Meet Adam Roberts of Screenland Armour Theatre

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Roberts

Hi Adam, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My self-employment journey began (unknowingly) at the ripe age of 15 when I was full tilt on becoming a filmmaker, learning everything I could and pulling friends and family into making movies with me. I didn’t know then but making movies, specifically directing, would be akin to operating my own business. Flash forward to me at 25 years old and I was working back-to-back corporate jobs that drained me and turned me into a soulless zombie.

I had been hosting weekly trivia at a really cool independent movie theatre, Screenland Armour, and eventually, this led to an opportunity to take over the operations of the theatre. I pulled in (tricked?) my brother-in-law, Brent Miller, and a couple of dumb 20-somethings who had never worked at a movie theatre before, were now running the show.

With absolutely no business knowledge I had to hit the ground (and Google) hard to learn what the actual hell I was supposed to be doing. I sort of “faked it til I made it” but led with a ton of passion for what I was doing. Days turned into weeks into years and we began to find ourselves with another opportunity to build another movie theatre. So, we constructed Kansas City’s first arcade bar, Tapcade in 2015. We also had no idea what we were doing then. But we did it. We opened to great success and for the next few years continued to manage multiple businesses along with other side projects (shout out to the haunted experience we had!) but it was always about Screenland and the movies.

I continued to learn more about what I wanted the business to be and how to connect with our audience and then the economic apocalypse that was COVID hit in 2020. It sent us back to the drawing board and like the first months in business, we were in survival mode. I became incredibly invested in national small business forms, became an elected official and navigated the waters the best as I could. During that time we shuttered Tapcade for the benefit of our OG baby, Screenland Armour.

Those years were a whirlwind of online events, backyard movies, snacks to go, private rentals and just about anything else we could make a buck doing. But really, we were saved by our community of cinephiles.

Flash forward to 2024, and we have had back-to-back record-breaking years, we’ve purchased our building and have continued to improve our experience with upgrades to food/beverage, seating, and projection.

Never in my lifetime at the age of 15 or 24 years old would I have thought I would be a business owner, certainly not a movie theatre owner but as Ian Malcolm once said, “Life Finds A Way”.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Anyone who owns a small business and says it’s been “easy” or “smooth” probably have a benefit of a large pocketbook to bail them out at every corner. Every day is filled with anxieties of failure alongside successes. Early on we would reinvest in ourselves (because we had no bank to believe in us and no rich family or backer to save us) so we took very little money to make the business the best it could be. Living on the bare minimum for years was certainly an interesting way to live as a business owner BUT had we taken arbitrary payroll we would not be here. It was always about making the most of it and having a business we were proud of.

It took a long time to get there but those re-investments and expansions put us in many tight spots that almost sunk our battleship. It honestly never felt like we wouldn’t be hanging on a thread but eventually with all the dedication and passion, we did find our way. I attribute that to really loving the nature of my business and not wanting to half-ass anything.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Screenland Armour is Kansas City’s locally owned independent theatre that is the longest-running theatre in the Kansas City area, originally opened in 1928 as the Armour Theatre. Today, we show mainstream, independent, international and classic cinema every day of the week. We pride ourselves on our dynamic programming along with our unique food and drinks. In our back alley basement, we have Rewind Video and Dive a 90s-centric dive that’ll take you back to the late 90s filled with classic TVs, consoles and even a video store.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
We show all types of films, every day of the week. We are not just focused on the number one blockbuster but a diverse mix of cinema. This kind of approach allows us to really navigate our community and build upon it in an authentic way that most people aren’t used to having in their movie theatre.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.screenland.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/armourtheater/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/armourtheatre/