Harold Blank
Harold Blank is an American movie theatre owner. His company HLB Entertainment owns and operates two cinemas in Burlington, Vermont, the Majestic 10 and Palace 9.
Blank has been a partner of The Vermont International Film Festival (VTIFF) since 2008. He currently serves as the Festival Programmer and his Palace 9 Cinema hosted the 2009 Festival . In 2009, Blank initiated the first VTIFF Person of Year Award presented to a Vermont resident who is committed to excellence in the motion picture industry--honoring Luis Guzmán and he is responsible for diversifying the festival from its environmental and human rights roots.
Blank started his career in the entertainment industry in the late 1960s while attending college at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He provided psychedelic light shows for bands like Jimi Hendrix and Cream (band) at club a called The Factory in Madison Wisconsin. After graduation he started working in a movie theatre and worked his way up to managing theaters, becoming a film buyer to eventually owning cinemas in Boston in the late 1970's and 1980's.