CONWAY — Stephen Fagan couldn’t have written the script any better about how he became manager of Conway’s new Cinemark Towne Centre XD theater.
“It’s so awesome,” the 23-year-old said. “I would have been happy to make it back to Arkansas and run any theater, really, but to get a brand-new one is just incredible.”
The Bryant native started out shoveling popcorn and pouring drinks at Tinseltown, a Cinemark theater in Benton, during his junior year of high school when he was 16.
“I liked movies, and I needed a job, so I applied there, having no idea I’d stick around,” Fagan said. “I was just looking for something to do on the weekends.”
He started at the University of Central Arkansas in 2005, and ended then, too. He didn’t have a career goal in mind, and nothing seemed like more fun than being in the theater business. At 18, he was promoted to assistant manager at Tinseltown.
“We do get free movies, which is an awesome perk,” he said, laughing.
The free popcorn isn’t as enticing.
“I’m not much of a popcorn fan,” he said. “I’ve lost my ability to smell it because I’m around it so much.”
Just give him an Arctic Blast and some Sour Patch watermelon candy.
“I love talking to people,” the outgoing Fagan said. “That part of the business came pretty natural to me. That’s part of what we do. People want to have a good experience every step along the way in the theater. We get to be part of the environment; we get to be part of the experience.”
Fagan said he had a good role model in Jason Slavant, then-manager at the Benton theater.
“He was fantastic. He knew what he was doing and knew how to interact with people,” Fagan said.
After about a year as assistant manager, Fagan was promoted within Cinemark to a theater in Tupelo, Miss.
The theater was about 20 years old, but in good shape for its age, Fagan said, and he had a good crew.
“That was a fun little place,” he said. “The biggest shock of it was I left Arkansas, which was all I’d ever known.”
He stayed eight months and was transferred to a newer, 12-screen theater in Lufkin, Texas, and took his assistant manager in Mississippi with him.
Texas was a quick stop, too, and then it was on to Oklahoma City as manager for 2 1/2 years.
“I’ve had so many crazy experiences,” Fagan said. “The peak of crazy things happening was in Oklahoma City; we had a flash-flooding situation, and actually, the theater got flooded, so we had to close down, make repairs and do a remodel, so that was an intense experience.”
That was this past summer, just before he came to Conway.
His grandmother, Minnie Dean, raised him and now lives in a Conway nursing home. He has a older sister in Mayflower and four nieces.
Fagan’s goal was always to get back to Arkansas, and there had been talk of Cinemark building a new theater in Conway for years.
“It was on the drawing board a long, long time,” he said.
The new theater is the cornerstone of a facelift the Conway Towne Centre is undergoing.
When the new theater in Conway was announced, Fagan put out the word that he wanted the job, even though it was smaller than his last theater. Even though the powers-that-be already knew Fagan, he had a face-to-face interview — the questions were more about how he’d handle a new building — and other people applied.
He sat nervously by the phone one Friday, starting at 9 a.m., which is early for a theater manager who works until the wee hours, he said.
“All day I sat there staring at the phone waiting for it to ring,” he said.
When he was offered the job, “I was so, so thrilled,” he said.
The demolition of the old theater started in late February to make way for the new 12-screen XD — extreme-digital — theater. Fagan moved to Conway in early September, and the theater opened in December to much fanfare. As Fagan, who likes to quote Will Ferrell from the comedy Anchorman, said, it was “kind of a big deal.”
“It was such a fantastic time to open — we got in there right before the holidays,” he said.
Two VIP nights were held before the theater opened to the public, with UCA band members and cheerleaders on hand one night to celebrate.
“I spent 90 days working toward that moment,” Fagan said. “It was beyond my expectations to see so many people and how thrilled they were.
“I got to watch them come in the theater. Person after person gets in the door, and their eyes got real big and their jaws dropped a little bit.”
Fagan said he can feel the excitement in the theatergoers who are coming to Conway.
“I can feel the difference in the crowd,” he said, compared to other places he’s been.
Despite Movies on Demand, rentals and all the ways to watch a movie, Fagan said theaters are thriving.
“I don’t think it’s just about the movie — obviously it’s important — but when you’re at the theater, you’re not just watching a movie, you’re sharing the experience. When you’re laughing, you’re not just laughing alone; when you’re shocked, you’re not just gasping alone.”
The new theater has reclining, stadium seats and the ability to show 3-D and 2-D movies with the XD technology.
“We’ve got a huge, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling screen — the entire front wall is the screen, and an incredible custom sound system.
It’s the best entertainment experience we can offer in that auditorium,” Fagan said.
He said even though he’s “addicted to Blu-ray” and has a nice home theater, “I would not give up watching movies at the theater.”
Fagan also had the chance to experience the old-fashioned drive-in theater experience twice when he lived in Oklahoma.
“It was fun — I don’t think I’d want to do it at every movie,” he said.
His favorite movie is Annie Hall from 1977, with Diane Keaton and Woody Allen. When he interviews applicants for theater jobs, Fagan said, he asks them for their favorite movies.
Sometimes they ask his, and when he says Annie Hall, “inevitably I get some blank faces,” he said, sounding a little disappointed. (Take note, future applicants.)
“I fell in love with it,” he said of the film. “I’ve always felt a little bit old for my age, and I’ve just always felt attached to it.”
Rounding out his top four are American Beauty, The Shawshank Redemption and Wonder Boys.
The first movie he remembers seeing in a theater was Batman Returns in Little Rock when he was 4 or 5 years old, although the details of who took him are sketchy.
Fagan said that when he was a child, he wanted to be a lawyer, but he can’t imagine a better job than running a movie theater.
“I love being a manager,” he said. “First, the company is just incredible for taking people from the very bottom and letting them move up, and it’s almost like running your own business, but it’s still the safety and business and support from the corporate office. There’s not the pressures of someone trying to run their own business.”
Fagan’s passion for the job is well-known in the company.
“Stephen has shown great managerial skills as he’s moved up the ranks from smaller theaters to progressively larger theaters,” said Frank Gonzales, marketing manager for Cinemark. “He’s shown the capabilities to be a top-flight manager.”
And it’s more than scheduling movies and hiring kids to make popcorn.
“He works well with his employees,” Gonzales said. “He’s very judicious in his expenses and running a tight ship.”
The Conway job was a “good reward” for Fagan, Gonzales added.
And although it may not be the end of Fagan’s story, “I definitely want to be here for a while,” he said. “I don’t have any plans except to run this theater well.”