One Edwards Gets Some Hands-On Experience Running Own Theater

After nearly 15 years in the corporate offices of the Edwards Theatres Circuit--and 52 years as daughter of the company patriarch--Joan Edwards Randolph says she still didn’t feel equipped to manage a theater on her own.

“I started working in the office 15 years ago as a bookkeeper,” said Randolph, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Although I had been exposed to theaters all my life, I’d never been involved in making the decisions on their operations . . . things like placing ads and finding janitors.”

What’s a theater heiress to do? Find a languishing movie house and save it, of course. And that’s just what Randolph did.

About two years ago, she joined forces with her siblings--James Edwards III, the family chain’s president, and Carole Ann Ruoff, who also works part-time in the larger family circuit--and started a theater-management company called Orange Coast Cinema.

In an effort to gain “hands-on experience,” Randolph said, the three rented an aging four-plex in Fountain Valley from Edwards Realty (yes, another family business).

After a bit of sprucing up, the Family Four opened 18 months ago and began fighting to find a niche in the lucrative Orange County movie market.

“It just seems like every day is a learning experience,” said Randolph, who is Orange Coast’s president and handles Family Four’s daily operations. “I really feel like we’ve made a comeback with the theater as far as looks and appealing to the general public.”

As a second-run house, Family Four screens pictures that have been around a while. With a ticket price of $2, it has managed to attract a following.

Financially “we’re doing fine,” Randolph said, although she will not divulge the company’s “small” first-year profit. “It’s a little bit, but it’s there,” she said.

And what does Dad have to say?

“They’re doing fine,” said James Edwards Sr., who relishes the thought of a little more competition. “It would be stimulating if they were (competing with the family chain). Everyone else is. Why not them, too?”