Northern Virginia Open Captioned Movies

09/07/2020

Northern Virginia Open Captioned Movies's cover photo

09/06/2020

Saw that 2 seats were bought for yesterday's Tenet screening at AMC Hoffman. Whomever those 2 were, they had the whole auditorium to themselves.

09/03/2020

Mosaic too! We didn't contact Mosaic to request anything, but just checked and to our surprise, Mosaic has an open caption screening of "Tenet" on Sunday not once, but twice! It is at 3:20 pm and 3:50 pm! They did this without us even asking!

09/02/2020

Got an email last night but didn't see it til now - open caption screening scheduled of "Tenet" at AMC Hoffman in Alexandria at 5:45 pm on Saturday September 5! It is already posted on the AMC Hoffman website.

09/01/2020

Due to the pandemic, we are reducing our requests for open caption screenings to one per week. Right now we are awaiting notification of when there can be an open caption screening of "Tenet" at AMC Hoffman.

08/25/2020

New Mutants anyone? Today AMC Hoffman in Alexandria notified us that they will have an open captioned screening of New Mutants on August 29 at 4:30 pm!

The theater has reopened, with changes because of covid-19.

08/03/2020

Drive In Movie Night: How To Train Your Dragon (presented with English SDH subtitles)

Good news! Just had an email from the Lorton Workhouse! They will offer a subtitled version of "How to Train Your Dragon" at their pop-up drive-in on August 21! Tickets go on sale August 6 and was given the link:

https://insidenovatix.com/events/drive-in-movie-night-how-to-train-your-dragon-with-sdh-english-subtitles-8-21-2020

Tickets sell fast! So don't delay if you want to go!

The page has special instructions for people who need the subtitles, aka captions.

A misfit Viking teen befriends a dragon, despite his tribe's beliefs and history of dragon slaying, in this adaptation of the children's fantasy book by Cressida Cowell. This film will be presented with English SDH subtitles. The subtitles should be visible from any parking location, but if any memb...

08/02/2020

Miss open captioned movies in theaters? University Mall Theatres in Fairfax has started a new program called "Gather 'Round" whereas they rent out an auditorium (but only one auditorium at a time, so in effect it means renting the entire theater) to groups of 12 people or less, for $100. According to their website, that price includes popcorn and drinks. You have to provide your own movies on a DVD, but we assume that they can turn on the captions or subtitles for you on the big screen.

What does this mean? It means that if you have a group of friends that is 12 people or less, you can share the cost of renting an auditorium and create a private open captioned movie in a theater experience for yourself. Not sure how this would work - one idea is that one person would have to coordinate the collection of the shared cost, perhaps via a PayPal account. Then the coordinator would send the full payment to the University Mall Theatres and set up the date and time.

07/02/2020

Update: Sent follow-up email to Lorton Workhouse and got a response right away! They think it may be possible to offer an open captioned film in August at their drive-in movies. Was put in contact with the lead for the drive-in movie planning. Further updates to come, but no guarantees. Part of the problem is the age of the movies they are showing.

Update 2: Just had a response from the lead for the drive-in movie planning stating they will DEFINITELY offer an open captioned movie in August! They are getting their choices next week and will see which ones have the open caption option. Stay tuned for word of the first open captioned drive-in movie in Fairfax!

07/02/2020

Loudoun Co. details plans for July drive-in movies | WTOP

Now Loudoun will have drive-in movies. Have not had a response from the Lorton Workhouse yet.
https://wtop.com/loudoun-county/2020/07/loudoun-co-details-plans-for-july-drive-in-movies/

Loudoun County will host a series of three pop-up drive-in events at Segra Field in Leesburg, the county announced Wednesday.

06/24/2020

University Mall Theatres

Did you know that University Mall Theatres (the folks who had OC twice a month for family-friendly movies) has a growing YouTube channel? They have been making creative behind-the-scenes videos. Use the automatic captions to follow the video as best as you can. UM wants to get to 1,000 subscribers so they can actually earn a bit from their videos, so share!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChFyyzhVFSWyM8_gt8r8dGA

Everything you ever wanted to know about what goes on behind the scenes at a small "Mom & Pop" movie theater run by an eccentric genius!

06/23/2020

Tysons gets a pop-up drive-in theater | WTOP

Have not heard back from the Workhouse about their drive-in, but Tysons now has its own pop-up drive in: https://wtop.com/business-finance/2020/06/tysons-gets-a-pop-but-drive-in-theater/

Drive-in theaters have gained new popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic and Tysons, Virginia, just got one — although it’s just a pop-up.

06/06/2020

Folks, don't get your hopes up but I just had a response from the Lorton Workhouse to my request for open captions at their new drive-in movies. They said that they have had such a positive response to their announcement of offering drive-in movies, that they may continue into October, and they are investigating the possibility of having an open caption night. Hopefully will have a more firm answer for me by the end of next week.

06/03/2020

Do you miss movie theaters? Do you plan to return to movie theaters when they are open again?

06/01/2020

Folks, we wish this post was an announcement of the return of open captioned movies in NoVA. It is not. However, on Friday we received notification that the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center is launching drive-in movies. These movies are likely to be older films that have no open captions. However, we have sent an email to the Lorton Workhouse to ask if they can offer open captions when newer movies come out.

https://www.workhousearts.org/events/category/drive-in-movies/

In addition, the Family Drive-In theater in Stephens City, VA - the closest drive-in theater to Northern Virginia at this time - has confirmed that while they are not currently offering open captioned screenings due to the movies being old, they will resume offering open captions on Sunday nights when new films come out.

Finally, we have heard that there may be a new drive-in set up in Leesburg, VA. No other details are available at this time.

05/01/2020

With many movie theaters still closed, drive-ins try to show the way

Washington Post story on a drive-in in Virginia. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/30/drive-in-theaters-covid-open/

A throwback venue offers a modern solution

04/24/2020

Perspective | With the theatrical movie business in peril, art houses might hold the key to survival

Article in the Washington Post today that mentions Cinema Arts and University Mall. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/with-the-theatrical-movie-business-in-peril-art-houses-might-hold-the-key-to-survival/2020/04/22/333be52a-83e9-11ea-878a-86477a724bdb_story.html

Small theaters are unlocking value they’ve accrued over years of cultivating audiences.

03/26/2020

How One Movie Theater Owner Is Selling Curbside Popcorn to Pay His Employees

University Mall's efforts to survive got the attention of Variety. https://variety.com/2020/film/news/movie-theaters-coronavirus-popcorn-curbside-1203544570/

Mark O’Meara has endured blizzards, hurricanes and economic recessions. Even in three feet of snow, he’s managed to keep the lights on at University Mall and Cinema Arts, the two movie …

03/19/2020

No open caption movies in NoVA for awhile. However, the University Mall and Cinema Arts theatres are selling their popcorn and other menu items as take-out. You can call ahead to order the items. Plus, they are also selling gift cards. Links to the University Mall posting and Cinema Arts posting are in the comments. Let's support them as thanks for their dedication to open captions since 2018!

03/13/2020

Just received this email from the Angelika Mosaic and reposting it here in its entirety.

Angelika Film Center has been closely monitoring the dynamic coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. First and foremost, the health and well-being of our valued guests and employees has always been our top priority, and we will continue to act thoughtfully, despite the uncertainty COVID-19 is bringing to our communities and daily lives.

Our theatre teams are taking guidance from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and local authorities as we navigate this ongoing situation. For now, we are continuing to operate our movie theatres, but with new and enhanced procedures in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Here are some of the steps we have taken to help promote wellness in our theatres:

• We have increased the frequency and extent of cleaning and sanitization practices throughout our theatres to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

• We are taking steps to reduce the seat occupancy in our auditoriums to create distancing, as many health organizations have encouraged social distancing. We are working to reduce our on-sale seat count by 50% or more, both on our websites/mobile apps and at the theatre box office. While we encourage maintaining social distance in our auditoriums, we will not prevent families and friends from electing to sit next to each other.

• At the moment, we intend to continue to honor our Free Drink Refill and Endless Popcorn programs (where applicable), but will provide a new cup/lid and popcorn bag when you are ready for a refill. We also urge guests not to reuse your cup/lid at our self-service soda machines. Our service associates are happy to assist in providing new cups/lids to guests who need them.

• We are encouraging our guests to use credit cards in theatre and to buy tickets online in advance to reduce the need to handle cash. We have a convenient app to facilitate these cashless transactions.

• If the major studios determine to postpone the release of certain movies, we will be providing refunds. Information about how to get a refund is available on our websites.

• We have instructed our theatre team members to stay home if they are not feeling well.

The first line of defense starts with you, our valued guests. If you are feeling ill, we encourage you to stay home or seek appropriate medical assistance. We are telling our service associates and managers to do the same.

As we learn more about this virus, we are prepared to further modify operations on a theatre-by-theatre basis to ensure the health and well-being of our guests and theatre teams. In addition, we are prepared to close theatres, if we feel it is in the best interest of our guests and employees and/or if required by our governmental authorities. If we close our theatres, we will provide you with as much advance notice as possible.

We want to thank you for your continued support of Angelika Film Center, and we appreciate your patience and cooperation as we navigate this evolving situation. We will do all we can to ensure the health and well-being of you, your family and our community.

Thank you,
Angelika Film Center

03/08/2020

Folks, it looks like an open captioned screening of Onward today (Sunday) is so far outselling the non-captioned screenings. As of 11:19 pm Saturday (before daylight savings time started), the open caption screening at 3:30 pm had already sold 8 tickets. The non-captioned screening at 2:00 pm had sold 2, and the non-captioned screening at 4:30 pm had sold none.

02/06/2020

Folks, just got off the phone with Angelika Mosaic. They will have an open caption film at 3 pm on Sunday. The title is probably "The Assistant." Unfortunately the relay conversation was closed and the history wiped out so can't double-check which film. It is not posted on their website yet and the management has to contact their IT department to fix things.

And just got off the phone with AMC Hoffman. They will have Birds of Prey open caption on Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 pm. They said the website will be updated within an hour.

01/18/2020

Late additions: Just got an email from Hoffman. They are going to offer a 2:15 open caption for "Like a Boss" tomorrow, and a 2:15 open caption for Underwater on Monday (which is a holiday). They tried but could not get the other 2 which had been requested.

01/16/2020

The Daily Moth

Daily Moth on the Virginia bill.

Deaf activists in Virginia pushing for movie theater open captioning bill

01/07/2020

Virginia SB274 | 2020 | Regular Session

IMPORTANT NEWS!
Virginia now has a bill for open captions in movie theaters! Virginia senator George Barker introduced his version, SB 274. Delegate Vivian Watts introduced HB 747

https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/HB747/2020

https://legiscan.com/VA/bill/SB274/2020

If you live in Virginia, please sign the petition at https://tinyurl.com/ocmoviesnow!
If you know someone who lives in Virginia, tell them about the bill asap!

We do not have much time to get this bill passed! The Virginia legislative session is January 8 to March 5!

Contact your state Delegate and state Senator to ask them to sponsor (support) this bill! If you do not know who your state Delegate and state Senator are, follow these steps:
1. Find your legislator: go to https://whosmy.virginiageneralassembly.gov/
a. Enter your address or use the map
2. Results will come up
a. The first two are what you want: State Delegate and State Senator
3. Select the Email link to send an email
a. In the email, say that you live in (your town) in Virginia, that you are deaf or a hearing ally, and that you want them to support HB747in the Virginia House or SB274 in the Virginia Senate

Summary (2020-01-03) Motion picture theaters; required open-captioned showings. [Referred to Committee on Education and Health]

12/28/2019

Just found out that Facebook has added the ability for you to invite your friends to like this page! Here's what you do:
1. On the left side of this page, there is a link to "Community."
2. Click that link to "Community."
3. On the right side of the page you will see "Invite your friends to like Northern Virginia Open Captioned Movies."
4. It will show your friends with an "Invite" button next to each friend's name.
5. Click the "invite" button to invite others in Northern Virginia to like this page.

We need more people in Northern Virginia to like this page so that the attendance at open captioned movies will grow. Growth is important for getting the four committed theaters that we have, to continue.

12/25/2019

Folks, if you're expecting Regal Potomac Yard to offer an open captioned movie this weekend, it's not going to happen. Last weekend's open captioned Star Wars at Regal Potomac Yard was just a substitute for DC Gallery Place; Regal has no intention of permanently offering open captioned movies at Regal Potomac Yard.

In comparison, AMC Hoffman in Alexandria is very committed, the Angelika Mosaic in Fairfax is committed, University Mall and Cinema Arts in Fairfax are committed.

12/24/2019

New Movies, Theaters Near You, Movie Tickets, Showtimes, Movie Trailers, Movies in Theaters

Just put together the list to send to AMC Hoffman for January. All of these are wide releases, so even if a couple are not yet showing on the "Coming soon" page for AMC Hoffman, chances are good they will get them. Also, here is the link to AMC Hoffman's "Coming Soon" page; if you see something there you want that is not on this list, post a comment and we will add it to the request list. https://www.amctheatres.com/movies?availability=COMING_SOON

January 4-5 The Grudge, Just Mercy
January 11-12 Like a Boss, Underwater
January 18-19 Dolittle, Bad Boys for Life
January 25-26 The Gentlemen, The Turning, Run

(The Turning and Run are not on the Coming Soon page but are listed as wide releases on the box office release schedule)

12/18/2019

Folks, another Star Wars option! AMC Hoffman has just posted Star Wars for 1:25 pm on both Saturday and Sunday.

12/18/2019

Great news!! JUST got word from Regal that the Potomac Yard theater will ALSO have Star Wars open captioned on Friday at 2pm AND on Saturday at 2 pm!

12/17/2019

Are you hearing and do you refuse to watch videos without captions? If so, you should be demanding open captions in movie theaters!

12/12/2019

Hey folks, University Mall has a holiday wish: 6,000 likes on their page! If you have ever enjoyed an inexpensive family friendly open captioned movie there, could you help them get their wish by liking and sharing their page?

Hey Folks - We're almost at 6,000 "LIKES" on Facebook!!! Can we make it by Christmas???

12/10/2019

Exciting news! Got word that there will be an open caption Star Wars on December 19th (that's Thursday) at 8:20 pm at the Regal Potomac Yard! We did not set this up; Regal did it themselves as a substitute for Gallery Place (can't do it there that night)!

12/04/2019

Just had a response from AMC Hoffman. Despite trying, they could not get a "prime time" screening of Frozen 2 for Saturday but they got the next best thing - a 5:20 pm screening! and on Sunday, a 2:50 pm screening of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Neither is posted yet on AMC Hoffman's website, but watch for them to appear.