After Almost 50 Years, Watts May Soon Get a Movie Theater

After more than four decades, the neighborhood of Watts is on the verge of getting a movie theater.

An RFP/RFQ (request for proposals and request for qualifications) has been issued by the Watts Cinema and Education Center (WCEC) to develop design documents for construction of the Wattstar Theater and Education Center.

“Right now we’re looking for the right team who will design and build the building. This team will work with a general contractor,” said Barbara Stanton, the brain thrust behind the development.

The Wattstar Theater and Education Center will consist of four first-run movie theaters and a 1,400-square-foot education center located at 10341 Graham, just south of 103rd Street, next to the Kenneth Hahn Metro Blue Line stop. Stanton anticipates breaking ground on the project in April of 2009, with a grand opening in the spring of 2010.

According to construction and planning experts, it takes anywhere from 10 to 20 years for a construction project to come to fruition, depending on the project. The Wattstar Theater and Education Center is no exception. Stanton’s quest to bring a theater to her hometown began in 1993 when she worked with Warner Brothers and Mann Theaters on a project in Westwood. Once that collaboration proved successful, the next question for Stanton was how could they work together to bring a movie theater to the Watts community.

“They agreed to help me and made me a liaison of Mann Theaters. Hence, I was able to get the equipment donated for the movie theater. That was the original beginning,” she said.

Two years later the nonprofit Watts Cinema and Education Center (WCEC) was established to bring quality family entertainment, education enrichment, global communications and economic development to the residents of the Watts/Willowbrook communities.

Millard Ochs, president of International Theaters for Warner Brothers, did the original design for the Wattstar Theater complex center.

The educational center will be equipped to provide training and introduce the youth of the community to jobs in television and movie production, video, writing, post production, editing, music, animation and Web design. The facility also will include a full studio to be used as a shooting location as well as a live performance venue, Stanton says.

The educational center also will include a 220-seat global teleconference center where students will have access to other students and individuals from around the world.

“From the teleconference center we will be able to interact with other countries,” Stanton said. “If we have a representative in Africa or Spain that we wanted to connect to we could do that from our teleconference center, which has been designed by the chief scientist at Northrop Grumman. We will be able to communicate directly with other countries whether it’s for education or some kind of social awareness.

“Our building has basically four missions: quality entertainment, teleconferencing and global communications, job training, and small business creation.”

The cost of the Wattstar Theater complex has been estimated at approximately $20 million. Funding is coming from a variety of sources. Stanton said she has received $1 million from the Annenberg Foundation, $2.4 million from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the city of Los Angeles, $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce, $300,000 from an appropriation request by the late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald and individual grants from the Walt Disney Company, Warner Brothers, MGM, and Union Bank of California.

“The rest of the money will come from Empowerment Zone Bonds to the tune of about $14 million,” she said.

The project is expected to create 30 permanent jobs for residents, not to mention the jobs that will be created through construction.

“Our hope is to hire as many people from the community and as many minority contractors as we can,” she said.

While the center’s major focus is on education, training and economic development, Stanton said she is eager for the day when the seniors of the community will once again be able to enjoy a local outing at the movies.

“Senior citizens have basically given up going to the movies because it is too far. I look forward to the day our seniors will be able to walk or catch the Metro right adjacent to blue line stop to go to … see a film in their own community.

“A lot of communities consider it a basic amenity to have a movie theater, where we’ve been void of movie theaters for 42 years. My passion is to introduce things to the youth and service our community with things that are taken for granted in the other communities. It’s been a long hall for sure but … now we’re moving very quickly,” she said.

To find out more about the Wattstar Theater Complex, contact Stanton at (323) 757-7506 or via e-mail at Wattstar@aol.com.