ImaginAsian Center In LA Opens With Midnight Eagle December 7th
ImaginAsian Entertainment, a leading Asian American multi-media entertainment company that promotes Asian Pacific American culture to mainstream America through its vast array of media vehicles, announced that it will unveil The ImaginAsian Center on December 7, 2007 in downtown Los Angeles. The ImaginAsian Center, partnering with Cinema Properties Group, will be the only film center in downtown Los Angeles dedicated to first-run Asian and Asian American films, opening with acclaimed Japanese film Midnight Eagle, a gripping adventure story based on the eponymous novel by acclaimed writer Tetsuo Takashima.
Located at 251 South Main Street, Los Angeles, CA, The ImaginAsian Center has been home to a number of historic theaters, including the Arrow, the Aztec and most recently the Linda Lea, which was a Japanese-language film theater. ImaginAsian Entertainment will operate the fully redesigned and renovated theater offering an auditorium with 250 stadium style seating, including a 16 seat VIP section, a VIP Lounge for special events, and a working stage. The Center will host feature films, screenings, live performances, special events, and satellite-fed events and exhibitions, using state of the art sound and projection equipment. In addition to offering standard concessions, the theater will feature a selection of café-style items for moviegoers before or after the show.
Sunday 18 Nov 2007 | Paul | Film Festivals and Events
It’s great that a new theater is opening in this area. However, the people behind this venture, for some unknown reason, insist on using terms such as ‘redesigned’ and ‘renovated’. The Linda Lea has been DEMOLISHED. There is a big difference. The only thing left is the two side walls. This is a brand new theater on the footprint of an old theater. There is no ‘re-’ about it. Let’s not tiptoe around the facts. Also, December 7 seems a highly inappropriate opening day for this theater. Even though it’s ancient history, some people remember.
The “gala” opening was actually on December 1, with “dignitaries” in attendance.
http://blogdowntown.com/blog/2980
They are currently screening films for free, (December 2-6) but December 7th remains the “official” opening date. They will start charging admission on that date.
I do agree that this is not a “remodeling” of the Linda Lea by anyone’s definition. The Linda Lea, before that The Arrow and the Aztec Theater, is gone.
I am quite glad this place is here, however, as it is the first theater to open in downtown LA in 25 years, and brings the total of downtown cinema screens to 5! (There were at least 8 screens as late as 1997, when the last of the Broadway theaters shuttered, leaving the crappy Laemmle Grande 4 (a 1980’s fourplex in a hotel basement) the only operating cinema in the downtown of the world’s movie capital. Shame.