Film Journal March 2018

position of chief product
officer for Vista Group, and
will continue in his role as
an executive director on
the Vista Group board. The
change is part of a succession
planning process.
Riley joined Vista Group
four years ago, with the past
two years as CEO of Vista
Entertainment Solutions
(VES), which is responsible
for the largest proportion
of the Group’s revenue.
Under his leadership, VES
has grown its global footprint
by an additional 20 markets,
extending its reach to more
than 80 countries.
CINEMACON TO SALUTE
FOX’S KURT RIEDER
Kurt Rieder, executive
VP, Asia-Pacific, at Twentieth
Century Fox International,
will receive this year’s
CinemaCon “Passepartout
Award,” presented annually
to an industry executive who
demonstrates dedication
and commitment to the
international marketplace.
Rieder will be presented with
the honor at CinemaCon’s
International Day Luncheon
on April 23 in Las Vegas.
Based in Singapore,
Rieder joined Fox last June.
He most recently served
as CEO of Mars Cinema
Group, the leading exhibitor
in Turkey. Supported
by a 1,600-person team
controlling over 750 screens
in 32 provinces, he helped his
investors sell Mars to CGV
in 2016.
In 2003, Rieder joined
United International Pictures
as a VP, rising to senior VP.
In 2009, he was named
managing director of Artisan
Gateway, Asia’s leading filmconsulting
firm. He served
as CEO of leading cinema
circuit Golden Village starting
in 2011 before joining Mars
in 2013.
LOREN NIELSEN
JOINS XPERI CORP.
H. Loren Nielsen joined
Xperi Corporation as VP,
content relations and strategy.
Nielsen will serve as
the studio liaison for DTS:X
object-based immersive sound
technology from DTS, a wholly
owned subsidiary of Xperi.
Nielsen will lead the effort,
in collaboration with
content owners, to identify
movie titles that would benefit
from a release in DTS:X
format. She will also engage
with content creators to
develop a comprehensive approach
to their workflow and
distribution needs utilizing
DTS technologies and tools.
Nielsen was cofounder
and president of
Entertainment Technology
Consultants (ETC).
ECA CELEBRATES
BOX-OFFICE EARNERS
The Event Cinema
Association’s fifth-annual
conference was held in
London on Feb. 7 at the Vue
West End in Leicester Square,
capped by the ECA Box
Office Awards.
“The criteria are
simple,” said Melissa Cogavin,
managing director of the
ECA. “Box Office Awards
are open to ECA distributor
members. 100,000 admissions
wins a bronze medal, 250,000
admissions is a silver award
and 500,000 admissions is a
gold award.”
The winners this year
demonstrate the true
international nature of the
event cinema industry, with
medals going to distributors
Exhibition on Screen and
the Royal Opera House in
the U.K., Nexo from Italy,
Pathé Live from France,
Piece of Magic Entertainment
from the Netherlands, and
a multitude of awards to
Fathom Events in the USA,
including the gold award for
Pokémon The Movie—I Choose
You! U.K. newcomer Trafalgar
Releasing earned a silver
award for “Dave Gilmour
Live in Pompeii,” a music
concert attended by nearly
400,000 fans in cinemas
worldwide. A silver award
also went to Piece of Magic
Entertainment’s “Andre Rieu
Maastricht Concert 2017.”
SCREENVISION SELECTS
HEGARTY ACE JURORS
Screenvision Media
announced the seven
jurors for the Hegarty ACE
(Advertising in Cinema
Excellence) Awards. The
awards celebrate the most
creative campaigns running
in cinema, and will consider
advertisements or content
that launched through
Screenvision Media’s “Front +
Center” cinema program.
The panel of jurors will
be led by Sir John Hegarty,
creative chair in residence
at Screenvision Media,
and will consist of Colleen
DeCourcy, chief creative
officer at Wieden+Kennedy;
Corinna Falusi, CCO and
partner at Mother; David
Droga, creative chairman and
founder at Droga5; David
Lubars, chairman and chief
creative officer at BBDO; and
Scott Donaton, chief content
officer at Digitas.
The grand winner will be
awarded the Hegarty ACE
Award, along with $1 million
in media consideration in
Screenvision Media’s “Front +
Center” cinema program, for
any pro-bono or charitable
causes for June 2018 to June
2019. The winner will be
announced in Cannes in June
2018.
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE
NAMES COHEN CHAIR
Charles S. Cohen,
president and chief executive
of the Cohen Brothers
Realty Corporation, Cohen
Media Group and Cohen Film
Collection, has been named
the new chairman of the
board of New York’s French
Institute Alliance Française
(FIAF). Cohen’s appointment
follows the unexpected death
in December of Robert G.
Wilmers, chairman of FIAF’s
board since 2011.
A prominent real estate
developer and owner, Cohen,
through Cohen Media Group,
has bought and restored
several historic cinemas,
including the Quad Cinema
in Greenwich Village and
the Larchmont Playhouse in
Westchester County. Most
recently, he acquired and will
restore the famed La Pagode
cinema located in the seventh
arrondissement in Paris.
Cohen is the largest
distributor of French films
in North America, and has
produced several acclaimed
French films, including the
Oscar-nominated documentary
Faces Places by Agnès
Varda and the artist J.R.
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