Their Life's Work: 'It is very worrisome that this could shut us down for good,' theater owner says

Debbie Bejanmin has been running the show for 11 years.

“We're a small independent family-friendly theater, not a chain, and we're more affordable than most,” Debbie Benjamin says, explaining why the Buffalo Grove Theater is special. “We don't sell alcohol, we're old-school, but we're fully digital.”

The owner of the five-screen theater, she talks about effect of the coronavirus on her daily life. “I am in the process of applying for a payroll loan for my one full-time employee,” who applied for unemployment and was turned down, she said.

Benjamin is hoping for help from the National Organization of Theaters Owners and the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, which she hopes will help cover the gap after the federal stimulus package failed for her and her employee.

“The day we shut our doors officially came on March 17 with a phone call from the village of Buffalo Grove stating we could no longer operate and we had to close,” she said.

Studios are moving release dates to the end of the year or 2021, or streaming movies that were supposed to be opening in theaters now, she said.

“It is very worrisome that this could shut us down for good.”

When theaters do reopen, “Are people going to be willing to go back to a setting where there are so many people in one area? It's the big what-if,” she said. Supporters can help with donations through Go-Fund-Me or on the theater's Facebook page.

• Do you know of a suburban small business with a compelling story to tell about working through the pandemic? Send a detailed email with LIFE'S WORK in the subject line to mwelsh@dailyherald.com, and we'll consider it.