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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, August 5, 2010
Eye Street
Index Eye Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Tehachapi Food and Wine Festival . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Junior Miss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Frazier Fiesta Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Splish Splash Summer Fun Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29-31
Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Movie, milkshake and more Couple return to Bakersfield with cinema tour BY MATT MUNOZ Bakotopia.com editor mmunoz@bakersfield.com
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ilm fans are in for a real milkshake of a treat as the 2009 oil epic “There Will Be Blood” will be screened for free Sunday at the Kern County Museum. Sponsored by Levi’s and the Austin-based Alamo Drafthouse, the Bakersfield date is the third of eight stops from L.A. to New York in the Rolling Roadshow tour. “We’re excited about the Bakersfield stop,” said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League. “The location we scouted out couldn’t be better.” The League name might ring a bell. Tim and his wife, Karrie, ran the historic Tejon Theater on Baker Street in Old Town Kern from 1994 to 1996. Now a converted church, it was the Leagues’ first foray into the cinema/concert business before moving to Austin, Texas, to build the successful Alamo Drafthouse franchise. Both Rice University alumni, Tim arrived in Bakersfield in 1992, taking a job with Shell Oil, while Karrie landed a microbiology job in San Francisco. With no plans of entering the entertainment business, life in east Bakersfield helped give way to League’s sudden career change. “I was 22 when I arrived in Bakersfield and moved into a studio above the old Murphy’s Tavern on Monterey Street. I used to drive by the Tejon on the way to work, and one day there was a ‘For Lease’ sign posted. After a night out with friends I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome to open a movie theater?’ I signed the building lease right away.”
Living their art Bankrolling the theater’s opening with money from his two years of employment with Shell, he first set off making a series of renovations with some help from thengirlfriend Karrie and friends. “We put in some new plumbing for the bathrooms, and handupholstered all the seats. Then I bought an old movie projector from (former Bakersfield club owner) John Bentley. The deal was he had to help me install it and show me how to run it,” remem-
bered League. “Everything imploded after two weeks, and I begged Karrie to quit her job and move to Bakersfield to help save everything.” The new Tejon Theater opened for business in 1994, introducing Bakersfield to the world of hip indie filmmaking — including the local premiere of director Kevin Smith’s “Clerks.” In addition to movie theme nights, The Tejon also hosted regular rock concerts featuring everyone from The Ramones to War to a newly signed Korn. “Our bedroom there served as the greenroom for the bands. We didn’t have a staff, so we’d finish cleaning the theater at 3 a.m. and the bands would have just finished trashing our bedroom. Afterwards they’d apologize with, ‘Oh man, I’m sorry I didn’t know this was your bedroom!’” After two years of steady business and a new marriage, the Leagues decided to make their exit after a drive-by shooting outside the Tejon during a concert by R&B singer Montell Jordan. “That was such a horrible moment for us that afterwards we plotted to make a change. I think if we would have been gotten somehow associated with the Fox, or in a more of a nightlife center I think we would’ve been OK. Things weren’t really going that bad business-wise. The incident just enhanced the perception/problem of that space.”
It comes together in Austin Searching for a new beginning, they settled in Austin and began to rethink their Bakersfield business experience. Starting out on a much smaller scale, they stuck with their movie house plans, opening the first Alamo Drafthouse inside a parking garage in 1997. The Leagues’ combination of second-run films, plus food and adult beverages was an instant hit. “All the pieces fell into place in Austin. The opening night was sold out because of all the buzz leading up to the opening, but once word of mouth and the media caught on, things really began taking off.” Always aiming for something fresh, the idea for the Rolling Roadshow was an extension of the Alamo’s special movie nights held throughout the area, including “The Ultimate Deliverance Experience” that required attendees to
PARAMOUNT VANTAGE PICTURES
Daniel Day-Lewis plays oil man Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood.”
Rolling Roadshow screening of ‘There Will Be Blood’ When: 7 p.m. Sunday Where: Kern County Museum, 3801 Chester Ave. Admission: Free What to bring: Blanket, lawn chair, small picnic baskets allowed. No alcohol permitted. Information: 852-5000 or rollingroadshow.com
canoe down the local river to a designated stop. Once they arrived, they were greeted by a roast-pig feast and giant portable movie screening of the 1972 thriller “Deliverance.” Since then, the Leagues successfully expanded the Alamo Drafthouse franchise to nine locations across Texas, as well as Winchester, Va.
Back where it started The Leagues chose to sell a portion of The Alamo Drafthouse company in 2004 while retaining ownership of a few locations and rights to the Rolling Roadshow. Now in its seventh year, their lat-
est tour makes its long-awaited return to Kern County following 2004’s showing of “North by Northwest” at Shafter’s Minter Field. And once again, there’s a cool back story not far behind. “We hosted the world premiere of ‘There Will Be Blood’ back in Austin, but I became friends with Paul Thomas Anderson after we had a screening of ‘Boogie Nights’ about three prior. He came down for the ‘Blood’ screening, and I asked him about locations they used for the film. I told him about my time at Shell, and that I was really into the birth of oil and had gone to the museums in Taft and Bakersfield. I could speak eloquently about oil and oil history. I was apparently the first person that had any film/world ties that: A) gave a damn about the accuracy of oil in his movie, and B) could talk semi-intelligently about oil history. That’s how we randomly bonded — because of my time at Shell in Bakersfield.” While it’s no guarantee the film’s director will show, League and his Roadshow team promise plenty of fun Sunday, including a presentation taken from the museum’s “Oil Experience” tour, plus an “I drink your milkshake contest,” inspired
PHOTO COURTESY OF TIM LEAGUE
Tim and Karrie League will host a free screening of “There Will Be Blood” Sunday at the Kern County Museum as part of their Rolling Roadshow.
by a famous line from the film. “We may actually have to do a little more beta testing, because it’s actually pretty difficult with 27inch straws. We might make a thinner milkshake.”