Airport Business - 27

CONCESSIONS
The BodyCharger System is currently
The theatre took three years from
installed at the Greenville-Spartanburg
concept to opening, but Doug Whyte,
International Airport (GSP).
executive director of the Hollywood
"People absolutely love it. I hear it all
Theatre, said PDX was interested in the
the time. An older gentleman was having
idea from the get-go.
trouble walking to his gate. I asked if
"We had read an article about some
he wanted to try it, so he sat down, put
movie theaters in airports overseas.
his feet on the vibe plate and just kind of
Portland airport is a pretty creative,
melted. He looked at me with his mouth
real locally focused airport and it just
open, he says, 'oh my god.' We hear that
kind of felt like they might be open to
all the time," Eberhardt described.
something like this," Whyte recounted.
Eberhardt has been trying to educate "Their initial reaction was they were very
airports on the benefits of whole body
interested."
The challenge was figuring out what
vibration and how his invention can
service the masses and provides them with
the theatre would exactly look like and
at least some way to maintain good health
how it would operate.
"There's no reason why this should
" T here's not a lot of bi g
not be in every airport in the world. international layovers and things like
that. So right away it was kind of like,
It should be a staple in an airport like
water fountains and heart defibrillators," well, what would this be? Because
Eberhardt said.
feature length films wouldn't really
work that well. People don't have
Catch a flight and a film two, two and a half hours to watch
The Hollywood Theatre is a 1926
a film. So, right away we thought of
movie palace located in Portland, Ore. something where people could pop in
In 2017, it gained a counterpart at the
and out that was free, that had short
Portland International Airport (PDX). films by local artists," Whyte said.
The Hollywood Theatre at PDX
Films rotate out quarterly at the
is a f irst-of-its-kind, 17-seat free
theatre. The films show amount to
about an hour's length all together and
microcinema located post-security
are reviewed by the airport to ensure
at PDX's concourse C. The theatre
they're appropriate for all ages.
showcases short films from Oregon
As a non-profit organization, the
natives, played on a 24/7 loop and is
open to all airport passengers.
theatre relies heavily on donations, but

that hasn't stopped it from being able
to offer the same full-size move going
experience at the airport.
"Pretty much all the projection and
sound equipment was donated to us from
a company called Triad Speakers and
Barco Projectors, and a whole group of
theater people came together to donate
everything. We have about a $200,000
projection and sound system that was
donated, and they actually help us upkeep
it and keep things running smoothly. If
something breaks, they replace it. Those
partners who are donating all their time
and resources, really make it happen,"
said Whyte.
And the response to the Hollywood
Theatre at PDX has rivaled that of its
full-sized counterpart.
"It's been kind of amazing actually.
We have this big beautiful historic theater
on Sandy Boulevard here, but it's funny,
I probably get as many comments about
our airport theater as the big historic
theater. To me it just seems like it's
universally loved and such a unique thing,
and people see it as a very Portland thing.
There is a lot of excitement around it,"
Whyte described. 

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Airport Business

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Airport Business
