Boxoffice - July 2019

TOP WOMEN IN GLOBAL EXHIBITION 2019
Describe your ideal moviegoing
experience.
DS: While the moviegoing experience
has evolved and innovated in amazing
ways with regard to seating, presentation,
and food and drink options, I just like a
comfortable seat close to the aisle and a
good movie!
KL: When I can get my teenage son
and daughter to agree on a movie (!), it’s
usually a family experience. We are notoriously
early to the theater—I have to get
settled into my seat before heading to the
concession stand for a tub of popcorn.
And I don’t share my popcorn.
What can companies like Screenvision
do to encourage diversity within the
exhibition industry?
DS: I’m proud to say that Screenvision
Media values diversity, with women making
up half of the executive team. I love
what our sales team, led by Katy Loria, is
doing to promote the meaningful representation
of women in film via a partnership
with the Geena Davis Institute on
Gender in Media, in which our Front +
Center preshow will give a special look
at upcoming films that receive GD-IQ
certification.
KL: Equality should stand for a place
where we all belong. It’s incumbent on us
to foster an environment where everyone
feels not only welcome, but invited and
encouraged to participate. If we don’t
encourage that dialogue, the workplace
and the world will get boring pretty
quickly. On a tangible front, it begins
with recruiting and carries through to hiring,
training, and mentoring diverse team
members, from the ground floor all the
way through to the board.
Katy, can you talk a bit about
Screenvision’s partnership with the
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in
Media and how it came about?
KL: I can remember attending a
panel at Cannes Lions several years back
and being shocked to learn that less than
20 percent of women in movies had
speaking roles. It seemed impossible. I
don’t know whether I was more taken
aback by the statistic or that I hadn’t noticed
the inequality myself. Because we
think Screenvision sits at a pretty cool
intersection of film, media, and distribution,
it just naturally made sense to use
our network to help bring awareness to
an initiative that is not only important
within our walls, but also those of the
brands that we work with. As we learned
more about the important research being
done at the Geena Davis Institute on
Gender in Media in the film industry—
as well as efforts within the media industry
being heralded by #SeeHer—we
grew increasingly excited to introduce
content opportunities on the big screen
that tie gender equality messaging with
the brands in support of it. We hope
the moviegoing audience will not only
appreciate the content but also continue
to support the films that are presenting
balanced representation both on screen
and behind the camera.
Darryl, It sounds like Variety – the
Children’s Charity of New York is
poised to do some really great,
interesting work. Can you talk a bit
about why you joined the board of
directors and what sorts of projects
you’re planning?
DS: I’ve always been proud to work
in such a charitable industry, and we at
Screenvision Media have consistently supported
industry charities like Variety and
Will Rogers. When the New York branch
of Variety was being re-formed, it was an
honor to be asked to join the board. In its
new formation, Variety – the Children’s
Charity of New York will be focused
on freedom and future. The Freedom
program delivers vital life-changing
equipment and services for mobility,
independence, and social inclusion,
while the Future program delivers crucial
life-enriching communication equipment,
services, education, and self-esteem
to individual children and children’s
organizations. Earlier in June, we gave
away an adaptive bike as part of Variety
International’s Freedom Day, and I was so
thrilled to be part of that opportunity!
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
CAMI REYNOLDS, VP OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP MARKETING
KRISTA SCHULTE, GLOBAL VP OF STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP MARKETING
MAYSON SPELLMAN, SENIOR NATIONAL SALES EXECUTIVE
The Coca-Cola Company is the market leader when it
comes to providing the “beverage” component of food and
beverage for most exhibitors. Coca-Cola’s cinema team
benefits from an all-star trio of women executives. Krista
Schulte goes beyond the cinema space, overseeing airlines,
ski resorts, and theme parks, just to name a few areas.
Cami Reynolds and Mayson Spellman are two of Coca-
Cola’s senior sales executives in North America, dealing
with accounts for some of the largest cinema chains in the
world, including AMC and Cinemark.
98 JULY 2019