Doreen Sayegh was ecstatic that the Cranford Theater that she owns and operates was able to show one of the first advanced screenings of Disclosure Day, the latest by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
Sayegh was proud that the movie is among a handful that Spielberg recently has shot in the state, one of many metrics that shows the industry is returning in a big way to New Jersey.
Sayegh was hopeful that the invitation-only audience of more than 200 will return to her theater — or any of the now limited number of independently owned theatres in the state — supporting a part of the industry ecosystem that is working hard to survive.
More than anything, she was thrilled that on a picture-perfect Monday night on a main street in a small town that appears to be right out of a movie set, so many people were able to experience movies in the way they were meant to be experienced:
On a big screen, in comfortable seats, with surround sound — and a big bag of popcorn.
“There’s just something so nostalgic about going to cinemas and watching movies together in that communal experience,” Sayegh said. “That’s my mission here — to bring people together, to share in these stories and the emotions and the excitement.”
At a time when the state is celebrating the return of its industry to its birthplace, thanks to hundreds of movies already being shot here and a commitment from three major studios — Netflix, Lionsgate and Paramount — to build brick-and-mortar locations that will produce thousands more, establishments such as the Cranford Theater are showing that the Days Gone By in the industry can remain alive and well.
The Cranford Theater, which reopened last fall, is proving that on a weekly basis. And doing so by doing more than just showing movies.
Sayegh is helping the Cranford Theater connect with its community in a manner in which any small business would be proud.
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The Cranford Theater has been in the Sayegh family since 1998. Jesse Sayegh, Doreen’s father, was one of the largest independent movie theater owners in New Jersey in the 1990s.
Doreen Sayegh grew up in his theaters — selling popcorn at 8 years old, working the register at 11. When she took over as sole owner six years ago, she knew exactly what she was inheriting.
She didn’t know what was coming: A pandemic.
Rather than wait it out, Sayegh got creative. She partnered with the town to open a temporary drive-in, which sold out every night for six months. When the drive-in closed in December, she reopened it the following spring. In September 2021, the indoor theater came back.
Sayegh cemented her status as a small business owner in the process.
“I paid property taxes, kept the staff working, kept the community entertained,” she said. “And I wanted to make sure they all came back to us when we reopened — and they did.”
That instinct to fight for the community — and lean on it in return — now defines everything the Cranford Theater does.
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Book drives. Toy drives. At a theatre? Yes.
There was a book signing with R.L. Stine that turned into a 500-book donation to a Hillside school that had no library.
There’s a fundraiser for Children’s Specialized Hospital tied to Toy Story 5, including a special screening for kids from the hospital.
There are comedy shows, film festivals — and plenty of birthday parties. Then there’s the pajama party series she brought back from her own childhood. Last year it was spread out over six December mornings and four auditoriums. Sayegh said 400-500 people were there in holiday PJs, with Santa and Mrs. Claus arriving on a Cranford Fire Department truck as the movie ends.
“It started as two mornings,” Sayegh said. “It’s grown to six mornings with four auditoriums sold out. We start selling tickets in July.”
This November, the Cranford Theater turns 100. Sayegh already has secured a special screening of Padlocked, a silent film that premiered at the theater in 1926.
Sayegh is arranging for a live organist. And encouraging moviegoers to show up in period attire.
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None of the community programming changes the fact that the Cranford Theater is still, at its core, a movie house — and one that competes for first-run films alongside the AMCs and Regals of the world.
Disclosure Day opens at the Cranford this weekend, same as every other theater in the country. That’s the competition.
Sayegh works with a film buyer who negotiates directly with the studios – the same one who helped her land the Spielberg showing. She knows her audience and programs accordingly.
“We’re the only hometown family-run independent theater left in Union County,” she said. “That’s scary and sad. But there’s still nothing like seeing a movie together on the big screen.”
Spielberg has never made it to the Cranford Theater. He was at the New York premiere Monday night.
Sayegh has extended the invitation. And while she knows an appearance by the famous director would bring excitement, it would not necessarily be an event that would bring repeat customers.
That’s happening tonight, when the theater hosts Cranford High School students for their own film festival — a sold-out house of young filmmakers screening their work in the theater’s largest auditorium.
It is exactly the kind of next-generation moment Sayegh is working toward. And it’s not the only one.
Sayegh has a nearly 5-year-old daughter who already has started following her mother around the theater the way Sayegh once followed her father. The hope, unspoken but obvious, is that one day there will be a business worth handing down.
It’s one of the many reasons Sayegh works so hard — and celebrates nights like the Spielberg screening.
“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone,” Sayegh said. “And I don’t want it gone. Because once it’s gone, it’s not coming back.”
