Christopher Nolan isn’t just a director of major motion pictures like The Dark Knight, Inception, and Interstellar. He’s also a passionate cinephile like a lot of you, and right now he’s worried about what the future of movie theaters will look like when the coronavirus pandemic has run its course. That’s why he’s written a passionate essay to studios, the government and moviegoers like you to do whatever you can to support movie theaters during and especially after these hard times.

The Washington Post has Christopher Nolan’s movie theater essay where he reminds people that movies aren’t just about celebrities and all the glitz and glamour you see on television. Nolan wrote:

“When people think about movies, their minds first go to the stars, the studios, the glamour. But the movie business is about everybody: the people working the concession stands, running the equipment, taking tickets, booking movies, selling advertising and cleaning bathrooms in local theaters. Regular people, many paid hourly wages rather than a salary, earn a living running the most affordable and democratic of our community gathering places.”

Nolan aims to remind people that the film industry is one of the many types of companies that have closed their doors during this difficult time, knowing full well that it will damage their business. The filmmaker continued:

“Our nation’s incredible network of movie theaters is one of these industries, and as Congress considers applications for assistance from all sorts of affected businesses, I hope that people are seeing our exhibition community for what it really is: a vital part of social life, providing jobs for many and entertainment for all. These are places of joyful mingling where workers serve up stories and treats to the crowds that come to enjoy an evening out with friends and family. As a filmmaker, my work can never be complete without those workers and the audiences they welcome.”

But this isn’t just about Nolan’s work being seen on a big screen. It’s about community and ensuring that movie theater workers who need assistance during economic hardship will get it, whether it’s from the government or maybe even from studios who will also need theaters to help make back the millions they’re losing right now. Nolan added:

“In uncertain times, there is no more comforting thought than that we’re all in this together, something the moviegoing experience has been reinforcing for generations. In addition to the help theater employees need from the government, the theatrical exhibition community needs strategic and forward-thinking partnership from the studios.”

Nolan believes people will be more than ready to return to movie theaters when this coronavirus pandemic is finished, as he wrote:

“When this crisis passes, the need for collective human engagement, the need to live and love and laugh and cry together,will be more powerful than ever.”

Between Nolan’s plea and Edgar Wright’s passionate essay for support for our favorite cinemas, I hope people realize how important movie theaters are and that the government gives them and their employees the support they need in order to stay afloat and bring magic back to the movies after this pandemic is over.

Head over to The Washington Post to read the entire essay from Christopher Nolan.