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Rialto Theatre - Pocahontas, Iowa

What is your town’s population?  
Approximately 2,000  

How often do you show movies?   
Every night at 7:00 PM plus a 2:00 PM Sunday Matinee (8 Shows Total)  

What are your usual attendance numbers?  
For 2015, I averaged about 35 a night.  

What do you charge for admission?  
$2 for 12 and under, $4 for adults
$2 for Sunday Matinee and on Mondays 

How many seats in your theatre?  
281  

How is your theatre staffed? Volunteers and/or paid manager?  
One paid Manager on monthly salary. Five paid employees that are paid hourly. For every show there is at least one paid employee and two volunteers. The paid employee gets there one hour before showtime and gets everything ready. Volunteers show up 30 mins before showtime. One takes tickets and the other helps in concessions. Volunteers come back after show if they didn’t stay to help clean up.  

What did your renovation entail?  
The building was bought by the city in 1992 and was done mostly by volunteers. I can't tell you exactly what was done, but from talking to people who helped, it was pretty much a complete gut and rebuild.  

How much did the entire project cost?  
Unknown.  

How long did it take to complete?  
3 years. Theatre reopened in 1995.  

Is the facility used for other purposes or rented out?  
Yes, we are a multi-purpose facility. We have a stage so the high school does plays, swing shows, mock trials, etc. We also rent it out for meetings and events. Our screen raises and lowers for events that require use of the stage.  

Your best advice for us?  
If you are going to do it, do it right. Your picture and sound should be top notch. Your facility should be clean and nice. No one wants to go to the movies at a run down or dirty place or where the presentation is sub par.   We are a nonprofit, so your pricing and labor structure will probably be different from ours. We also run an annual fundraiser which helps us to defray operating expenses and do upgrades during the year. We also apply for grants that provide us additional income to complete projects. Never think that you are “done” after you open. There are always things that need to be upgraded. Besides the digital conversion back in 2012, in the four years I have been here, we have done many things to make our theatre better, such as installation of acoustical tiles, sound upgrades, a new screen, and a host of minor things to make the facility nicer. This year we are upgrading the stage lighting system to enhance our live events. All done through donations and grants.

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