SI, CINEMA THEATER FINDS SUCCESS SHOWING FIRST-RUN SPANISH FILMS.(Business)

Byline: Linda Black, Special To The News

The metro area's only first-run movie theater aimed at Spanish-speaking audiences has been so successful that its owners have spent thousands of dollars sprucing it up.

The Cinema Latino Aurora 8 at Peoria Street and East Seventh Avenue has undergone an extensive refurbishing - everything from new signs to new equipment, said David Mejias, president of Sonora Entertainment Group, the Broomfield-based company that owns the theater.

Improvements include upgraded sound systems, new projectors, new carpeting and wall treatments, improved lighting in the concession area and remodeled bathrooms.

The overhaul was in response to the theater's growing success, Mejias said.

"We saw there was a positive trend in attendance," he said. "Seeing that growth opportunity in the Aurora area, we saw it was necessary to be proactive and address those (improvement) needs."

Mejias declined to reveal attendance figures or how much the company invested in the improvements. He would say, however, that the remodeling project cost a "few hundred thousand."

But the theater's success comes as no surprise when you consider that the rapidly growing Hispanic and Latino population makes up 17.1 percent of the state's population, according to the 2000 census.

It increased from 424,302 in 1990 to 735,601 in 2000, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau compiled by the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

The idea for a theater that shows first-run movies dubbed or subtitled in Spanish was spawned two years ago when company founder Jared Polis, a local entrepreneur, wanted to take friends from Mexico to the movies.

"I was very surprised to find there weren't any Spanish-speaking theaters," he said. "So I looked into it and found no first-run Spanish speaking theaters anywhere in the United States."

And Polis is someone who recognizes a business opportunity when he sees it. He founded Boulder-based BlueMountain.com, a successful Internet offshoot of his parent's greeting card company, which he sold in 1999 to Excite@Home for a reported $780 million. He was named an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000. And in April, Fortune magazine named Polis one of America's 40 Richest Under 40.

Polis formed Sonora Entertainment Group in 2001 and signed on Mejias, a New Jersey native who went to Princeton University with Polis. After putting in a stint at a Chicago nonprofit, Mejias went to work with Polis at BlueMountain.com.

The fledgling company went in search of a theater in the metro area and found the Aurora multiplex, which was operating as a $1 cinema, that was for sale, Mejias said. Polis bought it, and a new concept was born.

Mejias said the theater is targeting Spanish-speaking and bilingual audiences. Initially, the greatest challenge was securing first-run movies from the studios that were dubbed or subtitled, he said.

"They traditionally haven't had any strong players in this area," Mejias said. "So it took awhile to get films that were subtitled or dubbed."

But, he added, because of piracy concerns, the movie studios are moving toward releasing first-run films domestically and internationally at the same time.

For instance, The Matrix: Revolutions was released here and abroad at the same time.

In addition to subtitled and dubbed films, the theater shows first-run Spanish-language films.

To make the theater more appealing to its target audience, it also provides such things as Latin music, candies from Mexico and Central America, and hot sauce for the popcorn. All employees are bilingual.

It also caters to the audience's taste in movies, which tends toward action and family films as well as "culturally relevant" movies, such as Frieda, Mejias said. "Definitely there are certain types of films that resonate with our audience," he added.

The Aurora venture has been so successful that the company has expanded its theater base to Fort Worth, Texas; and Phoenix. And he said the company continues to "look opportunistically" at Spanish-speaking markets across the country.

INFOBOX

Sonora Entertainment Group

* Cinema Latino Aurora 8: Theater aimed at Spanish-speaking and bilingual audiences that shows first-run movies subtitled or dubbed in Spanish as well as first-run Spanish-language films.

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Photo

David Mejias, president of Sonora Entertainment Group, projects an aura of success at the refurbished Cinema Latino Aurora 8 complex, which shows first-run Spanish movies. Mona Lisa Smile, starring Julia Roberts, plays in the background as Mejias discusses the theater's growing success. The theater also caters to the audience's taste in action and family films. "Definitely there are certain types of films that resonate with our audience," the New Jersey native says. STEVE PETERSON / SPECIAL TO THE NEWS