Close Focus jMPANY: Cinemark Intl., Piano, Texas Is it true that AOL tried to hire you for $130 billion, but you said no and they had to settle for Time Warner? An "e" at the end of my first name, and it'd be merger city. Ironically, it's the "e" in the AOL-TW merger that is making all the difference in that deal, and in our industry as well. "E-business" is revolutionizing exhibition, and will continue to do so in the coming years. From purchasing to presentation, the efficiencies and quality that new technologies and the internet bring to our companies are dynamic. As an industry, we must embrace this revolution to enhance vitality and continue to provide the best quality for our customers. We have a fast-moving, challenging and exciting "e-road" ahead of us. It is very important that we make the right decisions. I've spent many a March in Las Vegas, seven as chairman of ShoWest. iat one exact place in Las Vegas is your favorite place to be? .e've all found that the main elevators in Bally's or the Coke display the trade show are key crossroads of the exhibition world. In past years, one need only wait a few moments at either site for a chance meeting with longtime friends and to meet people from all over the world who drive our industry's success. Certainly, we are all exr" that "Paris" has become a new crossroad of our industry. What is your favorite least essential item in your office? The clock. When you operate on several continents, an accurati is meaningless. It is always time for a movie somewhere. Fox's Tom Sherak calls you "determined, accommodating, tenat good-willed, even-tempered." What might be one adjective he left Out of generosity, I suspect that Tom omitted "stubborn." I've learned great deal from Tom Sherak, especially the importance of working together and seeing our business as one industry. Which one do you use most frequently: PC, pen, email, or phone? E-Mail. It is the most ubiquitous example of how e-business is enhancing our ability to conduct international business. If elves were at work in exhibition, what might their best midnight mat They would bring sanity back to exhibition and stop the overdevelopment of the marketplace. Exhibition and distribution would work together to solve our common problems, focusing on our customers and expanding the marketplace. In your experience, has Lee Roy ever said anything other than exactly what he means? If you spend time with Lee Roy [Mitchell, chairman and CEO of Cinemark USA], you notice right away that he doesn't talk a lot. He listens. And listens. And listens. And, when he does speak, his words are carefully chosen, often woven into an anecdote or an insight that is right on point. Lee Roy is one of the great innovators and visionaries of our business. It has been a honor to work with him and to carry out his vision of building one of the premier global exhibition companies. Of your exhibition beginnings— a lobby page boy at the age of 9 at a Fox-lntermountain theatre in Butte, Montana—you recently recalled, "I used to sweep up the lobby after the people came in." How would you describe, these 47 years later, what you do now? Now, I am a builder. First, of dreams. Then, of management teams and staffs who make those dreams a reality. Tim Warner will be honored as International Exhibitor of the Year at this month's ShoWest 2000. See our April 1996 issue profile for a look back on Warner's life and times—and keep an eye out lor our upcoming ShoWest Intro 2000 publication, where our cover story on Warner provides a look forward.
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