Channelside Cinemas 10

I approached the shopping center a few days after the theatre closed and offered to reopen it within a few days for them. They declined citing that the theatre was in bankruptcy court and Sony wanted to remove their projectors. Sadly, this may be the end.

I am not an active operator at this time. I think there are a lot of cool things to do with this location.

I recall Regal booking art films on at least one if not more screens towards the beginning. But whether or not it was their intention to split art film product with another theatre I can’t say although you can be certain it wasn’t the Tampa Theatre. When Channelside first opened in 2000 an article was published in the Tribune on the opening of the new Channelside Cinemas. Regal’s management said they would be in contact with the Tampa Theatre’s director/film booker to work together in booking art and foreign films. Regal stated it wasn’t their intention or desire to compete nor steal away neither the Tampa’s art films or its audience.

Several days later a letter from the Tampa Theatre’s director appeared in the Tribune’s “letter to the editor” column stating that Regal had never contacted him nor did he expect them to. He stated that Regal’s only concern is monetary and that the new theatre’s close proximity to Tampa Theatre could very well be a serious threat to the Tampa’s existence. He cited a similiar situation had occured in another city when that city’s only historic theatre was forced to close due to competition from a new multiplex that had opened nearby. Warning that the threat was very real, the tone of his letter displayed a bit of animosity towards Regal. And today we know who the survivor is.

Stuck in Limbo until probably September 2013… the port authority is dragging with perspective new plaza owners.. most electronics were stripped from the building, but Seats, Screens and Sound Systems are still in place, but need a good cleaning.. already wired for digital but needs equipment brought back in.

Lobby and First appearance look good, but I am sure that there is a lot of small broken things that have been neglected based on reviews from the last few years about the previous management!

You don’t take out your frustrations on customers if you are having issues with your landlord! enough said!

I opened the Channelside in 2000 and the IMAX screen shortly after (in early 2001). It did start off as pure art as competition with the (then) Muvico 20 in Ybor (a few blocks away) was seen as too strong to compete with.

That slowly changed as we cultivated a family-friendly following at Channelside. Eventually, we began playing all films (art and mainstream). As IMAX began bringing big Hollywood pictures to their screens, we worked to promote Channelside as a destination for bigger than life event films (including hosting giant convention-style lobby events around the release of big movies).

Shortly after I left the build in 2004, the management contract was changed and a progression of owners/managers tried all sorts of non-traditional ideas to make it work (including ice shop, pizza parlor, bar, club bookings, etc).

In 2014, the Gasparilla International Film Festival (GIFF) is working to open her back up for their March 2015 festival event. This group specializes in pop-up venues, so this will NOT be a re-opening, but simply a single event. Even so, it will be good to see the old girl up and running (even if only for a single weekend).