Alamo Drafthouse workers hopeful ownership change will favor newly formed union (2024)

It’s rare to find workers at a medium-sized company relieved by their employer’s corporate buyout, but that is what’s happening at two of Colorado’s Alamo Drafthouse locations.

Last week, the Austin, Texas-based theater company, known for its in-seat dining and cinephile events, announced that it would be sold to Sony and lumped into a new division, Sony Pictures Experiences, helmed by Alamo’s chief executive, Michael Kustermann. This is the first time in more than 20 years that a major studio has owned a theater chain.

The news came just a few weeks after employees at the Sloan’s Lake and Westminster locations held union elections. Sloan’s Lake unequivocally voted for a union on May 31, while Westminster is awaiting a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board on two challenged ballots. Colorado’s third location, in Littleton, has not filed for union representation.

The new ownership won’t necessarily change who sits across the table from the unions during contract negotiations, the next step in the unionizing process, but it could create a more favorable environment than organizers have endured so far.

How we got here

Since announcing an intent to unionize in January, workers at both Alamo locations have alleged the company engaged in illegal union busting tactics, including coercing employees to meet one-on-one with a labor consultant, creating the impression of surveillance of union activities and removing union materials from bulletin boards.

As Westword reported in February, shortly after the union announcement, the company updated their fraternization policy to prohibit coworkers from engaging socially or romantically outside of work, including on social media. Around the same time, an “independent educator” was hired to work at all three locations. One employee told Westword that the educator “focuses on issues that could make people hesitant to unionize.”

With the ownership change, some organizers hope that the company will shift its tone as they enter negotiations.

“Unfortunately, we’re still dealing with a bust-heavy Alamo leadership,” said Ian Miller, a former Alamo Drafthouse employee and organizer with the Communications Workers of America. “The good news is Sony has a litany of unions that they work with. I wouldn’t say they’re friendly, but it’s definitely more well-trodden territory.”

Miller is one of three employees listed in an unfair labor practice case that alleges he was fired in retaliation for organizing.

Why now?

Sony’s purchase marks the first time a studio has moved in on a theater chain since the Paramount Consent Decrees, a set of laws that banned major studios from owning theaters, were rescinded in 2020.

Issued in 1948, the decrees were a set of antitrust laws spun off from a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that forced Hollywood’s eight largest movie studios to sell their theater holdings. At the time, those eight studios controlled about 95% of the movie industry, from production to distribution to exhibition.

The goal was to divorce the studios from that final step in the movie cycle in order to generate competition and prevent controversial practices like “block booking,” or forcing theaters to book a studio’s poor performers in order to access its blockbusters.

Because the decrees named only the eight largest studios, it hasn’t prevented studios from owning theaters outright. But the 2020 ruling lifting the decrees opened up the theater business entirely.

That ruling emphasized the fact that technological advancements —most notably streaming —have broadened the path to distribution. Movie theaters, the Department of Justice seemed to say, matter less these days.

For a while, it seemed like the major studios agreed with the Justice Department — none made immediate moves to scoop up a theater chain.

Netflix and Disney purchased a few individual theaters (Netflix owns the Paris Theater in New York, The Egyptian in Los Angeles and the Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades; Disney owns the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles), but those moves appeared to be mostly for the glamor and historical value of the theaters themselves. Sony’s purchase is the first sign of a major studio moving in on a major chain.

“A glimmering beacon of integrity”

The purchase didn’t come as a surprise. Despite its popularity, Alamo Drafthouse has been in a downward financial spiral since the pandemic — by no means a unique position in the movie theater business. In 2021 the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was nabbed by a private equity firm, Altamont Capital Partners and Fortress Investment Group.

“Compared to Altamont, Sony is a glimmering beacon of integrity,” said Miller.

“Everything that worsened about Alamo is because of Altamont,” he added. “We lost the ability to kick out guests. We were the gold standard, at least on a chain level, for the moviegoing experience. At least Sony has a vested interest in their theaters. In terms of buyouts it was one of the better options.”

There has been much speculation about how Sony will leverage Alamo Drafthouse to promote its own movies and video games. Will they host more game-show style experiences using their TV expertise (Sony owns “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune”)? Will they use it to promote their video game releases? Could we see more Crunchyroll features — Sony’s anime streaming platform —on the big screen?

Or maybe the integration will spur a new era of movie industry monopolization, with the studio elbowing out competitors through exclusive contracts, the type of activity that concert behemoth Live Nation is currently being sued for by the Department of Justice.

Whatever the long-term outcome, the ownership change gives workers at Denver’s Drafthouse locations a reason to be cautiously — very cautiously —optimistic.

“It doesn’t change our game plan too much, but we are hopeful that there is potential for collaboration with Sony’s other unions, and that we can maybe enter a less hostile negotiation,” Miller said. “But we were already prepared to deal with an overly hostile, consistently evil, corporate overlord. Our strategy is to still be prepared for the worst.”