Boxoffice Pro - September 2019

ICTA RECAP
win the entertainment time and dollars of customers,
all tied into our loyalty program, which boasts
almost 10 million members now. That’s 60 percent
of Canadian households, by the way.”
Replying to Sunshine’s question on the value
of the Global Cinema Federation, Ellis stressed
its emergence as a positive, to give the exhibition
community a united, diverse, and expansive voice.
“The reason we set up the
Cineplex
organization is really
is moving from being a cinema
to look at global
company to an entertainment destination, issues, and one
big one is that of
where we win the entertainment time
music rights. In
and dollars of customers, all tied into our the U.S. when a
loyalty program, which boasts almost movie plays, an exhibitor
doesn’t have
10 million members now. That’s 60
to pay for the music
percent of Canadian households, by
rights. In other parts
the way. – Ellis Jacob
of the world, including
Canada, exhibitors must
negotiate payments for the music
rights, which can amount to from 6 to 8 percent of
your box office take. So what the GCF is trying to
do is work with the studios to figure out a mechanism
whereby we have some kind of uniformity
across the world, to deal with
the music portfolios and get them
up front, rather than each country
having to deal with different rules
and rights.”
Ellis noted that “the minute
we put the organization
ELLIS JACOB
together two years
ago in Barcelona,
every
studio
phoned
me and
asked,
‘What are you doing, why are you coming together?’
It certainly wasn’t to gang up on the studios,
but rather to have a common voice to press a
united front on windows of exclusivity, technology,
music rights, and other common areas.”
ICTA SPREADS ITS GLOBAL WINGS
The past year has seen renewed membership
growth for the ICTA outside its core North
American members. For Marion Rosset, president
of Lyon-based ADDE SAS—a leading French
cinema manufacturer and installer—belonging to
a mutually supportive, well-versed association of
technology experts began as a family affair.
“I’m following in the footsteps of my dad, who
was involved with the French exhibition scene
and the ICTA when he was younger,” said Rosset.
“Learning different ways of doing things is best
done by exchanging information with fellow ICTA
members, which can only make my company
better and benefit our customers, and events like
the 2019 Annual Business Convention ensure that
ADDE is in the middle of it all. I was pleased to
be here with Mathieu Cazorla, operations director,
and Loys Philibert, our technology director, learning
from others and also sharing our experiences.”
Alan Roe, ICTA president, gave full credit to
Jan Runge, Thomas Rüttgers, and the other ICTA
members outside North America for promoting
membership and providing the association with a
wider context for association events, initiatives, and
knowledge exchange.
“We basically serve the exhibition and manufacturing
communities, working with like-minded
but not identical organizations such as NATO,
MPAA, SMPTE, and NAC, and through our
partnerships with major trade events, including
CinemaCon, ShowEast, CineEurope, and CineAsia.
So we have a lot to offer a diverse membership,
while ensuring their participation to provide a
global perspective.”
Alongside a strong networking and social aspect
for attendees, the ICTA convention featured
tours of Deluxe Canada and Imax facilities in
the Toronto region, and an extensive update on
manufacturing and service provider offerings,
including Christie, Cielo, Cinionic, Dolby, D-Box,
EOMAC, GDC, Jaymar, LTI, Moving Image
Technologies (MiT), NEC Solutions, Omniterm,
and TouchMate.
52 SEPTEMBER 2019