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The Three Films That Got You Through the 2020 Pandemic interview series continues on The Cinematic Schematic in part eight with the managing partner of Tower Theatre in OKC, founder of Mostly Harmless Media, and the director of technology of the deadCenter Film Festival, Stephen Tyler. I speak with Tyler about how the pandemic impacted the operations of Oklahoma’s historic theater before discussing how they pivoted in order to keep the film and concert venue afloat during the economic challenges they faced during the pandemic. To close out the conversation, we do what we’ve always done in this series by taking a look at the three films that helped him get through it all.
Tyler is one of the Oklahoma City film community’s hardest working individuals. He’s a jack of all trades in all things technology for the deadCenter Film Festival and also co-operates Oklahoma City’s historic Tower Theatre. The Tower Theatre opened in 1937 and is one of Oklahoma City’s last original movie houses with an intact auditorium and neon marquee. After many years of movie premieres and historic runs of classic films, the grand dame of Uptown was reduced to showing adult movies before closing in 1989. The theatre has since been remodeled and reopened in 2016-2017 most recently as a music venue, community event space, movie theater and (according to the website), the crown jewel of Uptown Oklahoma City before temporarily closing down due to COVID-19 safety. The theater is now open again, playing movies and hosting events in a limited capacity.
Stephen Tyler is also the founder of Mostly Harmless Media, his Oklahoma City technology consulting company that produces a variety of new media content. Mostly Harmless Media also provides a platform for local podcasts including Harold Storey’s Tunes/Toons, Let’s Pod This, Mitchell Talks and Tyler’s own We Apologize for The Inconvenience podcasts among many others.
Longtime listeners may recall The Cinematropolis partnered with Tyler and Tower Theatre for monthly Projector Club screenings from 2019-2020 where we covered post-film screening discussions for films like There Will Be Blood, Blade Runner, A Muppet Christmas Carol and Army of Darkness among many others.
This conversation details the challenges experienced by many different movie theaters and music and we’re thrilled our friends at Tower are now re-open to the public. Listen to the full to hear how they did it!
Special Guest
Stephen Tyler
Managing Partner at Tower Theatre in OKC
Director of Technology, deadCenter
Founder of Mostly Harmless Media
Stephen Tyler’s Three Film Selections
Interstellar (2014) – Available to rent VOD
Tenet (2020) – Available to rent VOD
The Mandalorian – Available to stream on Disney+
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