Sundance Group Forms Theater-Chain Venture

Hoping to jump-start a long-frustrated dream, Robert Redford’s Sundance Group said Friday that it had formed a venture aimed at opening several small, independent theaters nationwide.

The venture, called Sundance Cinemas, will be headed by industry veterans Paul Richardson and Bert Manzari, who helped build Landmark Theatres, into a premier specialty film chain.

Richardson and Manzari started in the business with one theater in 1975, merging with Landmark in 1982. The two left the company in 2004 shortly after billionaire investor Mark Cuban and partner Todd Wagner bought Landmark.

Richardson will serve as president and chief executive of Sundance Cinemas. Manzari will be the venture’s president of film marketing.

Investment funds managed by Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management will finance the project, Utah-based Sundance said.

Richardson said the group was actively looking for sites throughout the country to locate theaters.

Redford has tried for years to launch a chain of cinemas that would play the kind of independent films and documentaries showcased at his annual Sundance Film Festival.

In the late 1990s, Redford formed a venture with General Cinemas to open several theaters for specialized film, but the operation was plagued by disagreements over construction budgets. Ground was eventually broken on theaters in Portland, Ore., and Philadelphia. But the venture imploded before either opened after General Cinemas filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000.

In a statement, the director and actor said: “Anything which helps new and interesting voices in the cultural realm reach more people can only enrich the experience of artists, audiences and communities and this makes the effort worth it.”