Inspiration – The Balboa Theatre, San Francisco

Accompanied by the dadster 🙂

This is one of the three cinemas Adam Bergeron has resurrected in San Francisco, alongside the 4-Star and the Vogue, with the hope of keeping the city’s neighborhood movie theatres alive. All of the cinemas feature brilliant neon signage that harks back to the 1920s.

There are two massive screens, one with 300+ seats and the other with 200+. The foyer has video games, including an all-time favourite from my youth: Donkey Kong! The cinema also hosts VHS nights, screening retro films in their original VHS format and holding discussions afterwards.

Dad LOVED the popcorn, opting for the large at $8. The screening rooms were huge, I can’t imagine what the atmosphere must be like when they’re full! The cinema even sells Balboa T-shirts and has its own podcast.

You can get an annual pass for $400 that works across all the cinemas and can include popcorn, maybe we could offer a monthly pass for our pop-up?
For more on the cinema’s history, check out their website.