Boxoffice-October.03.1966

NATO CONVENTION
ALL-INDUSTRY UNITY STRESSED
AS GOAL IN NATO SESSIONS
More Than 2.000 Delegates
Hear Concrete Ideas
For Industry Health
NEW >ORK—The first annual convention
of the National Ass'n of Theatre Owners
since fornialion of the organization.
some ten months ago. through the merging
of Theatre Owners of America and Allied
States Ass'n, concluded at the Americana
Hotel here .Saturday (1) on a note of high
optimism unprecedented in motion picture
exhihition for many years. The delegates to
the convention, expressing the unity of exhihition.
also were treated to evidences of
new efforts toward unity with production
and distribution.
Two Major Actions Cited
Foremost among the actions of the weeklong
convention were the approval of the
new Motion Picture Production Code by
the NATO board, and the call by both incoming
president Sherrill C. Corwin and his
predecessor Marshall H. Fine for the establishment
of National Movie Month as an
annual October industry event.
There was no official tabulation of registrants
as this issue of Boxof l ici. went to
press, but it was reliably reported that, as of
Wednesday evening, the number in attendance
had passed the 2,000 mark and
there were three days to go.
From the opening gun of Wednesday
morning, when Laurence A. Tisch. general
convention chairman, gave his welcoming
address, each scheduled event came off with
clockwork precision.
Major speeches of the conventii>n brought
forth concrete suggestions for the betterment
of individual theatre business and for
increased product supply. Notable was the
suggestion by Stuart H. Aarons. chairman ol
the NATO legal affairs conmiittee, that exhibition
invest in film company stock or
consider the outright merger with film production
companies. In the various participation
sessions held Thursday, delegates heard
reconiinendalions for the establishment of
community-college theatre management
training curricula and were given a five-point
program designed to insure the continuance
of children's weekend matine shows.
Consider Problem.s Also
Although optimisni was high among delegates
and officers alike, the problems of exhibition
also came in for much attention.
Lack of governmental action in the areas
of blind bidding and unfair trade practices
was decried by Marshall Fine and other
speakers, and renewed vigilance among exhibitors—as
well as concerted effort aimed
at forcing government action on pay television—was
urged by Philip J. Harling,
chairman of the Joint Committee Against
Pay TV.
NATO Board Approves Revised Code
M W \