(a) (1) The department may issue a special on-sale general license to any nonprofit theater company, nonprofit radio broadcasting company, or nonprofit cultural film exhibition company that is exempt from the payment of income taxes under Section 23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. Any special on-sale general license issued to a nonprofit theater company, nonprofit radio broadcasting company, or nonprofit cultural film exhibition company pursuant to this subdivision shall be for a single specified premises only.

(2) Theater companies or nonprofit radio broadcasting companies holding a license under this subdivision may, subject to Section 25631, sell and serve alcoholic beverages to ticketholders only during, and two hours before and one hour after, a bona fide performance.

(3) (A) Nonprofit cultural film exhibition companies holding a license under this subdivision may, subject to Section 25631, sell and serve alcoholic beverages to ticketholders only during, and two hours before and one hour after, a bona fide film exhibition of the company.

(B) For purposes of this subdivision, “nonprofit cultural film exhibition company” means a company that predominantly exhibits classic, foreign, independent, or rare movies by means of digital or film projection equipment for its members or the general public, or both, in a theater with a seating capacity of at least 100 seats, at least three days per week.

(4) Notwithstanding any other provision in this division, a licensed manufacturer, winegrower, manufacturer’s agent, California winegrower’s agent, rectifier, distiller, bottler, importer, or wholesaler, or any officer, director, employee, or agent of that person, may serve on the board of trustees or as an officer, director, or employee of a nonprofit theater company or nonprofit radio broadcasting company operating a venue in the County of Napa, the City of Livermore, the City of Modesto, or the City of Sacramento, licensed pursuant to this subdivision.

(5) A nonprofit radio broadcasting company and a nonprofit cultural film exhibition company shall be subject to the same application fee for a new permanent license and applicable annual fee as a nonprofit theater company, as provided in Section 23320, which may be adjusted pursuant to subdivisions (d) and (e) of Section 23320.

(6) The Legislature finds that it is necessary and proper to require a separation between manufacturing interests, wholesale interests, and retail interests in the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages in order to prevent suppliers from dominating local markets through vertical integration and to prevent excessive sales of alcoholic beverages produced by overly aggressive marketing techniques. The Legislature further finds that the exceptions established by this subdivision to the general prohibition against tied interests must be limited to their express terms so as not to undermine the general prohibition, and intends that this section be construed accordingly.

(b) (1) The department may issue a special on-sale beer and wine license to any nonprofit theater company that has been in existence for at least eight years, that for at least six years has performed in facilities leased or rented from a local county fair association, and that is exempt from the payment of income taxes under Section 23701d of the Revenue and Taxation Code and Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States.

(2) Theater companies holding a license under this subdivision may, subject to Section 25631, sell and serve beer and wine to ticketholders only during, and two hours before, a bona fide theater performance of the company. Beer and wine may be sold from an open-air concession stand that is not attached to the theater building itself, if the concession stand is located on fair association property within 30 feet of the theater building and the alcoholic beverages sold are consumed only in the theater building itself, or within a designated outdoor area in front of and between the concession stand and the main public entrance to the theater building. This section does not authorize a theater company to sell beer or wine during the run of a county fair.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 732, Sec. 2.5. (SB 1370) Effective January 1, 2023.)