Save Coast Cinemas
Donation protected
The historic Coast Cinemas, opened a half century ago in Fort Bragg, California, has been owned and operated by the Lazzarini family for most of those 50 years. Through good times and bad, Coast Cinemas has been a strong supporter of our local community by providing jobs for our youth, gift cards to schools and nonprofits, and theater space for the Mendocino Film Festival. In March of 2020, COVID forced the closure of the theater. Over the past 12 months, our beloved theater has lost 90% of its pre-COVID revenues.
A small PPP loan and the opening of weekend takeaway concessions has provided the Coast with enough revenue to rehire 3 of the 20 staff members they were forced to furlough last year. But maintenance deferred for lack of funding and upgrades to ventilation systems to ensure the health and safety of patrons are priorities that must be addressed before this theater can once again offer our community a much-needed celluloid escape.
Please join our GoFundMe effort to raise $25,000 and help us “Save The Last Picture Show”. Whether you are a full-time resident of the coast, a part-time resident or an occasional visitor, we hope that you will help us save one of the last places for family entertainment left on the coast. Again, these funds will be used to enhance air quality within the theater and address the mechanical repairs necessary to re-open.
Pictured left to right: MFF patrons at the Coast Cinemas during the festival weekend, Maxine Lazzarini and daughter (and operator of the theater) Laurie Moore, and the new seating which was installed in 2018.
Coast Cinemas: Keeping our Movie House in Tough Times
During this time of COVID lockdowns we have come to realize what is important to us. Many of us have adapted to being at home most of the time, but there are certain aspects of life that are gravely missing—going out for dinner, hanging out with friends in groups, and going to the movies.
Yes, going to the movies. Here on the Mendocino Coast since the 1960s that has meant Coast Cinemas. In recent years, the Mendocino Film Festival has joined Coast Cinemas in presenting films but was also forced to postpone this past summer’s planned 15 year festival. Since the COVID crisis began in March of 2020, except for Friday & Saturday night sales of popcorn and selected treats, the venerable local movie house has been closed to the public, doing its civic duty for public health. Yet one wonders how much longer the owners can keep their cinema ready to re-open. Will they be able to resume showing films once this crisis is behind us? Do they need financial help to stay afloat? Wouldn’t it be worth it to the movie-loving public to support Coast Cinemas?
Coast Theatre was built in the 1960s by Richard Mann, who had been owner of the State Theatre, which was on Main Street. The city of Fort Bragg had been hinting around that it would be great to have a more modern house to watch movies, so in the mid-sixties The Coast Theatre was built on Franklin Street. A few years later a corporation that included Tom Lazzarini bought the new, modern movie house.
When the corporation split up one of the theatres Lazzarini ended up with was the Coast. He moved to Fort Bragg in the late seventies and his daughter, Laurie Moore moved up a few years later to help run the business.
As Tom tells it—
“Looking at the original 682 seat auditorium, we decided to divide it into two screens (leaving room for an eventual third screen). Laurie and I worked so well together that after some years she was brought in as a partner, a position she holds to this point. Eventually we opened up the third screen and some years later we took some upstairs storage space and turned it into Cinema 4.”
As Laurie tells it-
“The necessity for multiple screens was obvious from the get-go. There is usually enough product out there it is not a problem finding a film to play, and we try to have a good mix of films that work for this community. Another reason is the studios usually demand a time commitment when booking a film, so it was great to add in Cinema 4 for the later weeks of a run.”
The Lazzarini family has been involved with Coast Cinemas continually since the 1970s. They have also had the good fortune to have an extraordinary group of employees over the years. Moore tells us--
“Nancey Mahaffey worked here before I got here and continued for close to fifty years. Her kids worked here when they were in high school. Then there's the Johansen sisters, Laura and Susan who have worked here around thirty years along with their children (including the irreplaceable AJ Janousek) and grandchildren! We have had so many brothers, sisters, cousins etc. of snack bar workers. I’m sure you could draw lines connecting them endlessly.”
Coast Cinemas has been involved with the Mendocino Film Festival for over ten years, starting with showings on weekend mornings. In the past few years Coast has partnered with the Festival more strongly, with one screen dedicated for festival screenings for the entire run of the festival. In addition, they have hosted both MFF’s Winter Film series and more recently the Classic Film series, both of which have had strong community support. Both Tom and Laurie hope this relationship with the festival continues and grows.
Coast Cinemas is hoping to re-open as soon as possible with both late summer and early fall hoped-for re-launch possibilities. This depends on many factors, one of which is financial security. In talking to Laurie Moore, it is evident keeping things together has been difficult, but she is not the type to push herself to the front of the queue. Many of us would gladly help support Coast Cinema. Please consider joining the Mendocino Film Festival in supporting a “Go-Fund Me” fund for Coast Cinemas in the lead up to their anticipated re-opening later this year.
Sincerely,
The Mendocino Film Festival Board of Directors:
Blair Foster, President
Michael Fox, Vice President
Ray Alarcon
Jill Eldridge
Linda Manning
Laurie Moore
Doug Nunn
Guy Pacurar
David Stein
A small PPP loan and the opening of weekend takeaway concessions has provided the Coast with enough revenue to rehire 3 of the 20 staff members they were forced to furlough last year. But maintenance deferred for lack of funding and upgrades to ventilation systems to ensure the health and safety of patrons are priorities that must be addressed before this theater can once again offer our community a much-needed celluloid escape.
Please join our GoFundMe effort to raise $25,000 and help us “Save The Last Picture Show”. Whether you are a full-time resident of the coast, a part-time resident or an occasional visitor, we hope that you will help us save one of the last places for family entertainment left on the coast. Again, these funds will be used to enhance air quality within the theater and address the mechanical repairs necessary to re-open.
Pictured left to right: MFF patrons at the Coast Cinemas during the festival weekend, Maxine Lazzarini and daughter (and operator of the theater) Laurie Moore, and the new seating which was installed in 2018. Coast Cinemas: Keeping our Movie House in Tough Times
During this time of COVID lockdowns we have come to realize what is important to us. Many of us have adapted to being at home most of the time, but there are certain aspects of life that are gravely missing—going out for dinner, hanging out with friends in groups, and going to the movies.
Yes, going to the movies. Here on the Mendocino Coast since the 1960s that has meant Coast Cinemas. In recent years, the Mendocino Film Festival has joined Coast Cinemas in presenting films but was also forced to postpone this past summer’s planned 15 year festival. Since the COVID crisis began in March of 2020, except for Friday & Saturday night sales of popcorn and selected treats, the venerable local movie house has been closed to the public, doing its civic duty for public health. Yet one wonders how much longer the owners can keep their cinema ready to re-open. Will they be able to resume showing films once this crisis is behind us? Do they need financial help to stay afloat? Wouldn’t it be worth it to the movie-loving public to support Coast Cinemas?
Coast Theatre was built in the 1960s by Richard Mann, who had been owner of the State Theatre, which was on Main Street. The city of Fort Bragg had been hinting around that it would be great to have a more modern house to watch movies, so in the mid-sixties The Coast Theatre was built on Franklin Street. A few years later a corporation that included Tom Lazzarini bought the new, modern movie house.
When the corporation split up one of the theatres Lazzarini ended up with was the Coast. He moved to Fort Bragg in the late seventies and his daughter, Laurie Moore moved up a few years later to help run the business.
As Tom tells it—
“Looking at the original 682 seat auditorium, we decided to divide it into two screens (leaving room for an eventual third screen). Laurie and I worked so well together that after some years she was brought in as a partner, a position she holds to this point. Eventually we opened up the third screen and some years later we took some upstairs storage space and turned it into Cinema 4.”
As Laurie tells it-
“The necessity for multiple screens was obvious from the get-go. There is usually enough product out there it is not a problem finding a film to play, and we try to have a good mix of films that work for this community. Another reason is the studios usually demand a time commitment when booking a film, so it was great to add in Cinema 4 for the later weeks of a run.”
The Lazzarini family has been involved with Coast Cinemas continually since the 1970s. They have also had the good fortune to have an extraordinary group of employees over the years. Moore tells us--
“Nancey Mahaffey worked here before I got here and continued for close to fifty years. Her kids worked here when they were in high school. Then there's the Johansen sisters, Laura and Susan who have worked here around thirty years along with their children (including the irreplaceable AJ Janousek) and grandchildren! We have had so many brothers, sisters, cousins etc. of snack bar workers. I’m sure you could draw lines connecting them endlessly.”
Coast Cinemas has been involved with the Mendocino Film Festival for over ten years, starting with showings on weekend mornings. In the past few years Coast has partnered with the Festival more strongly, with one screen dedicated for festival screenings for the entire run of the festival. In addition, they have hosted both MFF’s Winter Film series and more recently the Classic Film series, both of which have had strong community support. Both Tom and Laurie hope this relationship with the festival continues and grows.
Coast Cinemas is hoping to re-open as soon as possible with both late summer and early fall hoped-for re-launch possibilities. This depends on many factors, one of which is financial security. In talking to Laurie Moore, it is evident keeping things together has been difficult, but she is not the type to push herself to the front of the queue. Many of us would gladly help support Coast Cinema. Please consider joining the Mendocino Film Festival in supporting a “Go-Fund Me” fund for Coast Cinemas in the lead up to their anticipated re-opening later this year.
Sincerely,
The Mendocino Film Festival Board of Directors:
Blair Foster, President
Michael Fox, Vice President
Ray Alarcon
Jill Eldridge
Linda Manning
Laurie Moore
Doug Nunn
Guy Pacurar
David Stein
Fundraising team (3)
Mendocino Filming
Organizer
Mendocino, CA
Coast Cinemas
Beneficiary
Blair Foster
Team member
Michael Fox
Team member