MICHAEL ALAHOUZOS
Staff Writer
Pepperdine’s students are returning to Malibu this week, but some of their favorite hangout spots won’t be back until next semester. In the meantime, “CineMalibu” has served as the community’s movie venue.
The electrical fire that ravaged the Cross Creek Shopping Plaza on April 17, fueled by chemicals and aerosol cans from the Bay City Beauty Supply store, charred Casa Escobar, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and the New Malibu Theater.
Casa Escobar’s owner Russell Harvey said he is doing everything he can to open his Malibu location again in either January or February, and still accepts catering business in Malibu The New Malibu Theater plans to reopen in December.
Since the fire, Malibu residents and Pepperdine students have no local options for seeing new films. This summer, that changed when the Malibu City Council fronted the money to create CineMalibu.
CineMalibu became a successful outdoor-film series event this summer for locals, screening family-oriented films under the stars in Bluffs Park.
Volunteer coordinator David Lyons, formerly of the New Malibu Theater, helped coordinate the events and oversaw the spending of $50,000 by the city on the necessary sound and projection equipment to show the movies outdoors.
The four films screened, “Shark Tale,” “Two Brothers,” “Seabiscuit” and “Shrek 2nd served an average crowd of about 300 adults and children per showing, between July 30 and Aug. 20. Gifts and favors were handed out at each screening, such as candy and plush sharks and horses for the films “Shark Tale” and “Seabiscuit.”
Despite the fact that the New Malibu Theater will be reopening before the year’s end, the success of the series has led coordinators to plan on continuing the CineMalibu experience.
“Because of the success (of the events), we may do it again next summer,” Lyons said, “and we may do something in the fall.”
08-29-2005
