Jeff Brown Leaves Partnership

by Danny Wade
A Humboldt businessman had his final curtain call when 2010 came to a close. Jeff Brown, a business partner with Michael Longmire and Jason Tubbs, is leaving ReelTime Entertainment, owners of Humboldt Plaza 3 movie theater.
“This was my sole decision to leave and has nothing to do with Mike or Jason,” Brown said last week. “I’m having to deal with some family health issues plus my work with my church.”
In January 2007, the three friends formed ReelTime Entertainment and purchased the movie theater. They rolled up their sleeves and did major renovations to the Plaza including renovating the lobby and totally renovating the upstairs No. 3 theater with a new sound system, seats and curtains. They also upgraded the lower two theaters and added new items to the concessions.
“We revitalized a downtown business,” Tubbs noted. “That was important to us and something all three of us are proud of.”
“Jeff had something weighing on his heart and we talked before Christmas,” Longmire said. “We got everything worked out and resolved. We relinquished him from the partnership.”
But the three stress it was a mutual agreement and there was no “falling out” or other reasons for Brown leaving the business. In fact, Brown will stay on in some capacity as an advisor, promoter and even fill in when Tubbs or Longmire are away. Longmire joked and called Brown an ex-officio.
Brown’s leaving the business will in no way change the way the theater is operated other than patrons not seeing his smiling face every third weekend. In the past, the three would rotate weekends and split up the fourth, each working one day.
“We always have an owners’ presence,” Tubbs explained.
“We want to keep in touch with our customers,” Longmire added.
“That interaction is vital,” Brown noted.
The day-to-day operations will change a bit with Brown’s leaving but Tubbs and Longmire praised their staff and emphasized the theater will still have the exact same friendly service the customers have grown to know.
“We have nine good employees,” Longmire said. “Manager Teresa Reece, she keeps this place going.”
The three admit that there were many naysayers when they decided to start their business. They knew going in that many times friends and business do not mix.
“It’s hard when friends work together,” Brown said. “But we’ve hashed out problems or issues, and then gone out to lunch together. That stems back to our friendship.”
This is apparent by life outside of the movie theater. They formed a barbecue cooking team called ReelTime Cookers. They get together and cook three or four times a year. They sponsored the Strawberry Festival Barbecue Cookoff for the past several years.
“We want the community to know this is not a blow-up,” Longmire said. “No one is being fired. There is no ill will.”
“We respect his decision,” Tubbs added. “The door is open for him to come back.”
 “We were friends long before the business. We’ll be friends long after we walk out the doors,” Brown said. “Our friendship bond is stronger than ever.”