

on January 20, 2013 at 1:59 PM
Bud Mayo Clearview Cinemas.JPG Bud Mayo says alternative programming can the box office a boost. Mayo, owner of the Westfield-based cinema chain Digiplex Destinations, is seen here inside the Westfield Rialto Theater.  

WESTFIELD — As a film lover, Bud Mayo always favored quaint picture palaces over slick multiplexes, but lately he’s had a change of heart.

The owner of the Westfield-based cinema chain Digiplex Destinations, Mayo sees new potential for mall theaters thanks to satellite technology.

He envisions the multiplex as a gathering spot where people can watch simulcast rock concerts and football games.

He developed an appreciation for neon popcorn havens watching a Phish concert on the big screen in Los Angeles three years ago.

"They were totally unprepared for the crowd that showed up on a Wednesday night," said Mayo, 71, of Point Pleasant, a father of four and grandfather of eight. "There were two people at the concession stand and one usher. During the first song, everybody was sitting quietly and I asked the manager to turn up the lights and announce that people don’t have to sit. I turned around and there was one woman standing in place and she was having a good time. I gestured for everyone to get up and it was off and running. We went down the hall and got all the auditoriums rocking with the band."

A businessman with a whimsical side, Mayo keeps a large Yoda puppet in his office and quotes the "Star Wars" character’s sayings.

A. Dale 'Bud' Mayo

Chairman and CEO of Digiplex Destinations

Age: 71

Residence: Point Pleasant

Howntown: Brooklyn

Hobbies: Tennis, racketball and poetry

Favorite movie character: Yoda

The multiplex vs. the iPad: "It is a communal experience to go to a theater. People share their passion and clap," Mayo says.

The Hannah Montana paradigm: In 2008, a 3D pop documentary, "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" raked in more than $31 million during its opening weekend, the highest tally ever for a concert film. "That was an eye opener because it brought huge crowds and it wasn’t a movie," Mayo says.

"Yoda is always sitting behind me," said Mayo, a former investment banker who got his start in the film business 26 years ago running a four-screen movie house in Tenafly. That theater spawned Clearview Cinemas, a chain that spotlights foreign and independent pictures along with mainstream studio fare. The company moniker reflects Mayo’s Zen outlook.

"Being clear is a philosophical thing about being clear about what you’re doing," said Mayo. "You have to be clear about why you are making a decision. I use the word ‘clear’ a lot in conversation. The license plate on my car is ‘Clear.’ "

The Brooklyn native sold Clearview to Cablevision in 1998 and began exploring the world of digital movie distribution two years later. He founded the Cinedigm Entertainment Group, a technology firm that helped multiplexes make the switch from projectors and celluloid prints to self-contained computer systems.

Mayo delved back into theaters in 2010, founding Digiplex, which has three locations in New Jersey, the Rialto in Westfield, the Digiplex Cranford and the Digiplex Sparta.

The cinemas present a mix of Hollywood offerings and alternative programming like performances from Lincoln Center and Broadway. Although all three are revamped neighborhood theaters, Digiplex cinemas in other states are large venues with stadium seating and sprawling concession stands.

Box office boost

Because film attendance has been flat over the past few years, Mayo believes bringing in music, sports and the performing arts can broaden the audience and give the box office a boost. Ticket prices for special events average $15.

Digiplex venues also screen one-night-only film festival selections through a partnership with a distributor called Nehst.

Nehst founder Larry Meistrich is a Ridgewood resident who feels that there’s a thirst for art films in the Garden State, contrary to studio assumptions that suburbanites crave only comic book adaptations and romantic comedies.

"Our state gets disrespected," said Meistrich, formerly of the film collective the Shooting Gallery. "Ridgewood has a lot of smart people in it. A lot of people work in Manhattan every day and a lot of people are sophisticated. What Bud is doing with Digiplex is being respectful to those suburban communities."

Bud Mayo.JPG Bud Mayo, 71, of Point Pleasant, is a former investment banker who got his start in the film business 26 years ago.  

Finding a balance

From the start, Mayo envisioned eclectic programming for his theaters, striking a balance between mass appeal blockbusters and smaller niche films.

"The reality is that not everybody’s interested in ‘Twilight’ or ‘The Hobbit,’ " said Mayo. "The reality is, how do you bring people back to the movies if they’ve lost interest? Hollywood is pounding them with content that they’re not interested in. With Clearview, we attacked that in the only way we could and that was to bring independent product to these theaters, product that you’d normally just be able to see in Manhattan."

These days, Mayo is seeking ways to revitalize the multiplex. Ironically, he intended to raze the first theater he purchased back in 1987. The Tenafly theater was a real estate investment. Mayo planned to hand the property over to a developer who would knock down the movie house and build a shopping center. As they planned the transition, Mayo began to have doubts about his business partner and decided to reopen the building as a theater.

"I had one of those ‘uh-oh’ moments," said Mayo. "It was just like, ‘I’ve got to get this theater opened. This is not going to be a mini mall.’ "

Family affair

The Tenafly theater opened on Christmas Day in 1987 and getting the place prepared was a family endeavor.

"Christmas morning, the carpet guys were supposed to arrive at 7 a.m. but they didn’t show up," said Mayo. "The result of that is that my manager, his family and my kids were taping down loose wires and doing our best to make it, at least, safe for the audience."

"Broadcast News" was the first film to play and Mayo’s wife, Sueanne, sold the first ticket.

"It was exciting," she said. "It was like a family get-together. We all did what we had to do to open the theater. Our son, who was 3 years old at the time, was washing the dust off the walls."

There was a line around the corner for the first show, according to Mayo. "I said, ‘Boy, this is a great business.’ "

Mayo was hooked and purchased neighborhood cinemas in Bergenfield and Closter.

"We concentrated on these little theaters in towns while the industry was building big theaters on the highway," said Mayo, whose full name is Anthony Dale "Bud" Mayo. "Let the teenagers go to the highway theaters and make a ruckus. We want adults, the senior citizens, the people who won’t go to a highway multiplex on a bet. If you’re in the right towns and nurture the audience and stay away from the teen movies, you can have a very successful theater."

Mayo made semi-annual trips from Brooklyn with his father to see movies at Radio City Music Hall.

"I remember seeing ‘Gone with the Wind’ on that big screen," said Mayo, whose nickname has been "Bud" since his teen years. His father used to call him "Buddy."

Mayo said, "They had these chocolate bars that were huge and I just had a great time. I was hooked on movies. I’d go every Saturday to a theater in my neighborhood to see John Wayne type movies, Abbott and Costello, ‘Tarzan,’ maybe a serial. Some cartoons would play."

Change of plans

Growing up, Mayo aspired to become a doctor. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan, he entered the pre-med program at New York University. His interest shifted to computers during the 1960s, an era of colossal office machines that were considered exotic marvels.

Bud and Sueanne met while working together at a computer leasing firm. Their first date, fittingly, was a trip to the movies. The film they saw was "Ordinary People."

"It was really depressing," said Sueanne of the movie starring Mary Tyler Moore as the mother of a son who attempts suicide. "We had another date and several after that. The movies were not my interest, but Bud has always been interested in the arts. The other day, I saw something that reminded me of Bud. It said, ‘Earth without ‘art’ is just ‘eh.’ "

Mayo believes the arts can flourish in areas outside cultural hubs like New York. He’s invested more than a million dollars to transform the Community Theatre in Morristown from a decaying building into a posh venue for classical concerts, ballet, Broadway revivals and the occasional rock show.

Fitting tribute

Five years ago, the theater was renamed the Mayo Performing Arts Center in honor of him.

Some volunteers were opposed to the name change, stating that the "Community" moniker reflected the collective effort to restore the space. Allison Larena, president and CEO of the arts center, said the name reflects Mayo’s ongoing contributions to the complex.

"All of the personal involvement that Bud had in creating a successful theater, it warranted changing the name," said Larena. "He rolled up his sleeves and worked hard to ensure that this theater was run in a way that would sustain itself for years to come."

Before he got involved with the Morristown project, Mayo supported the John Harms Center for the Arts in Englewood, now called the Bergen Performing Arts Center. During a fundraising drive, he penned a poem, "What We Do Tonight," about how transcendent a trip to the theater can be. It ends with the lines:

"What we do tonight might … just might … in a time of special need

Lift the spirits of a dying man

Or feed the soul of a woman who’s lost her faith

Or fill a small child’s heart with inspiration.

What we do tonight may not save lives, but

What we do tonight can make those lives just a little more worth living."