Henry A. Barrios / The Bakersfield Californian via AP
In this May 17, 2018 photo, Victoria Sharp works at the food concession at the Maya Cinemas Theater in Delano, Calif. Moctesuma Esparza, a well-known Latino movie producer, will open a similar theater in North Las Vegas.
Friday, Sept. 21, 2018 | 2 a.m.
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As a student activist in the 1960s, Moctesuma Esparza fought for a better quality of life for the disadvantaged residents of East Los Angeles.
As a successful businessman today, social activism and community service remain at the heart of his mission.
Esparza is the founder and CEO of Maya Cinemas, a California-based chain that is expanding into North Las Vegas with a $75 million, 14-screen theater scheduled to open in December.
Maya isn’t like other cinema companies. It operates in what Esparza calls “entertainment deserts,” places where residents have to drive miles to catch a movie. These places tend to have high populations of Hispanic residents and other minorities, whom Esparza is delighted to serve along with white audiences.
What’s more, Maya’s properties are top-of-the-line in quality, offering such features as 70-foot-wide screens, lounge seating with footrests and wraparound audio technology. So not only do nearby residents get a new theater option, they get one that’s as good as, if not better than, those in more affluent areas.
So it’s fantastic to see Maya’s theater in North Las Vegas taking shape, not just because it will provide a new entertainment source to underserved residents but because it brings Esparza into the Las Vegas business community.
Esparza is a renowned figure in American activism, first making his mark in 1968 as a lead organizer of a series of student walkouts at seven East Los Angeles high schools. Some 22,000 students would take part in the protests, demanding equal education for the largely Hispanic communities served by the schools.
At the time, East LA’s grossly underfunded schools were suffering astronomic dropout rates and sending just 2 percent of their Hispanic students to college. Students faced corporal punishment for speaking Spanish in class and were routinely forced to do janitorial work for disciplinary infractions.
The walkouts spurred reforms in the LA school district and helped spark social activism among Hispanics nationwide, but Esparza paid a price. He was indicted on charges that carried a life sentence, and spent two years fighting in court to maintain his freedom.
Esparza has been involved in creating opportunities for Latinos ever since, becoming a Hollywood film producer with such movies as “Selena” and “The Milagro Beanfield War” among his credits.
In 2003, he launched Maya Cinemas in Salinas, Calif. Since then, he’s opened four other cinemas in California, each in underserved areas.
Corporate citizenship is a foundational element of his business model. Maya operates a scholarship program at each of its sites, with the company matching up to $10,000 in audience donations and finding corporate partners to match anything upward of that amount. It holds discounted events for veterans, special-needs families and others.
Esparza also says his ticket prices are lower than those of industry giants, which has helped the company compete with — and often beat — other operators.
What makes this possible, he says, is that Maya builds and owns its theaters, while the major chains rent structures that are built-to-suit by private companies. Maya’s model allows it to operate without as much overhead as the chains.
Furthermore, the company’s financial structure allows it to locate in underserved areas. Esparza launched Maya after selling another company and investing the profits, and he’s since attracted investors based on the company’s success. So while banks are often reluctant to finance projects in the areas that Maya serves, Esparza has the equity to get construction loans.
For North Las Vegas, where the cinema is going up across from City Hall, the project is not only a welcome addition but could draw other long-overdue development to the city’s core.
But the entire valley benefits from having Esparza become part of the business and advocacy community.
He’s already involved in community service, as he demonstrated this week at North Las Vegas City Hall by hosting a screening of the 2006 HBO film “Walkout” about the 1968 protests. The event was part of National Hispanic Heritage Month.
So Maya promises to be a good fit for Las Vegas, where local businesses have a long and proud history of philanthropic giving and community support.
“I think I do better by doing well — that in doing good in the community, people notice and they appreciate it,” Esparza said during a recent interview. “If people have a good experience and are respected, they go where they feel good. And that’s our goal: For everyone, no matter what their background, to have a good experience.”
