Theater Closed for Repairs

A Golden State Water Company water main break between Signal And Ventura streets in front of the Ojai Playhouse caused significant damage and flooding to the building.

Marquee Use Guidelines for Nonprofits

• The marquee is offered free of charge to Ojai-based nonprofits serving the Ojai community. If you would like to request use of the marquee for an upcoming event, please provide information on where you are located and the community you serve. This information should also be readily available on your website and/or in your literature.
• Marquee requests are on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority will be given to the nonprofit organization that first requests the space. If you are not a nonprofit requesting the use of the marquee, nonprofit events will take priority.
• Only two events are allowed on the marquee at any one time to  legibility purposes.
• Events can be posted up to two weeks prior to the event date. If there is space available, you may post your event earlier. However, if another event that takes place before your event requests space, you may be bumped until it is your week.
• The first requested event will receive priority on the top two lines of the marquee on the week prior to their event. A line space will be immediately underneath the first event and a one-line event listing will be on the bottom row.
• If two lines are not needed for your event, you may have the top line with a space immediately below, with a two-line event listed at bottom.
• If two events are on the same weekend with an event the next weekend, the first two events will have priority and the next weekend’s event will go up the week prior to their event.
• It is the event organizer’s responsibility to put up their lettering at an agreed-upon time and date.
• To check availability of the marquee please contact Andy Gilman: greatbooksojai@gmail.com or (805) 231-5974.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JULY 11, 2018

For media inquires, please contaAct Kerry Miller, (805) 640-0262,
kerry@kerrymillerdesigns.com

After over 30 years of running the Ojai Playhouse, owners Khaled and Walid Al-Awar are looking to retire. The theater has been an important family business for many years. Khaled’s three children all worked at the theater as they grew up and went to school in Ojai, as did Walid’s son, and their niece and nephews. “I remember one summer just before high school my father put my older cousin and me in charge of the entire business from managing our one employee, to selling the tickets and running the show, to keeping the theater clean and stocked,” says Tania Parker, Khaled’s oldest daughter. “It taught us a great deal about responsibly, even if we didn’t realize it at the time.”

Having a passion for films since he was a child, Khaled renovated and reopened the Ojai Playhouse after its being closed and in for many years when he first moved to Ojai over 35 years ago. Today, he still loves film and believes the community of Ojai deserves a movie theater in their town. But after a long four-year legal battle with Golden State Water, he is ready to move on. Nearly 70, Khaled is looking to retire and spend more time with his grandchildren. “It was a difficult decision deciding to put the theater up for sale. We considered keeping it in the family, but all of our kids are grown and have their own careers,” says Khaled. “But we still want this town to have its movie theater back. This is why we have put a clause in the sale contract that whoever purchases it must keep it a movie theater. This theater has been an important part of our family and our community for many years and we hope it will continue to be for many more.”

“So many of my friends remember watching their first movie in our theater, and so many of them have missed taking their kids to their first movie in our Ojai theater with it being closed for so long. We can’t wait to have our theater back and we hope that someone with as much love and passion for both film and the community takes it over,” says Parker. The Ojai Playhouse has been closed for four years this July after a water main burst, flooding the interior of the theater in 2014—on its 100

^th anniversary year. Construction finally began in earnest in January, after money was received from a victory in the lawsuit against Golden State Water.

Almost all of the settlement money the Al-Awars received is going toward repairing the theater, paying legal fees, and repaying bills and loans that accumulated over past four years while the business was closed. “While $3.8 million sounds like a large sum of money, when you are talking about repairs this extensive and such a long legal battle, I think in the end the Al-Awars will just about break even,” says lead contractor Kerry Miller. The Al-Awar Family remains 100% committed to restoring and opening the theater for the community until someone new is ready to carry on the tradition. “We are so grateful for the community and the support you have given us. We are eternally indebted to our attorneys.

They fought on our behalf like lions, and without them Ojai would not have its theater back. We are not leaving Ojai as some have suggested, we are simply ready to enjoy it in our senior years,” commented Khaled Al-Awar.

MountainFilm of Telluride Comes to Ojai for a Fundraising Event (Sold Out)

As a part of the major repair and renovation currently underway at the Ojai Playhouse, the Ojai Film Society has identified a number of specific projects it would like to undertake that will not be covered by the Golden State Water Co. insurance claim, but that would significantly improve the performance and quality of the theater’s presentations. To that end, the Ojai Film Society and the Ojai Film Festival are co-sponsoring an event in order to raise funds for these projects.

The event takes place Tuesday, November 11 at the Ojai Art Center at 7 p.m. Tickets are $30 per person. Tickets must be purchased in advance. Seating is limited.