Johnny Brenden, Owner, President and CEO, Brenden Theatre Corporation

"My father died when I was young," recalls 40-year-old Johnny Brenden, owner, president, and CEO of the Brenden Theatre Corporation. "I grew up working for my grandfather, and living with my grandfather, when I wasn’t in school."





Brenden’s grandfather was legendary movie theater pioneer Ted Mann, who built and operated the widely successful Mann Theatre Corporation. Mann, a self-made, humble and hard- working visionary, taught Johnny the business beginning in his early teens. Johnny mastered it all, from popcorn maker, usher and cashier to later film buying and theater operations.

In 1990, Brenden opened his very own movie theater in Pittsburgh, California, with eight screens. Since then, he’s expanded to Vacaville and Modesto, California, and recently to Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada, where he now operates a total of 86 screens.

"I met George Maloof in about 1995, and they wanted to put some theaters in their new hotel/casino, The Palms in Las Vegas. So we made a deal, and we had a lease signed within three months. It was pretty awesome, when George and I met, we just hit it off."

Today, the Brenden Theatres, located within The Palms Hotel and Casino property, highlights 14 of the most luxurious screens of movie magic, including a new 3-D, large format IMAX theater. All theaters feature stadium seating for the best sight lines, luxury rocker highback seats with lift-up armrests and cup holders, and wall-to-wall curved screens.

Brenden Theatres also became host to the CineVegas film festival, where independent films, including Stuey, the story of Stu "The Kid" Unger, three-time World Poker Champ, were first previewed to capacity crowds.

"Early on, my grandfather instilled in me honesty and integrity. He built up a solid reputation for himself through a lot of hard work. He also taught me to give back to the community."

In all of the communities the Brenden Theatres service, they work with the local non-profits and foundations such as The Boys and Girls Clubs and The Make A Wish Foundation. They set up screenings at the theaters for them. Brenden meets with the children and hears a lot of, "Hey, you’re Brenden, I thought you would be a lot older." It teaches them anything is possible.

Brenden lives at the ultra-luxurious Turnberry Place. Francisco Behr, de-signer of his theaters, helped work his magic for Brenden’s 3,400-square-foot gold, silver and bronze chrome palace in the sky. From the 700-gallon aquarium to the flat-screen televisions to the Versace bedspreads, Brenden’s pad is something that could be featured in a hip Hollywood movie. He also stays in top physical shape with his disciplined workouts at The Stirling Club, the $40 million, 80,000 square-foot private club at Turnberry.

"In addition to The Palms Ghostbar, and Rain, I enjoy all the great Las Vegas concert options. I just saw Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Elton John and Gloria Estefan. I love ‘O’ and ‘Mystere,’ and some of my favorite restaurants in Vegas are Piero’s, Le Cirque at Bellagio, and at the Four Seasons, where I lived for awhile."

The most recent Las Vegas Review-Journal Readers Poll named Brenden Theatres "Best Movie Theater." So, the next time you need to cool off in the hot desert and want to escape with some top movie magic in an air-conditioned, ultra state-of-the-art theater, Brenden Theatres within The Palms makes one cool combination.

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