ORINDA — Sky-high PG&E bills are giving many of us quite a scare every month as we try to heat our homes and keep the lights on.
Companies are also feeling the pressure. In Orinda, one movie theater closes its curtains two days a week to offset rising energy costs.
Derek Zemrak’s love for films blossomed at an early age. He tried his hand at acting, directing and producing, but now he owns the Orinda Theater.
“One day I said, ‘You know what? One day I’m going to own a movie theater,” Zemrak recalls.
Owning a theater is not about glitz and glamour. It was difficult to keep the big screen on. First it was the pandemic, now it’s the PG&E bills.
“It was actually $4,200 to $4,800 and then it jumped to $6,200 plus last month,” Zemrak said.
That amounts to an average of $240 per day to pay for electricity and gas. Zemrak had one word to describe the shock of seeing the latest PG&E bill: “Wow!”
That’s why Zemrak tries different things to keep his business open.
“If your income doesn’t increase, you have to reduce your expenses to stay alive,” he said.
Now he closes the theater on Mondays and Tuesdays, when it typically sees fewer than 30 customers per day.
“Many people don’t know that the (film) studio accounts for 60 to 67 percent of your ticket sales,” says Zemrak. “That means it would take 47 moviegoers to pay the bill to cover the $240.”
Just like many of us do at home, Zemrak turns off the lights to see where he can save a few dollars.
“I haven’t turned on the beautiful marquee because we really want to see what we can do in terms of reducing electricity costs, to see what our bill is… to see what’s really working and what’s not,” he said .
The dark marquee is something that locals find difficult to get used to.
“It’s a bit sad because it does more than just promote the theater,” Andrew Smoth said. ‘It’s a signpost of the city.’
Derek has also added a very popular tiki bar connected to the theater to generate more revenue. He’s doing everything he can to keep the doors open and says he’s overwhelmed by the support from the community. Whether theaters like his stay open ultimately depends on moviegoers.
“If you want them to stay alive and stay open, you have to visit them regularly,” Zemrak said. “You have to go to the movies. You have to help out at the concession stands if you want this art to last.”
