Cinema Spotlight: Galaxy Theatres
- Onni Creative
- Jan 20
- 6 min read
Welcome back to the OC Cinema Spotlight! With each spotlight, we feature a cinema from across the country that continues to do incredible work to elevate the moviegoing experience + create a community in cinema. Our goal is to celebrate cinemas we admire for their work + share their stories, inspiring other cinemas to connect with them or implement similar creative approaches at their own venues.
For our latest feature, we chatted with Rosie Ramirez, Chief Marketing Officer, and Andrea Rojas, Marketing Director, at Galaxy Theatres to learn more about Galaxy’s unique company philosophy + how it shapes their approach to exhibition and community engagement.
Culture, Not a Campaign
Galaxy Theatres operates 15 locations across the western half of the United States, each with its own distinct personality and community presence. Founded on the belief that its cinemas are “More than just a Theatre,” the company has built something special: a company where corporate provides the philosophy, but locations drive the action.
CEO Frank Rimkus makes this philosophy clear on the website, stating “Being socially entrepreneurial builds strong bonds and goodwill in the communities we serve.” This isn’t just corporate speak. What I quickly learned from my conversation with Rosie and Andrea is that this sentiment runs deep throughout the company. When I asked about their program for getting general managers connected to their communities, they corrected my framing. This isn’t a one-off program or a marketing campaign. It’s a foundation in Galaxy’s culture.
“It’s something that goes beyond just a campaign or program,” Rosie explains. “We’re a movie theater, but we’re also a community conduit.”
In practice, this belief philosophy translates into autonomy for each of Galaxy’s 15 locations in how they engage with their community. Community involvement grows organically with general managers joining local chambers of commerce and rotary clubs, building relationships that feel genuine rather than mandated. Instead of just telling locations what to do, the marketing team serves as part of the support center and amplifies the work already happening on the ground.
Leadership at the Foundation
So how do 15 distinct locations maintain autonomy while staying true to a company-wide philosophy? It starts at the top.
“All of the community involvement really stems from the top, so Frank and Rafe, our CEO and COO, are very passionate about community,” Andrea explains. This passion helps set the tone + establish community engagement as a non-negotiable while leaving the “how” up to individual locations.
This is where Rosie and Andrea step in. Working in a marketing capacity, they don’t just push campaigns down to locations, instead they act as facilitators and amplifiers of the work being done on the ground. “We pretty much provide them with an outline, or almost like a toolkit,” Rosie says, describing their approach. Rather than just mandating programs from corporate, the marketing team equips general managers with resources and then amplifies the community work already happening on the ground.
The result is that ideas bubble up naturally from the cinemas themselves. “A lot of the stuff that sometimes comes from [the theaters] is exciting for me, because they’re actively thinking about ways to [get involved], and it wasn’t something that we had to prompt,” Rosie says. When a general manager at a location has a new idea for how to connect with the community, their marketing team is there to support and promote and share their successes, both highlighting the good work and hoping to inspire others to adapt it in their own way for their own community.
Leadership establishes the company values, the marketing team helps provide the support system, and the cinemas drive the community engagement.
Three Locations, Three Approaches
With this foundation in place, individual locations have the confidence to forge their own paths to community engagement. As Rosie and Andrea shared success stories from across Galaxy’s 15 locations, one thing became clear: each location has developed a distinct approach tailored to their community’s specific needs.
When I asked about locations really excelling with community work, both Rosie and Andrea jumped in. “I feel like we can probably speak on every theater. I think every theater has a success story,” Rosie said. But they started with the Tulare location, and their excitement made it clear this location was doing something special.
They explained that Tulare’s community impact focuses on education. The cinema has partnered with the local school district to create a year-round program that brings students directly into the cinema experience. This partnership started before current GM Freddie Gonzalez arrived, but Rosie and Andrea were eager to shout him out for developing the partnership further + taking it to the next level.
The partnership includes an annual anti-bullying symposium held at the cinema and opportunities for local middle and high school marketing classes to give presentations in the actual auditoriums. But the program goes deeper than one-off events. The cinema has created an internship program where high school students gain hands-on experience learning about the business side of cinema, from working concession stands to understanding projection. Students are seen as future employees, creating a pathway that provides students with practical skills + career readiness while building long-term relationships between students and the cinema.
This approach is now gaining attention beyond Tulare. “[The school district is] trying to use what has happened in Tulare as a model … in other school districts in the state,” Rosie explained.
While Tulare focuses on education, other Galaxy locations have formed entirely different community roles. At the Grandscape location in Texas, one of Galaxy’s newer cinemas, the approach centers on business-to-business networking. The Grandscape location has positioned itself as a hub for local business owners and professionals, offering a variety of helpful resources and programming.
The cinema hosts networking-focused events, from empowerment programming for entrepreneurs to more casual yoga sessions in the lobby on Saturday morning where people are more likely to strike up a conversation. Cinema rentals and private events become opportunities to build genuine relationships with local businesses. Rosie explains, “Building connections and then bigger partnerships come out of those rentals and events.”
The Tucson location takes another approach, with the focus on year-round philanthropy. The cinema has built strong relationships with organizations like the local Boys and Girls Club + organizes donation drives throughout the year. There’s even a permanent drop-off location for their year-round food drive. This location also works closely with the local school district to organize field trips.
This work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In fact, Tucson General Manager Karen Foley recently received the Heart of Vail award from the Vail School District Foundation, which is an award newly created to recognize her community impact. “She’s really created those relationships where people know that’s the place they can go to help spread some of that good,” Andrea explains.
The Magic of Community
As the new year brings its typical lull in releases, Rosie and Andrea emphasized that the commitment to community doesn’t fade during slower periods. In fact, cinemas can use this time to strengthen relationships and stay engaged. Galaxy locations participate in initiatives designed to keep locations active year-round, like Hometown Heroes, where locations spotlight local people doing great work in the community + recognize them on screen. They also have Project Pictures, a newer initiative that helps raise awareness for local organizations through themed activations at the cinema and in the community. Beyond these initiatives, locations continue to find creative ways to activate around film releases and keep moviegoers engaged.
This work brings to life Galaxy’s belief that they are “More than just a theatre.” Beyond that mission statement, Rosie and Andrea understand on a personal level why this matters. When I asked about their favorite moviegoing experiences, both recalled post-COVID moviegoing moments where they felt that the special communal moviegoing energy had returned.
For Rosie, it was with Barbie. “It felt very much like we were going to a concert. Everyone getting together, everyone wearing their pink, everyone excited to go to the theater. That whole experience really stuck because everyone was so excited about it. I hadn’t felt that in a while. I think it was the first time post-COVID that I felt that kind of energy.”
Andrea, on the other hand, was moved by Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. “It was just so cool to see everyone dressed up and the photo ops, and people going up to strangers and handing out friendship bracelets. I remember going to movies as a kid, and since COVID, it didn’t have that same magic…it has been really nice to see it come back.”
The work at Galaxy, empowering cinema locations to build authentic connections by supporting local needs + proactively finding opportunities to engage, is ultimately about preserving and amplifying that magic beyond the cinema walls. When cinemas become true community hubs, they create the space for those memorable moviegoing moments to flourish. As Galaxy’s 15 locations prove, there isn’t just one way to make it happen. The key is listening to your community and meeting it where it is.
Written By Faith Banach - Faith is the Marketing Coordinator at Onni Creative. She is passionate about building community by connecting people through what they love most. Aside from being an avid moviegoer, she's an enthusiastic hiker, seasoned road tripper, and lover of all sorts of live performances!
