One business sector that’s been greatly impacted from a national to local level is the movie theatre industry, with smaller and independent movie theatre owners trying to find different ways to find revenue while major film studios either wait to release or send blockbuster films to streaming services.

This year has been a rollercoaster for small-town theatre owners like Eric Tiernan, who owns the Perry 3 Grand Theatres and co-owns the Stuart Fremont Theatre. After being forced to close for weeks by Governor Kim Reynolds last spring, the theatres turned to showing old movies, and having drive-through concession sales in the summer. Tiernan says the income from the first couple concession events helped him pay utility bills, but the novelty of both those attractions wore off. Tiernan says it has also been a disappointment to see big studio films like Mulan and Wonder Woman move past a theatre release directly to streaming services, and like other smaller venues they’ve limited their operations, “We decided to go to weekends only not too long ago, and that’s kind of helped our expenses a little bit on labor and utilities. But in Perry for instance, we got a capacity of 300 people, we’re lucky to have 25 for the whole weekend.”

Tiernan adds that Payment Protection Program and Small Business Administration loans have helped him pay employees’ income and other expenses, but repayment and interest fees are imminent. Tiernan has also applied for a grant from the recently launched Iowa Movie Theatre Relief program, but he thinks the businesses’ circumstances won’t look better until the pandemic is over and states like California and New York are reopened.