Movie Theaters: Parkway Oakland founders start new business

The Oakland Parkway Theater closure and restoration issue hasn't been in the main news cycle for a few weeks now, but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on. Catherine and Kyle Fisher, the now former owners of both the Parkway and Cerrito Theaters have done a lot of soul searching in the wake of their loss of both facilities and the controversy that followed.

When I interviewed them earlier this year they were at a cross-road in their life and it came out in our talk. Oh, and if you missed that talk, it's here below and it's a good idea to take a look at the video then read what their next move's going to be, which is presented in the email below the video.



Here's the email from Catherine and Kyle on their new venture:

Catherine and I have had our walk on the beach. We've licked our figurative wounds and are ready to start the next chapter in our lives for better or for worse. We're sharing this with you, our wonderful former patrons because our next endeavor concerns some of you.

Over our 13 years at Speakeasy Theaters many people approached us for information on how to start a business like Speakeasy Theaters that spoke as much to the needs of the community and the lifestyle of the operators as to earning a living. When asked, we gave the best answer we could under the circumstances of the encounter, but I fear that given our time constraints our responses were mostly inadequate. We would like to answer this question in the appropriate detail. What we also determined on our walk was that one of the things that we enjoyed most about operating Speakeasy Theaters was working with and nurturing the often fledgling independent contractors who held events at the Parkway, helping them bring their ideas into focus and executing them as well as they could.

To this end, Catherine and I developed Wild Card Circle. Wild Card Circle is several things each of which are intended to help entrepreneurs develop community responsive businesses that in turn allow the developer to live a lifestyle that is rewarding mentally, spiritually and hopefully financially. One of the main components of Wild Card Circle are workshops designed to help the individual find their inner entrepreneur and show him/her how to express it. If any of this seems remotely interesting to you, you can find out more about it at WildCardCircle.com or contact us at Kyle or Catherine @WildCardCircle.com, otherwise this is us signing off from your lives and wishing you well and thanking you for your years of support.

I wish them the best of luck. Regardless of the outcome of the theaters or how you may feel about them, they did give the Oakland and El Cerrito communities fun places that helped to define the East Bay's unique culture.