( CNN ) -- In the wake of the recent Alamo Drafthouse `` Do n't Talk '' PSA that has been blazing a viral trail on YouTube over the past 48 hours , I was asked to expand on our other operational policies at the theater . Most of them go back to 1996 , when my wife and I were first getting into the business . Despite the fact that we had zero experience in exhibition , we decided to quit our `` real '' jobs and open a movie theater . We had no desire to make movies , but we sure as heck loved to go to the cinema and watch them in the right environment . What drew us to open a theater in the first place is that we were finding a trip to the multiplex to be , more often than not , a disappointing experience . Poor projection , bad sound and , worst of all , disrespectful patrons in the cinema were slowly eroding our fun , so we conceived of the idea of opening a cinema ourselves on our own terms . We could program the movies that we loved , create unique experiences around those movies and make sure people behaved appropriately . In the first couple of months of operation , we came up with some very simple guidelines that all of our theaters still adhere to today . They were all born from our own reactions to experiences we hated and endured when we went to the movies . The insistence on these simple policies is one of the main reasons people are loyal to our cinemas today . We also serve beer , and that helps . 1 ) We do not play ads before the film . If I spend $ 9 or more to see a movie , I equate that to paying for premium cable . Paying for the movie means you get to skip the ads . If the cinema model were similar to Hulu , then sure , the ads are a means of paying for the screening of the film . The barrage of ads used to be annoying enough when they were just slides projected on the screen . Now , with full audio and video , they are insufferable and should not be tolerated . At the Alamo , instead of ads , we create customized video `` preshow '' content that is fun and entertaining and themed to the movie you are about to see . If there is ever an ad , it will be along the lines of a Japanese Charles Bronson Mandom cologne ad from the 1970s , not a PSA with fake-rock jams enticing you to join the Army . Our hope is that even if the movie you paid for is terrible , the preshow is awesome , you had an ice-cold beer and left happy . 2 ) We do not allow children under 6 . If the movie is a non-crossover kids movie , we sometimes flex this age down to 3 and up , and we also have select `` Baby Day '' screenings each week for infants and small children . If you want to take your 4-year-old to see `` The Hangover 2 '' at 10 p.m. , however , you 'll have to go somewhere else . 3 ) We do not allow unaccompanied minors . There are of lots of great , well-behaved 12-year-old individual kids , but assemble them in pods of four or more and drop them unaccompanied in a darkened theater , and they will pave a swath of destruction akin to feral hogs . We do n't allow it ever . Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian , and if they act up , they will be thrown out . 4 ) If you persist in talking or texting , we will throw you out . After the past few days , I think I 've probably articulated our policy on this topic fully . If you talk or blatantly text , we will warn you to stop . If you persist , you will be asked to leave . These policies ( with the exception of the no-ads policy ) have the same underlying rationale . When you are in a cinema , you are one of many , many people in the auditorium . When the lights go dark and the movie begins , every single movie fan in the room wants to be absorbed into and get lost in the flickering images on the screen . A light from a cellphone , a screaming baby or a disruptive teen cracking jokes all pull you out of the magic of the movies . Providing an awesome experience for true movie fans is the reason we opened the first Alamo Drafthouse back in the mid-'90s , and it is the exact same philosophy we adhere to today .
At the Alamo , instead of ads , we create customized video `` preshow '' content . Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian . The videos are then posted on our website and can only be viewed with parental consent.