**UPDATE**
I'm happy to share that we reached out and the General Manager, Brian, responded with kindness and had promising updates for accessibility.
For the deaf community and other attendees needing captioning devices, please note that the Cinerama does not caption all their films at this time. Their first-run (newly released) films are captioned but some of the older films are not. Brian said our case brought this issue to his attention. They only recently started showing older films in greater volume and he wasn't aware they were not all captioned. He reassured me this is now at the top of his list to fix; it is a problen with the distribution companies that send the video files as they can be arbitrary about including captioning files.
Please contact the Cinerama before you purchase your tickets to confirm the showing is captioned (you can reach them at info@seattlecinerama.com). Brian informed me that he has already put in a request to update the website to include a toggle menu over 'Accessibility' which will provide information on which screenings have captioning.
Finally, he was upset to hear about Scott (the Manager-on-Duty that handled the interaction poorly) and said he would speak with him so that any accessibility issue isn't handled in that way. He apologized on behalf of the theater and offered that, had he been there, he would have preferred to give us all vouchers (that don't expire in 2 months, like the one we were given), and a full refund. He has since done that. Staff will also be better informed so that communication around the theater can support deaf patrons better.
My interaction with Brian was really pleasant. He shared my concerns and offered solutions and actions. If you ever have a problem, I suggest speaking with him by reaching out to info@seattlecinerama.com and asking for him.
Stay tuned. Hoping to see Cinerama have full accessibility and transparent information on their website soon.
**This is the original review I posted on Google and Yelp.** The main takeaway is, Cinerama does not have the accessibility they boast for films that were not recently released. That, and the way the management that day handled it was abhorrent. We've contacted Cinerama to express concerns with their advertising, their responsibility to pave the way for accessibility, and to speak with the manager who handled the situation poorly. We are waiting to hear back.
Two days ago, two friends and I went to the Cinerama’s showing of A Hard Day’s Night. One of my friends is deaf, but having access to captioning hasn’t been an issue at a movie theater in YEARS, so we thought nothing of buying three tickets to one of the “most accessible movie houses in the country” (according to their website).
I bought the tickets in person the day before the showing and asked about captioning, where the box office employee confirmed the film was captioned. The Cinerama’s website doesn’t mention that they don’t offer captions for A Hard Day’s Night. When we arrived and asked the ticket taker where to find the captioning devices, no one told us the film wasn’t captioned. When we received the device from another staff member, no one told us the film wasn’t captioned. When the previews started (and WERE captioned), why would we assume that the film itself wouldn’t be captioned?
It wasn’t until the film had started that our friend realized the captions weren’t working. He went out to ask them to turn them on. THIS is when he was told that there were no captions for A Hard Day’s Night. He then sat through a movie he couldn’t fully understand because he wanted to make sure that we, two hearing people, could enjoy the movie all three of us had paid for and taken the time to come see. No staff member had made it clear to him that if he went back into the theater (where we were watching the movie and waiting for him), he would then be ineligible for a voucher.
After the film, we looked for a manager so we could discuss some kind of compensation for our friend’s ticket. The man we spoke to was almost immediately defensive and hostile, telling us over and over that the Cinerama hadn’t received captions, and that if our friend had come out at the beginning of the film, the Cinerama could have done something. But since our friend had “watched” the entire movie, he wasn’t eligible for any compensation. Why didn’t someone tell him this when he came out to check on the captions at the beginning?
While we understand that the lack of captions isn’t entirely the Cinerama’s fault (A Hard Day’s Night was sent to them without captions included, although one wonders whether the Cinerama bothered to even ask if they could come with captions or not), what we’re upset about is the complete lack of communication on the part of the Cinerama. The hostility we encountered from the manager we spoke to is another issue altogether.
Turns out, none of the films from the entire Sound and Vision series are captioned and most of the general concessions staff was not aware (had not been informed). In fact, most of the older films they show (which is a good percentage of their showings), aren’t captioned. You’d never know that from their website. For a privately owned movie theater that touts its own accessibility and has the financial backing to pull for it, you’d think they’d be a little more accessible.
