Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.

You can fly back in time and visit SFO's Aviation Museum and Library to learn about the history of commercial aviation.

No boarding pass needed. Learn more at flysafo.com slash museum.

Switch to Comcast Business Mobile and save hundreds a year in your wireless bill.

Comcast Business, powering possibilities.

Restrictions apply.

Comcast Business Internet required.

Comparates two unlimited intro lines and lowest price 5D plans of top three carriers.

Tax on fees extra, reduced speeds after 30 gigabytes of usage.

Data thresholds may vary.

From KQED.

Music From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.

The pandemic took a big toll on movie theaters nationwide,

and the Bay Area continues to see closures of beloved theaters, really too many to even list here.

But there have also been success stories, local cinemas that have found ways of bringing people in the door so they can keep the projectors running.

We'll check in with some of the people running those spots about the role local theaters play in our communities,

how their audiences have changed since the pandemic,

and the new things theaters are doing to bring people in.

That's all coming up next after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. Two independent local movie theaters shaped the person that I became.

I worked at one spot, this is up in Vancouver, Washington,

where we never had big crowds and we usually showed stuff like Muppets in Space,

but you could also see, on some days, Vertigo or Citizen Kane,

...