar Was released in 2014. I was a big fan of the ArcLight chain (which operated next to the Dome). I visited the Dome frequently, at least once a week. Next door there used to be an Urban Outfitters complex with Amoeba Records, restaurants, CNN used to have a field office there. [In the Dome’s lobby] When the movies came out they had very few costumes from the studios on display.
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How did you get involved in the reopening?
Within the first 20 minutes when I found out it was closing, I created a petition to save the Cinerama Dome. At the time, I didn’t know the full context and then, gradually over the last four or five years, I learned how Decurion (the owner) is not selling the property, but is also not planning to reopen it in the near future. They don’t issue press releases or communicate with the press, they have deactivated their website, they are very mysterious.
The Dome’s closing was a local Hollywood frustration, but your efforts inspired a large portion of LA and the entertainment industry as a whole.
It was amazing to get 30,000 signatures on the petition and then have various celebrities share the post. I got some media attention [for the petition] — 1) when [the Dome] Closed and then 2) a few months ago I spoke to the property manager and he said they have no plans to reopen.
How did you involve celebrities?
It was through Instagram and Twitter and then I posted a letter I wrote to Decurion and I contacted 100 PR people, just emailing them. The main ones were Instagram and Twitter, like [filmmakers] Shawn Baker and Edgar Wright; He supported us. Alma Har’el, he directed honey Boyresponded and supported [the effort]It was sent to Steven Spielberg, but I didn’t get a response, which was strange, because he saved the theater in 1997 when they were going to demolish it,
Do you have any background in marketing?
No, I’m a filmmaker, a student filmmaker, still in college.
You just have to figure out how to reach people.
i know decurion wanted to keep [the closure] A secret and they didn’t want anyone to talk about it, so I did the opposite.
Were you surprised by its success?
I was surprised that so soon [the effort] Went viral and to see how many followers the account has on Twitter and Instagram – and I know Decurion follows my account.
Posting under the Save the Dome alias probably helped too, didn’t it?
This was helped by the fact that no media outlets wanted to report on Decurion and how they owned other assets. I was the only person who posted about it. Dom was considered [re]Opened in ’23, then it got delayed to ’24, then Deadline said it was supposed to open in late June of this year. Then I talked to the property manager and he said, “We have no plans to reopen it.”
Your community activism has certainly filled the void left by the closure of many local media outlets. Did you think this during the campaign?
Yes, definitely. I guess if I didn’t make the accounts, people would forget about the dome and in 10 years when it would still be abandoned or demolished, people would think, Why didn’t we do anything?
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