National Association of the Deaf

Submitted by admin on Wed, 09/18/2002 - 03:00

The Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC) brings you the first of what we hope will be a "short-lived" THEATER WATCH showing how many theaters in the US are showing some form of captioned movies. Our goal here is not to say which system is better, but to increase the number of theaters showing first-run movies that are accessible to moviegoers with sensory disabilities.

Time elapsed since The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in July 1990, requiring access in movie theaters:

11 years, 10 months

Number of indoor movie screens in the U.S., from National Association of Theater Owners website:

34,490

MEMORIAL DAY 2002 WEEKEND, FIRST LONG HOLIDAY MOVIE GOING WEEKEND OF SUMMER:

SCORECARD FOR OPEN CAPTIONS

Number of films with open captions (visible to the entire audience) currently in circulation by Tripod Captioned Films: 13

Number of screens in the U.S. showing OC movies Friday, May 24: 5

Number of screens in the U.S. showing OC movies Saturday, May 25: 8

Number of screens in the U.S. showing OC movies Sunday, May 26: 11

Number of screens in the U.S. showing OC movies Monday, May 27: 14

SCORECARD: REAR WINDOW (TM) CAPTIONING

Rear Window (TM) captions can be viewed with a plexiglass reflector panel inserted in cupholder; some films also have audio description for visually impaired persons wearing special headsets.

Number of films in circulation with Rear Window (TM) Captions from WGBH MoPix: 4

Number of screens in the U.S. showing RWC movies Friday, May 24: 14 (12 also offered audio description)

Number of screens in the U.S. showing RWC movies Saturday, May 25: 14 (12 also offered audio description)

Number of screens in the U.S. showing RWC movies Sunday, May 26: 14 (12 also offered audio description)

Number of screens in the U.S. showing RWC movies Monday, May 27: 15 (13 also offered audio description)

Number of screens in the U.S. equipped with RWC that were not being utilized May 24-27: 4

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States with one screen showing a captioned movie this weekend: 12

States with two screens showing a captioned movie this weekend: 4

States with three screens showing a captioned movie this weekend: 3

States with four screens showing a captioned movie this weekend: 1

States that did not have any screen with a captioned movie this weekend: 30

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NOTE: This information was gathered from the website of Tripod Captioned Films and WGBH's Motion Picture Access News. The screens included on this list may not have captioned movies at every showing.

SUPPORT CMC THEATER WATCH!

Join the Coalition for Movie Captioning (CMC) to help us achieve our goal of attending any showing of any movie in any theater at any time, with equal access through high quality captioning. We welcome new organization and individual members, especially frustrated movie buffs.
The membership categories are:

    * Regular $250 - National consumer organizations serving deaf, hard of hearing or late-deafened members.
    * Associate $500 - Industry stakeholders.
    * Affiliate $50 - State or local consumer organizations serving deaf, hard of hearing or late-deafened members.
    * Individual $25 - Individual supporter.

Only regular members may attend meetings; they have one vote per organization. Associate members may have a voice in meetings but no vote. Affiliate and individual members will be placed on our mailing list to receive news and press releases about CMC activities.