The story of the Consolidated Theatres projectionist who fell in love with the ticket taker might be the most endearing romantic comedy of the summer. It is playing on every Consolidated location before every show. If you go to see “X-Men” or “Captain America” or “Batman v Superman,” be prepared to meet Daryl and Vai first and perhaps get a little misty by their tale.

It’s all true. Daryl started as a projectionist at the Consolidated Ward Cineplex when it first opened in 2001. The first movie shown was the blockbuster “Pearl Harbor,” and he remembers the doors opening to the excited public while contractors were still bolting down the seats in some of the theaters.

He says this on camera. It’s one of the candid, unguarded moments that makes this promotional video for Consolidated feel not like self-promotion. Daryl also admits that being a projectionist, up alone in the dark in that little room making sure the reels are running as they should, can get pretty lonely.

Then there’s Vai. She starts by saying that people started calling her Auntie from her first day of working at Consolidated. She clearly has that Auntie vibe — she seems like the kind of woman who could tell you the bald truth without making it hurt too much. Vai worked as a service associate at Consolidated Ward theaters — a job title that means everything from scooping popcorn at the concession stand to greeting people at the door to walking through a darkened theater with a flashlight asking whether those two middle seats are taken.

Like the best-loved screen romances, Daryl and Vai meet by divine accident, and they don’t exactly hit it off right away. In fact, Vai admits — on camera! — that she initially thought Daryl was a “skeeze bag.”

“None of it was scripted at all,” said Lindsey Chun-Hori, director of marketing for Consolidated Theatres. “It was such a genuine moment that’s surprising and real. This is how she initially told me the story, and when we asked her to tell us how they met again, she tells it the exact same way with a smile on her face.”

Brian Watanabe from 26 Keys Creative directed the piece, which was shot and edited by Anthony Vallejo- Sanderson. Chun-Hori interviewed Daryl and Vai separately and then together, and the piece was put together journalism-style from their quotes. Daryl and Vai’s story is the first of a series Consolidated is putting together in celebration of its 100th anniversary in Hawaii next year. They’re looking for others willing to share their movie theater memories.

The shoot took place back on a Saturday morning in May in the hours before the theaters opened. The result is a one-minute, 53-second movie with charming main characters, an unlikely romance, a couple of plot twists and a most satisfying resolution. Not to spoil it or anything, but suffice it to say that Vai decided that Daryl is definitely not a skeeze bag.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.