Boxoffice-July.1997

International Exhibition Profile
I
BIG IN JAPAN
Tlie Opening of Kobe's MOVIX Rokko Kicics Off
Cinemark's Pact With Shochiku by Christine James
As
American exhibitors expand
their companies further
and further across the globe,
they're finding there's one thing all
their stateside
success and experience
can't assuage: culture shock.
There wiU always remain unknown
elements in any foreign marketplace
a given company ventures into. And
those variables could decide the success
or failure of an enterprise.
Take real estate. Where are the
best locations? Where do the local
people congregate? What's a fair
price to pay? And business. Which
companies are reputable? Who produces
the best-quaUty products ? And
aesthetics. What architecture, environments,
styles and colors appeal to
this population? Even food. Will
salted popcorn go over here, or is
pickled squid the cinematic delicacy
of this particular region?
The answer, most circuits have
found, is to team up with a strategic
partner that has the contacts and
I
knows the ins and outs. That's what
Cinemark International, Cinemark's transcontinentally-focused
subsidiary, decided to
do when the company set its sights on Japan.
Cinemark International's president, Tim
Warner, ultimately chose Shochiku, a 103-
year-old entertainment company that's the
lai^gest in Japan. And one of its holdings is
Shochiku Multiplex Theatres, the second largest
exhibition company in Japan. Under the
pact, Shochiku Cinemaric Thea&es (SCT) plans
to build 100 screens in J^an by the year 2000.
"I knew [Shochiku president and CEO]
Toru Okuyama for a number of years through
my involvement with NATO/ShoWest, and
was aware of both the quality and status of his
company in Japan," says Wamer, who resigned
fk)m his position as general chairman
of NATO/ShoWest last year to join Cinemark.
"And I suggested to him when I took my
current position as the president of Cinemark
International that he might want to consider
doing a joint venture."
Wamer points out that while their competitors
in Japan—AMC, UCI (a partnership between
Paramount and Universal), and Time
Warner-owned Wamer International—have
LIKE TO MOVIX: The exterior of the complex in which Shochiku Cinemarii Theatres' MOVtX Rokko is housed.
local joint venture partners, they're not with
companies in the entertainment or exhibition
business. "I think the advantage for us
is having a joint venture partner that is in
day-to-day exhibition," he notes. "They have
excellent knowledge and relationships in the
marketplace, and I think it will enable us to
build our circuit much faster than the other
competing circuits."
"There's nothing like having someone that
knows the market well, and they do," says
Cinemark's director ofcorporate development
Randy Hester. "It's a unique market, it's a huge
market. And it's always advantageous to have
someone that knows it."
Of course, Cinemark brings something to
the table too. "We bring our knowledge ofboth
the domestic and international marketplace,
technology, and experti.se," says Wamer, who
adds that SCT management will be trained in
Dallas, where Cinemark is based.
"We've got some experience that they don't
have," comments Hester. "We've grown our
company from a pretty small regional operation
to a nationwide and intemational company.
And we've got some unique ideas about
theatre design and about operations and customer
service that they saw and they liked."
Shochiku and Cinemark together have 53
percent interest in SCT (meaning each has 26.5
percent). The remaining 47 percent is held by
"large, prominent Japanese corporations,
which will also assist to move the development
forward," according to Wamer.
Rather than use the cumbersome company
name of Shochiku Cinemark Theatres, the
theatres themselves will be called MOVIX.
"Shochiku has had that name for their drive-in
theatres, so the name has been in Japan, linked
with the exhibition business, for a number of
years," says Wamer.
MOVIX intends to provide Japan's theatregoers
with the state-of-the-art multiplexes
that are so prevalent in America. The first
theatre under Cinemark and Shochiku's partnership
was the seven-plex MOVIX Rokko in
Kobe, which opened its doors March 20. "It's
been doing very well, and it was extremely
well-received by the community. Business has
been very, very good," says Wamer.
"The theatre is built in a spectacular new
mall development on Rokko Fashion Island,"