In 1979. Drabinsky and a close friend, Myron Gottlieb, decided to enter the show business world via the "back door. " The two young entrepreneurs persuaded a prominent Toronto businessman to invest nearly $1 million in a "cinema complex" project they had conceived. This project involved converting the basement of a large shopping mall into a multiscreen theater. The design for the "cineplex" included plush in teriors for each theatre, luxurious seats, and cappuccino bars in the lobby. Drabinsky intended to make a trip to the local movie theater the captivating experience it had been several decades earlier in the halcyon days of Hollywood.