How you can watch 'Dirty Dancing' and support furloughed movie theater workers

Posted April 16, 2020 6:00 am

Sean Stangland

Nobody puts Baby in a corner, and everybody can watch Baby for free - and help support furloughed movie theater workers - April 24 on YouTube. Courtesy of Vestron Pictures/Lionsgate

No one can say for sure when we'll be going back to a movie theater, or how many of them will survive this pause in the global economy.

The largest movie theater chain in the world, AMC - with more than 20 locations across Chicago and the suburbs - finds itself in a most precarious position. The New York Post reported last week the chain was in talks to hire a bankruptcy law firm, and AMC's stock price as of Tuesday night was $2.18.

If AMC's auditoriums disappear, so will countless jobs that have already been dormant since mid-March.

Of course, all movie theater employees are hurting right now, and a streaming telethon of sorts aims to support them.

"Lionsgate Live! A Night at the Movies" will present four popular films from the studio's library Friday, April 17, and the next three Friday nights for free on YouTube, accompanied by a link to donate to the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, whose mission is stated on its website: "We provide financial assistance and supportive counseling to those who work in theatrical exhibition who are experiencing hardship due to illness, accident or underemployment."

Audience donations during the event will augment donations from Lionsgate and its promotional partners to help theater workers furloughed amid the spread of COVID-19.

Jamie Lee Curtis will host the 8 p.m. livestreams at Lionsgate's YouTube page and Fandango's Movieclips YouTube page. Friday, April 17's feature: "The Hunger Games." April 24: "Dirty Dancing." May 1: "La La Land." May 8: "John Wick" (age registration required).

"Throughout the 125-year history of the cinema, this is the first time that movie theaters have been shut down across the country," said John Fithian, president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, in a news release. "Whether it was the Depression, wars, disasters, or local calamities, movie theaters have always been a gathering place where audiences can come together to laugh and be moved, reacting as one, to put their troubles behind them or forget about their hard week at work, and just get lost in the amazing stories on the big screen."

• Catch Sean (from a distance) on Twitter at @SeanStanglandDH.

"The Hunger Games" made Jennifer Lawrence a superstar. It's the first feature in Lionsgate's four-week streaming telethon of sorts for furloughed movie theater workers. Courtesy of Lionsgate

OK, so it didn't win the Oscar, but "La La Land" was Widescreen columnist Sean Stangland's favorite movie of the past decade, so that's ... something. Courtesy of Lionsgate

If you stop watching "John Wick" after, oh, 10 minutes, it's a bittersweet tale of a man who is able to feel love again with the help of this adorable puppy. Courtesy of Lionsgate

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