Boxoffice Pro - CinemaCon 2021

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The Official Magazine of the National Association of Theatre Owners

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Q2 2021 

01

CinemaCon 2021 

CONTENTS 

136 

Coming Attractions 

A Selection of Upcoming 

Releases through the Back 

Half of 2021 

102 

Giants of Premium Format 

Premium Formats Welcome 

Audiences Back to the Cinema 

108 

Tech to the Rescue 

Technology Helps Cinemas 

Compete in a Post-Pandemic 

Climate 

148 

Making of a Made Man 

Alan Taylor Revisits the World 

of Tony Soprano with The Many 

Saints of Newark 

154 

Dog Days 

Clifford the Big Red Dog Comes 

to the Big Screen in a Big Way 


03

CONTENTS 

INDUSTRY THEATER ON SCREEN 

10 

14 

16 

20 

26 

NATO 

The Industry Looks Forward to 

Networking in Person Once Again 

MPA 

The Motion Picture Association Salutes 

Theatrical Exhibition’s Recovery from 

the Challenges of the Pandemic 

Charity Spotlight 

A Recap of Industry-Wide Charity 

Initiatives 

Now Streaming at a Theater 

Near You 

Exhibitors Embrace Streaming as the 

Covid-19 Pandemic Recalibrates the 

Cinema Industry 

Art House On Demand 

Temporarily Shuttered Art Houses 

Turn to Virtual Cinema 

96 

102 

108 

116 

124 

130 

Premium Formats 

Premium Experiences Lead the Way 

to Box Office Glory 

Giants of Premium Format 

Premium-Format Auditoriums Drive 

Audiences’ Return to Cinemas 

Tech to the Rescue 

Technology Helps Cinemas Compete 

in a Post-Pandemic Climate 

Dolby: The Early Years 

A First-Person Account of the Early 

Days of an Audio Innovator 

Boxoffice Barometer 

Interview with Wim Buyens, 

Chief Executive Officer, Cinionic 

A Golden Anniversary 

Proctor Companies Turns 50 

136 

148 

154 

160 

166 

169 

Coming Attractions 

Upcoming Wide Releases 

Making of a Made Man 

Alan Taylor Revisits the World of 

Tony Soprano with The Many Saints 

of Newark 

Dog Days 

Clifford the Big Red Dog Comes to the 

Big Screen in a Big Way 

Welcome to the Big Event 

Event Cinema Makes a Post-Covid 

Comeback 

Event Cinema Calendar 

A Sampling of Event Cinema 

Programming Hitting the Big Screen 

in 2021 

Booking Guide 

30 

Indie Influencers 

Brian Schultz Looks to the Future with 

Look Dine-In Cinemas 

34 

Industry Insiders 

The Motion Picture Association’s 

Debi Bois Steps Down After 15 Years 

36 

A Century in Exhibition 

The 2010s: The Great Disruption 

CINEMACON 

48 

51 

Curtain Raiser 

After a Two-Year Hiatus, CinemaCon 

Prepares to Go Live 

Trade Show Directory 

& New Products 

CinemaCon Showcases the Latest 

Products and Technologies for 

Movie Theaters 

“We are a social people— 

we have a joie de vivre, a 

passion for life and being 

together. And where are 

you together that’s a great 

experience? At the movies.” 

Curtain Raiser, p. 48 

04 CinemaCon 2021


05

BOXOFFICE MEDIA 

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Chris Vickers & Craig Scott 

at She Was Only 

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BOXOFFICE PRO 

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ANALYSTS 

Chris Eggertsen 

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DATABASE 

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CONTRIBUTORS 

John Allen 

Patrick Corcoran 

John Fithian 

Charlotte Jones 

Vassiliki Malouchou 

Charles H. Rivkin 

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EXECUTIVE LETTER 

While the cinema industry 

has yet to fully emerge 

from the events of 2020, 

this year’s CinemaCon is an 

important milestone for the 

industry’s recovery. 

DARK DAYS 

BEHIND US 

With CinemaCon’s return to Las 

Vegas, it finally feels as if the darkest 

days of the pandemic are behind us. 

While the cinema industry has yet to fully 

emerge from the events of 2020, this year’s 

CinemaCon is an important milestone for 

the industry’s recovery. 

There was nothing anyone could do 

to prepare for the pandemic’s impact on 

moviegoing, but thanks to conventions 

like this we can come together and find a 

way through the obstacles that remain. 

In fact, CinemaCon 2021 may be 

the most important convention in this 

industry’s history, providing a timely and 

invaluable occasion for industry leaders 

to discuss the future of cinema amid a 

recalibration of the previously established 

theatrical distribution models. 

There has been a lot written on 

cinema’s death, but few have focused 

on documenting its perseverance. For 

generations, this industry’s resiliency and 

commitment to innovation has seen it 

through every threat it has faced. In this 

issue, our editorial staff has compiled a 

series of stories that profile that resiliency 

and offer a look at some of the innovations 

that can spur a global return to moviegoing. 

A special section on cinema technology, 

including feature stories on the role of 

premium formats since the reopening, 

sheds light on the work being done by 

vendors and exhibitors alike to ensure the 

big screen retains its status as a premium 

destination for first-run content. 

After a year as difficult as 2020, it would 

be impossible to ignore the rise in the 

adoption of streaming platforms by both 

major circuits and independent cinemas. 

Our editors Daniel Loría and Kevin Lally 

worked together to report on this trend— 

perhaps the best example of how cinemas 

are leveraging the ubiquity of streaming to 

form stronger links with their audiences. 

This issue also includes the concluding 

chapter in our Century in Exhibition 

series by Vassiliki Malouchou. The final 

entry in our 10-part series documents 

the most recent decade of exhibition 

history, as reported in the pages of our 

magazine. Like all great franchises, it ends 

on a cliffhanger—with movie theaters 

facing the biggest existential threat in 

their history. This story isn’t finished, and 

CinemaCon 2021 will provide us with an 

opportunity to begin writing the opening 

lines in the next chapter of our history. 

2020 was supposed to be the year 

Boxoffice Pro celebrated its centennial, 

commemorating 100 years as the reference 

publication of theatrical exhibition. Last 

year, however, was anything but a reason 

to celebrate. We therefore decided to move 

our centennial issue to the winter of 2021. 

We are looking forward to bringing you 

that issue in the coming months, and, if 

you’re in Las Vegas this year, to celebrating 

our 101st birthday a little bit early with you 

in person. 

Julien Marcel 

CEO, The Boxoffice Company 

Scan me 

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07

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NATO 10 | MPA 14 | Exhibitor VOD 20 | Industry Insiders 34 | A Century in Exhibition 36 

INDUSTRY 

“I’m not out to compete against Amazon or Netflix; that’s 

a fool’s errand. We’re trying to offer something different.” 

Exhibitor VOD, p. 20 


09

industry NATO 

WELCOME TO 

CINEMACON 

2021 

The Industry Looks Forward to 

Networking in Person 

Once Again 

BY JOHN FITHIAN 

In the last week of February and 

the first week of March 2020, we 

watched the news as an epidemic moved 

from Asia to Europe and became a 

pandemic. We planned new protocols for 

CinemaCon 2020 based on the science 

at the time, by ordering thousands of 

hand sanitizer bottles and booking more 

cleaning crews (no one was really talking 

about masks back then). MGM/UAR and 

Sony then announced the first two delays 

of theatrical release dates, for No Time to 

Die and for Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. 

South by Southwest and the NAB show 

both canceled. So, on March 10, the 

NATO Executive Board made the difficult 

but appropriate decision to cancel 

CinemaCon 2020. 

At the time, I thought that canceling 

CinemaCon would be the most difficult 

challenge of the year and that if domestic 

movie theaters had to close, it would be 

just for a few months and then we would 

be up and running again. How incredibly 

naive that now seems. The exhibition 

industry today is still enduring the 

longest existential crisis of its history, and 

it will take a year or more from now to 

fully recover. 

Sixteen long months after we canceled 

CinemaCon 2020, we are so very excited to 

welcome back to CinemaCon those of you 

who are able to attend. And for those of 

you who couldn’t make it back to Vegas in 

2021, we look forward to celebrating with 

you at CinemaCon 2022 next April. 

As I write this, 49 of 50 states in the U.S. 

have allowed movie theaters to open at 100 

percent capacity, 80 percent of our patrons 

feel comfortable returning to the cinema 

now, half of the federal grants for our 

midsize and smaller domestic exhibitors 

have been awarded, many different state 

grant and tax relief programs have been 

offered to exhibitors of all sizes, movies 

are finally sticking to their release dates, 

and more and more of those movies have 

exclusive theatrical windows. 

Internationally, progress is also being 

made, though some territories are a few 

months behind the U.S., while others 

remain very challenged. In the important 

European sector, most major cinema 

markets have begun to reopen (for the 

second time during the pandemic!) and 

business is coming back. Asia has some 

strong spots and some still-challenged 

spots. Australian business has been 

decent, but recent outbreaks have 

caused some closures once again. Latin 

America remains a mixed territory, with 

some markets recovering and others 

still completely down. But between the 

open domestic and international markets 

there is enough business to sustain movie 

releases. And as vaccines continue to be 

rolled out the situation hopefully will 

continue to improve. 

I believe we have reached the light at 

the end of a very long tunnel. Though the 

business will not go back to 2019 levels 

immediately, we are experiencing growing 

box office numbers in the Western world 

when we have movies people want to 

see. And moviegoers in China have 

demonstrated for many months that open 

and safe cinema markets recover strongly 

with good movies. And that is the most 

important thing about CinemaCon—the 

movies. We are simply stoked and grateful 

to have studio film presentations (in order 

of the current schedule for the week) 

from Sony, MGM/UAR, Warner Bros., 

NEON, Disney, Universal, Focus Features, 

Paramount, and Lionsgate. 

We are also so pleased to see the 

majority of our trade-floor exhibitors 

and sponsors back at the show. Sure, 

challenging economic times mean some of 

the trade-floor participants have cut back a 

bit on space, and some can’t afford to rejoin 

us until the April 2022 show. But most will 

be in Vegas for the August 2021 show and 

will be excited to reconnect with customers. 

I know I will be thrilled to grab a Diet Coke 

and some nachos on the trade floor and 

check out the newest luxury recliner model. 

And we have great public seminars, 

many important private NATO meetings, 

tasty food functions, and parties. Won’t it 

be fun to finally network in person again 

with so many industry colleagues? Four 

full days with no Zoom. Just imagine. 

So how did we survive those 16 months 

and prove the aphorism that “what 

doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”? 

How is it that we can gather once again 

in Vegas to learn, network, and celebrate 

the moviegoing experience? Well, we did 

it together. The NATO and CinemaCon 

staff joined with hundreds of member 

volunteers in daily crisis management 

of epic proportion. Never in my 30 years 

representing motion picture theater 

operators have tasks so huge confronted 

our industry—true existential challenges. 

First there was the closure of cinemas 

across the world and the resulting 


hardship to our industry’s passionate 

workforce. In the U.S. the Will Rogers 

Motion Picture Pioneers stepped up with 

an employee-relief grant program that 

helped thousands of workers. NATO 

and Sony each chipped in one million 

dollars. Lionsgate held a very cool 

fundraiser with Friday-evening films for 

the home. And we helped our employees. 

Then NATO supported legislation in 

Congress to provide federal supplemental 

unemployment compensation to 

furloughed workers. Exhibitor leaders 

internationally lobbied for similar 

programs in their territories. This is an 

industry that looks after its own people. 

Next we needed to create a plan for the 

safe reopening of cinemas. A task force 

of members worked with NATO staff and 

two leading epidemiologists to develop 

“CinemaSafe,” a set of health and safety 

protocols. NATO and our members backed 

the program with public outreach and 

selected digital advertising, supported 

by money from NATO’s reserve fund. 

(That reserve fund, by the way, has been 

crucial in many ways during the pandemic. 

Proceeds from ShoWest and then 

CinemaCon, managed by the NATO Board 

and Investments Committee members, 

helped us develop the fund over the past 

20 years just for a crisis like this.) 

The CinemaSafe program gave our 

patrons confidence to come back to the 

cinema when they were allowed to open. 

The various NATO-affiliated regional units 

across the country worked tirelessly with 

NATO and CinemaSafe to convince state 

regulators that cinemas could be opened 

safely once more. 

CinemaSafe also helped us work 

with studios to get some movies into 

the marketplace. Warner Bros. and 

Christopher Nolan deserve high marks 

for Tenet, and so does Solstice Studios for 

releasing Unhinged. 

With the help of the Global Cinema 

Federation, as well as important 

international exhibition leadership 

organizations such as UNIC in Europe, 

exhibitors around the world compared best 

practices and strategies on safety protocols, 

reopening strategies, return-to-moviegoing 

campaigns, and movie supply issues. 

Then of course the second virus wave 

hit in many territories, and we had to go 

through it all over again. 

Throughout 2020 and into 2021, 

exhibitors confronted a revenue crunch 

The exhibition industry 

today is still enduring the 

longest existential crisis of 

its history, and it will take 

a year or more from now to 

fully recover. 

of epic proportion, with many companies 

losing more than 90 percent for many, 

many months. Supported by hundreds of 

friends in the creative community (thank 

you Motion Picture Association, Directors 

Guild of America, and your various 

members!), NATO and our members 

lobbied the federal and state governments 

for help to keep motion picture theaters and 

their many jobs alive to the other side of the 

pandemic. Congress enacted the historic 

Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, 

as well as several important tax benefits, 

and many states followed suit with their 

own grant programs or tax-relief legislation. 

With these various efforts the vast 

majority of our domestic members have 

stayed afloat. And many other countries 

devised programs to help exhibitors and 

their employees. Now, rising vaccination 

rates and box office numbers offer the 

promise of a return to profitability. But 

where do we go from here? 

Your NATO Board of Directors and 

staff are working to ensure that theatrical 

exhibition doesn’t survive the pandemic 

only to be sacrificed on the altar of the 

streaming wars. Release models and 

windows necessarily changed during 

the pandemic because distributors 

couldn’t get the same returns on exclusive 

theatrical releases. At the same time, 

those studios with streaming services got 

caught up in a battle for subscribers that 

led to some bad business models for the 

profitability of individual movies. 

Coming out of the pandemic, these 

models must change again. Windows 

won’t go back to their pre-pandemic state. 

But they won’t continue in their pandemic 

model either. A new course that balances 

a robust period of exclusivity with the 

new in-home streaming ecosystem must 

be set for the survival of the moviegoing 

experience—and the art form preferred by 

most filmmakers. 

That is why NATO is working with the 

federal government on an antitrust safe 

harbor that would confirm the ability of 

exhibitors to come together as a group and 

sit down with distributors to chart this 

path forward in a manner that benefits 

everyone. The very future of the cinema 

depends on it. 

I look forward to seeing you at the show, 

to celebrate the return of moviegoing, and 

to discuss how to protect its future. 

John Fithian is the President & CEO of NATO 


11

industry NATO 

THE 

BIG SCREEN 

IS BACK 

An Academy Awards Preshow Campaign 

Continued to Spread the Word 

BY PATRICK CORCORAN 

A familiar face popped up on TV 

screens during the 2021 Academy 

Awards preshow, inviting us to join him 

inside his favorite Austin, Texas, movie 

theater. It was Matthew McConaughey, 

and what he wanted to show us, after a 

year of pandemic closures, was that the 

big screen is back. 

Or rather, #TheBigScreenIsBack. For 

two minutes on Hollywood’s biggest 

(though socially distanced) night, 

McConaughey introduced us to movie 

theater employees from around the 

country, ready to return to work making 

memories for moviegoers denied one of 

their greatest pleasures. Framed by clips 

of some of the year’s biggest and most 

anticipated titles, the spot struck a chord 

with viewers and lighted up Twitter with 

emotional reactions. 

The Oscars piece was the first step in 

an unprecedented collaboration among 

studios, exhibitors, publicists, stars and 

directors, NATO, MPA, and mega-agency 

CAA. The next step was an in-person 

event at AMC’s Century City theater, on 

May 19, with clips, actors, and filmmakers 

celebrating the return to moviegoing. With 

tireless work from MPA, CAA’s Bryan 

Lourd and Megan Crawford and their team, 

marketing professionals Terry Curtin 

and Wendy Lightbourn, countless movie 

industry volunteers, and CinemaCon’s 

own Mitch Neuhauser and Matt Pollock, 

the event brought presentations to the 

press from 13 distributors large and small. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger, naturally, 

kicked off the event in his own inimitable 

style; the big screen will be back—the 

big screen is back. Arnold’s cheerleading 

led to a memorable introduction of 

NATO chairman Rolando Rodriguez’s 

keynote, which set the tone of community, 

togetherness, and the importance of 

the movie theater to the art of film. J.J. 

Abrams, Jason Blum, Zola director 

Janicza Bravo, and Werewolves Within 

star Sam Richardson appeared in person 

alongside studio distribution chiefs 

Chris Aronson and Jeff Goldstein and 

prerecorded messages from various other 

filmmakers and studio executives. 

Blum closed out the day with a 

compelling summary. “Our industry is at 

an inflection point,” he said. “The collision 

of the recovery from the pandemic and all 

of the shifting business models and the 

crazy corporate consolidation, especially of 

the past week, puts us at this intersection 

of recovery and also of change. 

“It’s tempting, of course, to quickly 

draw conclusions about what it all 

means—I think it’ll take time for us 

to all really figure that out,” Blum 

continued. “But I think it’s great that all 

the competitors collectively gathered here 

to talk to all of you about one thing, which 

is how much the theatrical moviegoing 

experience matters.” 

The McConaughey ad, studio clips, 

and interviews from the event were 

repurposed for distribution on YouTube, 

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter 

and distributed as trailers for use in 

movie theaters and preshows. NATO 

of California/Nevada used a shortened 

version of the Oscars ad in a multimilliondollar 

ad campaign in July. 

“The collision of the recovery 

from the pandemic and all of 

the shifting business models 

and the crazy corporate 

consolidation, especially of 

the past week, puts us at 

this intersection of recovery 

and also of change.” 


National NATO funded the creation 

of the materials and production of The 

Big Screen Is Back campaign, but, using 

our experience from funding an ad 

campaign for the CinemaSafe program, we 

determined that earned media—stories 

about the campaign and the event—were 

a far more efficient use of our members’ 

dollars. From the beginning of the 

campaign at the Oscars on April 25, and 

through mid-July, The Big Screen Is Back 

has been covered in media with a potential 

reach of 3.85 billion people. Much of that 

media attention was fueled by the Oscars 

ad, with stories the first day having a 

potential reach of 449 million. The Big 

Screen Is Back event was even more 

successful in garnering media attention, 

with a potential reach of 849 million the 

first day. Ongoing mention of “The Big 

Screen Is Back” has netted an additional 

potential audience of 2.5 billion people. 

The monetary value of such exposure 

goes far beyond what we could have 

accomplished in ad spending. Meltwater, 

a media tracking and measurement 

firm, estimates the “advertising value 

equivalent” of media coverage of The Big 

Screen Is Back at $35.6 million. 

“I think it’s great that all 

the competitors collectively 

gathered here to talk to 

all of you about one thing, 

which is how much the 

theatrical moviegoing 

experience matters.” 

Of course, the greatest tonic for 

moviegoing is movies. As we prepare 

for CinemaCon, box office, driven by 

increased vaccinations, decreased 

infections, the absence of capacity 

restrictions in cinemas, and, most 

importantly, increasing releases of 

crowd-pleasing movies, has continued 

its upward trajectory begun in the spring. 

And it is appropriate that we continue to 

underscore at CinemaCon, a celebration 

of the moviegoing experience, that The 

Big Screen Is Back. 

An industry think tank panel with 

director Patty Jenkins, Marcus Theatres’ 

CEO Rolando Rodriguez, Cinemark’s 

CEO Mark Zoradi, and a studio executive 

will carry that theme forward. Look for 

special video content and presentations 

throughout the week at CinemaCon that 

will continue to drive it home. 

The Big Screen Is Back, and 

CinemaCon is back in Vegas. I look 

forward to seeing you here in person. 

Patrick Corcoran is the Vice President & 

CCO of NATO 


13

Industry MPA 

WELCOME BACK 

The Motion Picture Association Salutes 

Theatrical Exhibition’s Recovery from the 

Challenges of the Pandemic 

BY CHARLES H. RIVKIN 

This isn’t the first time, of 

course, that our industry has 

faced adversity. And every 

time we’ve been able to 

evolve and innovate. 

The movies. Those two simple words 

open doors to some of my most 

treasured and powerful memories. Nearly 

every movie I have loved and enjoyed 

is inextricably connected to the theater 

where I first saw it, whether it was under 

the stars at a drive-in theater in Fish 

Creek, Wisconsin, as a kid, in a downtown 

theater in Chicago during high school, 

or, more recently, at our state-of-the-art 

theater at the Motion Picture Association’s 

headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

It wasn’t just the great stories that 

captured my excitement. It was the 

experience of watching those movies with 

an audience, all of us collectively holding 

our breath, tearing up, or outright laughing, 

depending on whatever we were watching. 

Few things compare to that experience. 

That’s why I could not be more excited 

about the extraordinary resurgence this 

great industry is experiencing right now, in 

the wake of one of the most difficult years 

in a generation. And it could not come at a 

better time for theater owners. 

I am writing this on the heels of 

Memorial Day weekend, the traditional 

kickoff to the summer movie season 

and just a few weeks before we gather in 

person at CinemaCon. I haven’t felt this 

encouraged in a while. The numbers say it 

all, thanks in part to the recent openings 

of A Quiet Place Part II and Cruella. 

And of course, moviegoers and the 

industry alike are looking forward to 

F9, which—at the time of writing—was 

already closing in on $300 million 

internationally, an encouraging harbinger 

for the season of blockbusters. Godzilla 

vs. Kong was the first big box office hit this 

year, recently crossing the $100 million 

mark in the U.S., with a total global box 

office take of close to $350 million. 

It’s early days yet, as many say. However, 

these numbers are reassuring as they 

reaffirm what we know in our hearts to be 

true: The movies are an eternal comeback 

story. There are many reasons for this, 

but, first and foremost, the credit for that 

belongs to the industry itself, which was 

born making innovation out of necessity. 

The pandemic proved that. Countless 

jobs were lost, productions were either 

curtailed or shut down altogether, and 

cinemas shuttered around the globe. 

Despite these enormous setbacks, our 

industry once again proved to be as 

adaptable and innovative as it is resilient. 

We led the way in creating effective health 

and safety protocols for our workers, in 

cooperation with our union partners and 

governments at home and around the 

world, so that we could return to work 

safely, responsibly, and sustainably. We 

brought back much of our workforce at 

a speed that outpaced other industries 

and, at the same time, achieved one of 

the lowest positivity rates in the country 

among our workers. 

Theater owners were very creative with 

their business models. Many found new 

ways to stay in business, from offering 

popcorn pickup and delivery to renting out 

their theaters to private groups. And the 

National Association of Theatre Owners 

(NATO) sponsored an alliance of more 

than 425 companies, accounting for more 

than 33,200 screens nationwide, to commit 

to implementing expert-backed, industryspecific 

health and safety protocols. 

This isn’t the first time, of course, that 

our industry has faced adversity. And 

every time we’ve been able to evolve and 

innovate. More than 70 years ago, we 

were contending with the dawn of TV, 


then VCRs, then DVDs, and yet films and 

theaters continued to thrive. 

While there’s no denying that 2020 

was a win for streaming and home 

entertainment, and a challenging year for 

theatrical exhibition, there were positive 

indications that all aspects of our industry 

would once again thrive. Great stories kept 

us entertained, connected, and inspired 

throughout the last year. Audiences 

demonstrated an intense desire to watch 

those stories on any screen. 

Even though most people—by 

necessity—watched those stories at 

home, on laptops, and on other personal 

devices, they never lost their appetite for 

enjoying the big-screen experience. For 

example, drive-in theaters, as many news 

stories have attested, enjoyed their highest 

returns in decades. 

Now that more and more theaters are 

opening, the recent flurry of moviegoing 

proves at least two things: Desire remains 

strong, and the availability of home and 

mobile entertainment does not diminish 

it. In fact, as I’ve said for many years, the 

theatrical experience and streaming 

markets thrive together. Just as people 

Just as people love to eat at 

home, they also love to go to 

restaurants. Streaming and 

theaters are not at odds; they 

complement each other. 

love to eat at home, they also love to go to 

restaurants. Streaming and theaters are 

not at odds; they complement each other. 

People are hungry for both. 

As the Motion Picture Association 

marks its 100th anniversary next year, 

we will be highlighting the critical work 

of our member companies that grow our 

industry, protect creators and content, 

and support theater owners who have 

been the proprietors of the magic we call 

the movies since the 1890s. 

As we look to our next century—one in 

which we will continue to innovate while 

doing what we do best, by telling great 

stories that we all love and that reflect 

the diversity of our audiences, we will 

continue to grow the important ecosystem 

of producers, exhibitors, and audiences 

that enables us all to thrive. We will 

continue to strengthen every economy we 

touch. And perhaps most importantly, we 

will strive to tell everybody’s story. 

Charles H. Rivkin is the Chairman and 

CEO of The Motion Picture Association 


15

Industry CHARITY SPOTLIGHT 

CHARITY 

SPOTLIGHT 

Variety of Texas 

Covid-19 continues to have a devastating 

impact on fundraising revenues. Still 

going strong, however, is Variety of 

Texas’s Cinema Passport Campaign, 

which allows moviegoers (plus a guest) 

access to screenings at participating 

Texas theaters over a limited period 

with a $400 donation to Variety of Texas. 

Thanks to theaters’ support of Variety 

of Texas’s Cinema Passport Campaign, 

Variety of Texas can provide lifechanging 

support to children with 

special needs. 

Variety of New York 

In collaboration with fundraising platform 

Influence the Cause, Variety of New 

York is raising money to help provide 

life-changing equipment and services 

for children in need. Donations of any 

amount are accepted—but, in a fun twist, 

prizes will be given in the categories 

of Most Money Raised (a $100 gift card 

from Showcase Cinemas), Most People 

Influenced (a $100 gift card from Showcase 

Cinemas), and Largest Individual Donor 

over $200 (a 10-class pack at the Jersey 

City Pure Barre location). The Variety 

Children need your help to get this 

pandemic behind us and get our kids 

mobile again—so let’s get moving! 

Donations can be made until September 22, 2021, 

at influencethecause.com/campaign/varietythe-childrens-charity-mobility-hero-challenge. 

Motion Picture Club 

The Motion Picture Club, founded in 1939 

as a social club for the entertainment 

industry and more recently transformed 

into a group that raises funds for industry 

charities, took to the streets of New York 

for the Big Apple’s first street fair since 

the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Over the course of the day, the MPC 

sold posters, T-shirts, DVDs, and other 

assorted entertainment merchandise in 

between welcoming visitors happy to see 

the MPC’s “Day at the Movies” booth back 

in action after a year’s forced hiatus. Says 

David Ostrander, vice president, exhibitor 

relations, at Screenvision Media and the 

MPC’s president: “Now in our 26th year, 

the annual ‘Day at the Movies’ street 

fair is such an important event for the 

Motion Picture Club to raise money for our 

beneficiaries, such as Will Rogers Motion 

Picture Pioneers Foundation, Variety – the 

Children’s Charity of New York, and so 

many other charity organizations. Based 

on the success from ‘Day at the Movies,’ 

this event further exemplified people’s 

genuine love and interest in movies. The 

Motion Picture Club looks forward to 

hosting our traditional industry events 

such as ‘Day at the Races’ this fall and our 

‘Annual Holiday Luncheon’ in the coming 

months as our industry reemerges.” 

Emagine Entertainment Raises 

Money for Boys & Girls Clubs of 

Southeastern Michigan 

Throughout the month of July, Michiganbased 

luxury exhibitor Emagine 

Entertainment supported the Boys & Girls 

Clubs of Southeastern Michigan (BGCSM) 

by raising funds to help offset the cost 

of yearly membership for local youth. 

Guests to any Michigan Emagine location 

throughout the month of July were 

encouraged to make a donation; those 

who did so were honored with signage at 

the theater box office. 

The funds raised went toward payment 

for a full year of membership at BGCSM 

for deserving children ages 6–18. After 

95 years of service, Boys & Girls Clubs of 

Southeastern Michigan remains a safe 

place for youth to learn, have fun, and 

reach their full potential. By providing 

high-quality youth development 

programs, BGCSM has reimagined 

the future of afterschool learning and 

continues to stay agile and expand 

to better support the needs of youth, 

ensuring that they are career-, start-up-, 

and homeowner-ready. 

“We are glad to continue our support 

in giving back to the Boys & Girls Clubs 

of Southeastern Michigan and their 

mission. We are grateful to have such loyal 

and caring guests who continue to offer 

support to others in their surrounding 

communities,” said Anthony LaVerde, 

CEO of Emagine Entertainment. 

“BGCSM continues to provide the youth 

of southeastern Michigan with a safe, 

positive, and engaging environment with 

a variety of programs and opportunities 

that allow our young people to feel 

included, challenged, and entertained all 

year long,” added BGCSM president and 

CEO Shawn H. Wilson. “Emagine Theatres 

has been a longtime champion of BGCSM 

youth, and the funds raised will help 

us care for and engage our youth to our 

fullest abilities.” 


HEARTS OF GOLD: 

VARIETY PARTNERS 

WITH UNIVERSAL FOR 

2021 GOLD HEART PIN 

CAMPAIGN 

In 1991, Variety International board 

member Marsha Rae Ratcliff had an 

idea for expanding the work Variety – the 

Children’s Charity had been doing since 

its founding in 1927. Simple and elegant, 

Ratcliff’s idea was to sell heart-shaped 

gold pins at movie theaters, with proceeds 

going to Variety’s mission of assisting 

children in need. In the 30 years since 

its inception, the Variety Gold Heart Pin 

Campaign has become one of the most 

enduring symbols of the film industry’s 

commitment to charitable giving. 

The story of the iconic gold pin is 

one of the worldwide film community 

coming together for a good cause. The 

campaign, which started in Great 

Britain, made its way stateside when 

actress Maureen Arthur- 

Ruben—then-president 

of Variety of Southern 

California’s board of 

directors—attended 

a Variety conference. 

Her chapter adopted 

the program, and 

support from studio 

executives— Erica 

Lopez, executive director 

of Variety – the Children’s Charity of the 

United States, cites Clark Woods, Mike 

McCartney, and Jeff Goldstein—helped 

get the pin in theaters. 

Woods, then in the thick of his decadeslong 

tenure at Paramount, had the idea 

to “put a campaign behind 

[the pin] like they would 

put a campaign behind 

a film,” Lopez recalls, in 

part by giving the pin 

prime placement in-theater 

to boost sales. Handling 

of the campaign went from 

Paramount to Disney, whose 

V.P. of exhibitor relations Nancy 

Klueter helped get the pin campaign out to 

theaters nationwide. A rollout to Variety’s 

global chapters followed. “Over time, each 

studio helped open doors to new theater 

partners, and Variety executive directors 

at the individual chapters throughout the 

United States formed relationships with 

their local theaters to gain their support as 

well,” says Lopez. 

Variety’s collaboration with Disney 

introduced a second key component to 

the Gold Heart Pin Campaign. In 2002, 

at the suggestion of Arthur-Ruben and 

the late Jody Reynolds, Disney gave 

permission for the pin to depict an image 

of Mickey Mouse. The addition of I.P. 

proved a turning point for the campaign, 

as sales that year reached 700,000 pins. In 

the years since Mickey’s Variety’s debut, 

different characters have popped up on 

the pins, including Spider-Man (Sony; 

2005); Yoda and Darth Vader (Disney; 

2014); E.T. (Dreamworks; 

2004), and—by far the 

most popular pin, to 

the tune of $3 million— 

Universal’s Minions, who 

were a hit in 2015. 

Universal is represented 

yet again in this year’s 

Variety Gold Heart Pin Campaign, 

featuring the characters of Ted (voiced 

by Alec Baldwin) and Tina (voiced by 

Amy Sedaris) from The Boss Baby: Family 

Business, out July 2. Pins are available for a 

minimum donation of $3 at movie theaters 

across the U.S. Says Lopez, “Each Gold 

Heart pin sold means that Variety can 

provide things like custom-fitted adaptive 

tricycles, communication devices, and 

activities such as camp for kids and 

teens with special needs.” 

“The Boss Baby: Family 

Business celebrates the child 

inside each of us and the 

families who love and support 

us throughout our lives,” says 

Eric Carr, senior vice president of intheater 

marketing for Universal Pictures. 

“Universal Pictures and DreamWorks 

Animation are proud to partner with 

Variety – the Children’s Charity in its 

vital, ongoing mission to make the lives 

of children with special needs, and their 

families, a little easier and a lot brighter.” 

A full list of participating cinemas can be found 

at usvariety.org/gold-hearts. 


17

Industry CHARITY SPOTLIGHT 

CANADIAN PICTURE 

PIONEERS: 2020 IN 

REVIEW 

Founded in 1940, the Canadian 

Picture Pioneers has been helping 

movie theater exhibitor and distributor 

employees across Canada for over 80 

years. Below, the CPP reviews the efforts 

they made in 2020 to help the Canadian 

exhibition community make it through 

the unprecedented crisis presented by the 

Covid-19 pandemic. 

As with many other organizations, 2020 

was a challenging year for the Canadian 

Picture Pioneers. As we entered our 80th 

year of operation, it became clear very early 

on that the Covid-19 health crisis was going 

to have a severe impact on the theater 

exhibition and distribution industries. 

The CPP has always been ready to assist 

people facing financial crisis—but never 

on so wide a scale. We started planning 

a CPP assistance response in the early 

days of the pandemic. With government 

restrictions in place throughout 2020, we 

had to reassess how we would continue 

to host events to help people to keep in 

touch. We are happy to report that the 

CPP was able to meet the challenges that 

2020 presented. 

We geared up with CPP’s first-ever 

national, wide-scale assistance program. 

Along with our regular assistance 

program and our student assistance 

program, we helped more than eight 

times the number of industry employees 

than we have ever assisted before. We 

more than doubled the amount of total 

assistance funding, providing close to a 

quarter of a million dollars in 2020. We 

knew that students who had been laid off 

from their theater jobs would need extra 

support, so part of our 2020 mission was 

to increase funding to SAAP (Student 

Assistance Awards Program) by 40 

percent and provide assistance awards of 

$5,000 each to 25 student essay winners. 

To further help our members, we 

waived all 2020 membership dues for 

members across Canada. 

From the first few weeks of the 

pandemic, we kept in touch with industry 

members and held regular online events. 

These events not only brought people 

together but were the source of muchneeded 

donations. 

The CPP remained very active during 

2020, communicating with and supporting 

industry members. We were helped 

by a great team of volunteers, without 

whom we could not have accomplished 

this important CPP goal. The CPP was 

very fortunate to have a loyal group of 

members and industry partners, whom 

we thank for their continuing support. We 

would not have been able to do the work 

we did last year without their generous 

donations. We received four times the 

number of individual donations than in 

prior years, mostly driven by donations 

made as part of online events. 

As we move forward toward the end 

of this health crisis, we will work hard to 

stay in touch with industry community 

members. We will continue our assistance 

programs to help and support each other. 

We hope to see everyone out soon at one of 

our industry events. 

We also want you to know that we 

have continued work to make sure this 

organization lasts another 80 years or 

longer. Our board continues to work on 

organizational improvements to attract 

industry employees from all corners of the 

industry and supporting companies. We 

thank the board members for this work, 

especially some long-term directors who 

have decided to step off the board this year. 

We also need to thank our very 

dedicated group of volunteers and branch 

members across Canada. We had many 

people pull together and make sure that 

2020 was another successful year for the 

CPP. Thank you! 



19

Industry HOME ENTERTAINMENT 

NOW STREAMING 

AT A THEATER 

NEAR YOU 

Exhibitors Embrace Streaming as the Covid-19 

Pandemic Recalibrates the Cinema Industry 

BY DANIEL LORIA 

As pervasive as streaming is 

today, it was only in 2007 that 

Netflix—then known as a mail-delivery 

DVD rental service—began offering its 

users the ability to watch films through 

a high-speed internet connection. The 

timing couldn’t have been better for 

Netflix, which was in the midst of a fierce 

competition with its brick-and-mortar 

rival, Blockbuster Video, for supremacy 

of the home video market. At the time, 

most consumers in the United States 

streamed content on their desktop 

or laptop computers. That same year, 

however, Apple launched a revolutionary 

new product that would soon change the 

future of e-commerce and entertainment. 

The iPhone’s popularity launched the 

smartphone era in telecommunications, 

giving consumers the ability to connect 

to the internet instantly and almost 

anywhere. Being off-line and online 

were now indistinguishable. Netflix’s 

bet on streaming—originally considered 

a complement to, not substitute for, its 

mail-delivery service—was perfectly 

positioned to benefit from this sea 

change in consumer behavior. By 2010, as 

streaming solidified its dominance in the 

home entertainment market, Blockbuster 

Video had filed for Chapter 11. 

Blockbuster’s bankruptcy solidified 

Netflix as the leading home entertainment 

player in Hollywood and accelerated the 

growth of streaming as the primary home 

entertainment distribution channel. In 

2010, only two months after Blockbuster 

filed for Chapter 11, Cineplex, the largest 

exhibition circuit in Canada, announced 

the launch of its own streaming portal: the 

Cineplex Store. 

As opposed to Netflix’s subscription 

video on demand (SVOD) model, the 

Cineplex Store adopted a transactional 

video on demand (TVOD) approach that 

facilitates digital rentals and purchases 

through their platform. Cineplex’s entry 

into the digital home entertainment 

market was never positioned as 

competition for Netflix but as an extension 

of their brand into the home. The circuit 

had already been selling DVD and Blu- 

Ray discs on their website; expanding 

into streaming was the logical evolution 

of those efforts. “When Canadians think 

of movies, we want them to think of 

Cineplex,” said Ellis Jacob, president and 

CEO of Cineplex, in the 2010 press release 

announcing the launch. 

Branding alone wasn’t at the center 

of Cineplex’s foray into the home. The 

circuit was a pioneer in integrating its 

loyalty program, Scene, into digital 

transactions, linking moviegoers’ intheater 

and at-home watching habits. 

Scene members could earn and redeem 

points across the circuit’s locations and 

its online store, further enhancing the 

value of the circuit’s loyalty program. 

Two years later, in 2012, Mexico’s 

leading exhibition circuit, Cinépolis, 

launched its own TVOD streaming service, 

Cinépolis Klic. Despite launching five 

years after Netflix introduced streaming 

to its users in the United States, Cinépolis 

Klic appeared comparatively early in the 

adoption of streaming in Mexico. 

“There was already a sector of the 

audience who was looking to stream 

content when we first entered the 

market,” says Marco García de la Cruz, 

managing director of Cinépolis Klic. 

“While other streaming 

algorithms bring you more of 

what you already like, mk2 

Curiosity introduces you to 

movies that you may not 

know you’d like.” 


“That was the first group of people we 

targeted after launching, which helped us 

gain a foothold with audiences primarily 

looking for commercial and independent 

movie releases. As the years passed, we 

reached new audiences through a wider 

range of programming for all ages and 

tastes. We now offer more than just a 

slate of films, with programming choices 

that have helped our business and [have] 

grown our user base.” 

Rather than limit its selection of titles 

to just movies, Cinépolis Klic has since 

partnered with other content providers 

to offer television series and even sports 

programming through its platform. In 

this regard, Cinépolis Klic has grown to 

become one of Mexico’s leading over-thetop 

(OTT) media services, offering channel 

subscriptions to services like Starzplay, 

Paramount Plus, and HBO Max. 

By the end of 2020, Cinépolis Klic 

counted more than 4 million registered 

users in Mexico. The circuit expanded the 

streaming service to Chile, Colombia, Peru, 

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and 

Costa Rica last year. “We’re on a path to 

grow in territories where we already have 

a presence through our theaters, as we are 

doing now in Latin America, and we’re ready 

to pursue any other opportunities that arise 

along the way,” says García de la Cruz. 

In Europe, where the streaming market 

is significantly more fragmented due 

to content licensing restrictions across 

multiple territories, major circuits have 

been more tentative in launching their 

own in-house services. The most notable 

exception is the United Kingdom’s 

specialty circuit Curzon Cinemas, which 

debuted its own TVOD platform, Curzon 

Home Cinema, in 2010. 

Curzon’s early entry into streaming 

solidified its position in home entertainment 

among consumers. Its established reputation 

as an art house brand was reflected in its 

curated offerings, which included an array 

of eclectic and diverse titles that were harder 

to find on other platforms. Curzon began 

implementing an SVOD tier to Curzon 

Home Cinema in 2017, Curzon12, a rotating 

selection of 12 titles available to paying 

members of its loyalty program. The circuit 

revised its approach to SVOD earlier this year, 

adding credits for cinema visits or streaming 

rentals to its paid membership scheme. 

Curzon’s approach to streaming is 

similar to the one employed by French 

specialty circuit mk2 when it launched 

its own advertising video on demand 

(AVOD) platform, mk2 Curiosity, last 

year—during the height of the Covid-19 

pandemic. As an AVOD service, Curiosity 

is free to users and is monetized through 

advertising. According to mk2 co-CEO 

Elisha Karmitz, the service allowed the 

circuit to stay connected with its audience 

by emphasizing curation at a time when 

home viewing habits were dominated by 

an overload of algorithm-driven content 

from the major streaming services. “Each 

week, we have a rotating selection of five to 

seven movies people can watch for free—a 

lot of these titles coming from our catalog. 

The goal is to propose some rarities, some 

curiosities, some movies that an algorithm 

would never show you,” he says. “While 

other streaming algorithms bring you more 

of what you already like, mk2 Curiosity 

introduces you to movies that you may not 

know you’d like.” 

Another pandemic-era innovation 

was La Vingt-Cinquième Heure’s virtual 

theatrical platform, launched in France in 

March 2020, just as the country’s cinemas 

were ordered closed for the first time. As 

independent cinemas in the United States 

began experimenting with the virtual 

theatrical model in the first weeks of the 

pandemic (detailed in our article on page 

26), La Vingt-Cinquième Heure’s platform 

allowed French cinemas to run their own 

virtual cinemas through geolocked digital 

screenings, streamed live during fixed 

showtimes. The earnings generated from 

virtual theatrical were far from covering 

the losses incurred by the pandemic, but 

they did provide an economic lifeline 

to independent cinemas during the 

closures—and could continue to generate 

supplemental revenue after the pandemic. 


21


The art house sector has been an 

important source of innovation in 

bridging the streaming gap for European 

cinemas. In 2015, Germany’s Rushlake 

Media partnered with local art house 

cinemas for the 2015 launch of its TVOD 

platform, Kino on Demand. The service 

rewards users’ first and each fifth 

subsequent transaction on the platform 

with a €5 voucher to one of its more 

than 850 partner cinemas. Today, it has 

over 43,000 users in Germany and is also 

available in Austria and Switzerland. 

Kino on Demand’s model was used as 

the basis for an upcoming partnership 

among four of Europe’s leading art house 

cinema circuits: Sweden’s Folkets Hus 

och Parker and Folkets Bio, Ireland’s 

Access Cinema, and Slovenia’s Art kino 

mreža Slovenije. The group, acting under 

the working title Project Cinnovate, will 

launch a streaming service based on Kino 

on Demand that will cover their combined 

308 screens across the three countries. 

“We are, of course, open to collaborating 

with many more cinemas,” says Jan Runge, 

the former CEO of UNIC, the European 

cinema trade association, who is acting 

as an independent consultant for Project 

Cinnovate. “Our partnership has already 

received €380,000 in innovation funding 

from the European Union to experiment 

with new content and digital tools to 

help European cinemas reengage with 

their audiences. We will design and 

test a range of solutions, including new 

gaming concepts, crowdsourced cinema 

screenings, online watch parties, virtual 

“We strongly believe that 

now is the time for the 

wider film industry to come 

together and experiment 

with release strategies.” 

film talks, and cinema-driven VOD offers.” 

“We strongly believe that now is the 

time for the wider film industry to come 

together and experiment with release 

strategies,” adds Philipp Hoffmann, 

managing director and founder of 

Rushlake Media. “It may sound watery, 

but we do believe in creating a win-win 

model and that this will ultimately help 

the theatrical community to rebuild an 

even more successful and sustainable 

exhibition business. The film industry 

should not create an internal competition 

between cinema and streaming but 

strengthen the film in a world where our 

viewers and fans have an overabundance 

of choices on how to spend their time.” 

A similar concept that uses vouchers 

redeemable at partner cinemas was 

launched by the specialty SVOD provider 

Mubi in 2018. Originally piloted in the 

United Kingdom, Mubi Go acts as a 

premium tier for subscribers of the 

streaming service that includes a ticket 

for a specifically curated film each week at 

participating cinemas. Mubi Go expanded 

the program to India with PVR Cinemas 

in 2019. In January 2020, just before the 

pandemic wreaked havoc on the global 

cinema industry, Mubi representatives 

attended the annual Art House 

Convergence conference in Salt Lake City 

to discuss the concept with U.S. exhibitors. 

Back in the United States, the second 

wave of streaming adoption among 

leading players in exhibition began 

in 2016, with digital ticketing giant 

Fandango’s acquisition of TVOD provider 

Left. Cinépolis Klic 

established an early 

presence in Mexico’s 

highly competitive 

home entertainment 

sector. 

Right. The launch of 

Showcase Now was 

fast tracked during the 

pandemic. 


M-Go. The deal came amid an acquisition 

streak by Fandango that kicked off 

in 2015 and included a pair of digital 

ticketing platforms in Latin America— 

review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes; 

the YouTube channel Movieclips—and 

culminated with the 2017 purchase of 

rival ticket seller MovieTickets.com. At 

the time, Fandango’s acquisition of 

M-Go—rebranded as FandangoNow— 

seemed counterintuitive: the largest 

digital ticketing network in the world’s 

top box office market adding TVOD to 

its portfolio. On the whole, however, a 

streaming presence fit perfectly within 

Fandango’s ambitions to remain a leading 

digital hub for moviegoers. As was the 

case with Cineplex and Cinépolis, the 

intention was never to overtake or even 

compete with Netflix but to integrate the 

home viewing habits of their extensive 

user base of moviegoers in the United 

States. In 2018, the company launched 

a new loyalty program, Fandango VIP 

Plus, which also extended to users’ 

transactions on FandangoNow. It has 

even leveraged its streaming presence to 

assist with its digital ticketing business 

at cinemas through promotions like 

discount pricing on rentals of upcoming 

high-profile film releases. In 2020, 

Fandango acquired its second TVOD 

platform, Vudu, from Walmart. 

Fandango’s entry into the streaming 

market in 2016 was overshadowed, 

however, by the launch of a controversial 

new company. The Screening Room, a 

startup backed by tech alums from 

Napster and Facebook, crashed into the 

market by proposing a PVOD release 

model for first-run movies to the home at a 

premium price point. Early reports pegged 

the PVOD rental price at $50 per title, with 

a portion of that revenue allocated to 

exhibitors who partnered with the service. 

Representatives from The Screening 

Room attended and took meetings with 

exhibitors at CinemaCon 2016, according 

to a source present at one of those 

meetings, but the company was never able 

to get off the ground. The Screening Room 

was dead on arrival, unable to get past 

contentious attitudes of the time around 

the theatrical exclusivity window, but it 

did succeed in sparking a conversation 

about how cinemas could share in profits 

of first-run PVOD rentals. 

First-run titles weren’t available as part 

of AMC Theatres’ own streaming service, 

AMC On Demand, when it launched in 

the fall of 2019. Initially, AMC On Demand 

followed the general strategic blueprint 

of existing exhibitor VOD services: a 

transactional model integrated with its 

loyalty program, AMC Stubs. Once the 

pandemic hit, however, the circuit’s 

streaming presence was leveraged as part 

of its decision to sign a groundbreaking 

deal with Universal Pictures that reduced 

the theatrical exclusivity window to as 

little as 17 days. The AMC-Universal 

deal followed tensions between the two 

companies that had played out in the 

press, following Universal’s unilateral 

decision to push the release of Trolls 

World Tour to PVOD in the early days of 

the pandemic. Eventually, the companies 

came to an agreement that resulted in 

AMC participating in the PVOD revenues 

of future Universal releases. 

“Although the financial terms of the 

Universal agreement are confidential, I 

can tell you that the agreement allows 

AMC to participate handsomely in the 

entirety of the economics of this new 

structure, including receiving a share of 

each film’s PVOD revenue stream, whoever 

may be the retailer, as well as receiving 

considerable additional economics when 

the film is retailed on our own AMC 

Theatres On Demand service,” said CEO 

Adam Aron during the company’s secondquarter 

call with investors in 2020. 

“Exhibitor VOD will help guard against 

inevitable cannibalization: How much can 

moviegoing and viewing increase with 

PVOD? As AMC will meaningfully share 

in that new revenue stream, this potential 

dramatic expansion of revenues should 

protect AMC against the cannibalization 

that admittedly will occur as some people 

shift from theatrical to home viewing. This 

is something that we have very carefully 

researched, very thoughtfully modeled, 

and that our company has been thinking 

about for almost five years,” he said. 

The pandemic was the catalyst for 

several other top U.S.-based circuits to 

launch their own streaming services. 

“We had thought about it, but like a few 

different projects we had been considering, 

we took it off the back burner and put it 

on the front burner as we started looking 

for additional ways to engage with our 

“This potential dramatic 

expansion of revenues 

should protect AMC against 

the cannibalization that 

admittedly will occur as 

some people shift from 

theatrical to home viewing.” 


23


customer base,” says Mark Malinowski, 

vice president global marketing at National 

Amusements’ Showcase Cinemas. The 

Massachusetts-based circuit—which also 

operates theaters in the U.K., Argentina, 

and Brazil—launched ShowcaseNow in 

the U.S. and Showcase at Home in the U.K. 

in 2020 through ScreenPlus, a service by 

Vista Group and Shift72. 

Alamo Drafthouse signed on with the 

same service to launch Alamo On Demand 

in May 2020, only a month after starting 

to develop it. Tim League, the circuit’s 

co-founder and executive chairman, cites 

the influence of seeing Auckland, New 

Zealand’s, Academy Cinemas’ streaming 

platform, released in 2019, as one of the 

deciding factors that convinced him to 

move forward with the project. 

“The central construct for us is that 

Alamo On Demand is a reflection of our 

tastes and an avenue for our curation,” says 

League. “I’m not out to compete against 

Amazon or Netflix; that’s a fool’s errand. 

We’re trying to offer something different. 

... we look at ourselves like a modern 

incarnation of a classic video store. Video 

stores were run by the movie-obsessed who 

live to make deep-cut recommendations 

and share the movies they love. I love 

Netflix, but that’s not who they are.” 

Alamo’s approach to streaming borrows 

from the strategies employed by Curzon 

and mk2 in Europe in prioritizing eclectic 

programming and specialized curation. 

It is an extension of the circuit’s identity 

as a cinema chain that can regularly pack 

houses across the country by booking 

obscure cult titles and niche genre films. 

A chain with a specialty brand like 

Alamo Drafthouse stands in contrast to 

the Hollywood-driven catalogs pushed 

by the algorithms of the world’s leading 

SVOD streamers. Other circuits with more 

mainstream followings, like Showcase 

Cinemas, have found similar success in 

their TVOD platforms with content that 

wouldn’t necessarily sell out as regularly in 

their theaters, such as music concerts and 

documentaries. 

Mark Walukevich, senior vice president 

of film and event cinema at Showcase, 

notes that the transactional nature of 

exhibitor VOD has helped drive additional 

web traffic to the circuit’s website while 

boosting films that would have otherwise 

struggled to keep consistent showtimes 

across the chain. “We aren’t going to 

compete with Netflix, Amazon ... or any 

of those other guys,” he says. “We’re not 

a subscription service; it’s pay as you 

go. I think we’re finding out as people 

are getting roped into subscription 

services, they have too many and don’t 

want another one. Prior to the pandemic 

people might have had three subscription 

streaming services; now they’re up to six.” 

As Walukevich observes, although 

TVOD may not bring in revenue on a 

consistent basis, it doesn’t have the 

same need to retain subscribers as 

SVOD does. The pressure to avoid 

subscriber churn has ignited an arms 

race in exclusive content licensing and 

original productions among the leading 

SVOD platforms and rival upstarts from 

legacy studios—a fierce competition 

that now includes SVOD offerings from 

Disney (Disney Plus), Universal (Peacock), 

Paramount (Paramount Plus), and Warner 

Bros. (HBO Max). 

That pressure was what led Warner 

Bros.’ parent company, WarnerMedia, to 

open its entire 2021 theatrical slate to 

the home simultaneously through its 

SVOD service, HBO Max, at no additional 

cost. It has also pushed simultaneous 

day-and-date PVOD releases of major 

Disney titles on Disney Plus throughout 

this summer. Some previously scheduled 

Disney movies, like Pixar’s Soul and 

Luca, were removed from the theatrical 

schedule entirely to become available 

at no additional cost for Disney Plus 

subscribers. In these instances, studios 

prioritized promoting their in-house 

streaming platforms at the expense of a 

traditional theatrical release while the 

box office continues to recover from the 

economic fallout of the pandemic. 

“I certainly don’t doubt that consumers 

like day-and-date, I’m just not convinced 

it’s revenue maximizing—and I’m 

certainly not convinced studios or 

exhibitors want to go all-in on it,” says 

John Calkins, CEO of Row8, a company 

that provides streaming platforms for 

cinema chains, who previously held 

executive roles at major studios and 

circuits. “The forcing device on all of 

these discussions has been the collapse 

of the home entertainment window and 

the related economic problem in greenlighting 

all but the biggest tentpole movies. 

You have a world where the structure of 

the window limits economics for all but 

the top films, reducing film flow.” 

Row8 signed its first exhibitor 

client, Southern Theatres, earlier this 

year. Southern’s streaming platform is 

linked directly to its loyalty program 

under the chain’s Grand Theatre and 

AmStar Cinemas brands. “Once the 

window structure is better established 

and understood, it will again raise the 

question: To what extent and how do 

exhibitors want to participate in the other 

80 to 90 percent of their loyalty program 

members’ movie-viewing behaviors 

that they currently don’t participate in? 

Exhibitors have relationships with the 

most valuable and interested consumers in 

the world—but they’ve historically limited 

engaging with those consumers once per 

month, at best, while turning a blind eye to 

all their other movie consumption.” 

For that reason, Calkins says he 

believes that exhibitor VOD addresses 

a structural problem in a film industry 

increasingly reliant on global blockbusters. 

While the pandemic might have 

accelerated adoption of exhibitor VOD, its 

value isn’t limited to Covid-19 closures. 

If streaming can help more films find an 

audience at home, why wouldn’t cinemas 

want to be part of that transaction? 

“The true power of the platform 

will come when we are back to normal 

operations,” says Alamo Drafthouse’s 

League, citing 2019 Academy Award 

“I’m not out to compete 

against Amazon or Netflix; 

that’s a fool’s errand. We’re 

trying to offer something 

different.” 


winner Parasite as a case study. “We did 

really well on the film theatrically, but we 

know from our data that only about 30 

to 40 percent of our guests who watched 

the trailer or visited the showtimes page 

for Parasite got out to the theater to 

watch the film. If Alamo customers have 

an opportunity to see films like Parasite 

when they enter the VOD window, and 

support their local cinema by doing so, 

we believe many of them will. And if we 

couple that Alamo On Demand screening 

with a great preshow, cocktail delivery, 

director Q&A, and additional content, 

we’ve given our at-home guests a version 

of the Alamo experience. We’re taking the 

same approach we have with the cinema 

to Alamo On Demand: craft and curate 

a special, memorable experience built 

around movies we love.” 

The moviegoing experience is often 

cited as one of the main advantages 

cinemas have over the leading SVOD 

streaming platforms, and with the rise 

of exhibitor VOD, that advantage could 

potentially extend to the home as well. 

“Let Disney, Warner, and Netflix 

worry about producing original content. 

Cinemas don’t need to be content creators, 

they just need to focus on creating 

experiences,” says Mihai Crasneanu, CEO 

of Beem, a streaming platform that helps 

cinemas organize co-watching events 

online. These events, billed as “Watch 

Parties,” allow users at different locations 

to host and attend feature film screenings 

that can include Q&As, moderated 

discussions, or live commentary. The cowatching 

feature gives users the chance 

to interact with other viewers as they 

watch content. [Disclosure: Beem’s cowatching 

events are offered to cinemas by 

Boxoffice Pro’s corporate parent, The 

Boxoffice Company.] 

“Movie theaters have the opportunity 

to deliver online experiences that are 

connected with physical experiences,” 

says Crasneanu. “‘Online’ is not a bad 

word. As human beings, we’re both online 

and offline all the time. Each time you 

look at your phone, you’re online. And 

whenever you’re not looking at your 

phone, you’re offline. It’s not about offline 

versus online; it’s about reaching people 

where they are at any given moment.” 

Crasneanu built Beem around the 

concept of eventizing home viewing, 

allowing venues to turn the saturation 

associated with streaming content 

into unique experiences through their 

brands. The service has been busy adding 

additional innovations to its platform, 

like the inclusion of non-fungible tokens 

(NFTs), or collectable digital souvenirs, of 

their co-watching events for viewers. If 

streaming at home can seem routine and 

anonymous, the equivalent of ambient 

television playing in the background, 

services like Beem are a way for exhibitors 

to leverage their status as experiencedriven 

entertainment destinations to 

influence home viewership habits. 

While co-watching events can occur 

either simultaneously with a physical 

event at a theater or be held exclusively 

online, Crasneanu doesn’t believe cowatching 

could cannibalize moviegoing. 

He views co-watching as a different type of 

communal viewing experience altogether. 

“Maybe I can’t go out that night for some 

reason: I need a babysitter, it’s too far 

from home, I’m sick, whatever. There 

is no reason why a movie theater can’t 

provide a version of that experience to 

the home. It’s a different experience, yes, 

but it creates additional engagement with 

their customers that can’t, or don’t, go 

out to theaters very often but still want to 

engage with their brand and participate in 

experiences from home.” 

Alamo Drafthouse’s Tim League 

also sees a future in which exhibitor 

VOD complements, not supplants, the 

moviegoing experience. “We’ve always 

operated under the guiding principle that 

no matter how good your TV and sound 

system are at home, everyone wants and 

needs to get out of the house and have 

memorable experiences. Cinema is an 

out-of-home experience. We compete 

against bars, restaurants, comedy clubs, 

and the like,” he says. “I’m not naive 

enough to think the rise of streaming 

during the pandemic won’t have any 

effect. But we’re going to continue to 

focus on offering a great experience for a 

night out, and I am confident that we will 

return stronger than ever.” 

Right. Beem brings the 

communal aspects of 

moviegoing to the home. 


25


ART HOUSE 

ON DEMAND 

Specialty Exhibitors Turn to Digital 

Platforms in the Pandemic 

BY KEVIN LALLY 

The independent and art house 

theater communities were true 

pioneers in establishing virtual screenings 

at the very start of the pandemic 

shutdown. One driving force was the 

respected independent distributor Kino 

Lorber, which had just opened its Cannes 

award-winning dark comedy thriller 

Bacurau in New York City on March 6, 

2020. According to CEO Richard Lorber, 

some 60 to 80 additional theaters had 

been slated to show the acclaimed film 

when everything halted in mid-March. 

As Lorber told Boxoffice Pro in April 

2020, those theaters “had already spent 

funding sources to promote the film and 

engage their membership base. We came 

to the conclusion that we could, in effect, 

hybridize our theatrical distribution 


Left. 

Tori Baker, CEO and 

president of the 

nonprofit Salt Lake 

Film Society 

“The purpose of a digital 

screen is not the same as 

your bricks-and-mortar 

screen. Does it still play 

films? Yes. But the question 

is, what is the purpose?“ 

model with our VOD technology.” The 

“totally theater-centric” platform, branded 

as Kino Marquee, was up and running 

within days and used by more than 100 

theaters by the end of March 2020. To 

date, more than 750 theaters and festivals 

have used the platform, with revenue from 

virtual screenings split 50/50. In December 

2020, the New York Film Critics Circle 

gave Kino Lorber a special award for this 

service “designed to help support movie 

theaters, not destroy them.” 

One exhibitor immediately inspired 

by Kino Lorber’s initiative was Tori 

Baker, CEO and president of the nonprofit 

Salt Lake Film Society, which runs the 

Broadway and Tower theaters in Salt Lake 

City, Utah. Her colleague Miles Romney 

had already created an online media 

accelerator studio for the Film Society, 

which they adapted into a new streaming 

platform called @homeArts. 

“I started to see the innovations of 

companies like Kino Lorber, where they 

immediately pivoted to helping the art 

houses,” Baker recalls. “Unfortunately, 

the sacrifice the art house had to make 

was to allow the audience out from under 

their wing and off to those other services. 

Which is a problem we were facing long 

before the pandemic—people going to 

Netflix or Disney Plus or whatever. It was 

amazing and innovative of Kino, but at 

the same time it wasn’t really solving 

our problem of managing cash during a 

crisis. In the model where you’re sending 

customers off to other services, you’re 

sending your most valuable asset out the 

door and asking them to participate in 

a thing that you had no control over in 

terms of quality service. And it was also 

not pulling in the cash the way box office 

does—the business model of theaters is 

[that] the cash hits the box office first. It 

was literally a business model that was 180 

degrees off from what we were used to. So 

I was looking for a way, technology-wise, 

to build a fundraising support system 

that allows everybody to also support 

the filmmakers and the distributors that 

maybe don’t have screening [platforms] 90 

percent done like Kino did.” 

Baker closed her theaters on March 13, 

2020, and had the @homeArts platform 

up and running on April 3, joined in this 

venture by the Coolidge Corner Cinema in 

Brookline, Massachusetts. By August 2020, 

they had added nine more art houses, 

including Film Forum in New York, the 

Avalon in Washington, D.C., and the 

Roxie in San Francisco. At its peak, the 

@homeArts cohort boasted 34 participants, 

including non-cinema members like the 

Salt Lake Acting Company. 

This platform mimicked a real-life 

theater, with virtual box offices and films 

opening on a Friday for a limited run. 

“The key point,” Baker notes, “was the 

fundraising ask. At what point do you say, 

in addition to your ticket, can you support 

the cinema coming back? That was the 

key success of the digital platform for 

us—in our case, 40 percent is our average 

of donations to the ticket buy. Most of 

the other cohorts are hovering around 35, 

some less, some more—it depends on how 

robust they were in their fundraising and 

engagement processes before they took on 

the technology.” 

Now it’s time to look toward the future, 

Baker says. “The purpose of a digital 

screen is not the same as your bricks-andmortar 

screen. Does it still play films? Yes. 

But the question is, what is the purpose? 

I’m trying to educate our cohorts that the 

purpose is multifaceted and has a lot of 

abilities for growth. And that growth is 

going to be more of the mission space— 

how you impact your local community— 

than the high revenue-generation space.” 

As part of its mission, Salt Lake Film 

Society has conducted what Baker 

calls “cultural tours,” festivals of films 

from Mexico, Israel, the Pacific Islands, 

and other regions. Taking those tours 

digital “taught us a lot about accessibility. 

It taught us about how to reach into 

diverse communities that aren’t able to 

access our capital city, or maybe even 

don’t feel welcome in the capital. Art 

house audiences are primarily plus-45, 

white, fairly affluent. That’s not without 

exception—there are college towns and 

rural towns. … We’d had Filméxico at our 

bricks-and-mortar for the past 10 years and 

were successful with it. But when we took 

it virtually and made it accessible on our 

digital screen, something else happened. 

People were able to access us because 

they didn’t have to come into our physical 

home where they might not feel welcome, 

or maybe they’re intimidated about 

navigating the city, or maybe they don’t 

have the economic means to come here.” 

Baker says she tripled attendance for 

her cultural tours by going virtual. “I’m 

limited on an opening night to 250 seats 

in one auditorium. I’ve brought in one 


27


director to talk about the movie. With 

the digital screen model, we were able to 

access every single director from every 

single film.” 

On a broader level, Baker says a digital 

screen can bring access to “health-risk 

groups in this pandemic who can’t leave 

their homes, groups that have mobility 

issues, low-income groups, and elderly 

facilities that can’t take their residents 

out anymore.” She adds, “Maybe in the 

case of a snowbird, when you run a 

theater like I do where it’s winter most 

of the year, they can take your theater 

with them to Arizona now. So those 

screens can serve a purpose for your core 

audience as well.” 

Baker suggests another possibility for 

widening a theater’s mission. “Let’s say 

you put a program together with films like 

I Am Not Your Negro or Freedom Riders, 

and you’re a company that’s interested in 

sharing with your employees the Black 

experience in America. Your digital screen 

could help your entire community in 

a different way. People in the business 

sector could have access to a diversity 

project that uses the art of film instead of 

just a lecture.” 

An active member of Baker’s 

@homeArts cohort is Diana Martinez, 

artistic director of Film Streams, a 

nonprofit that operates the Ruth Sokolof 

Theater and the historic Dundee Theater 

in Omaha, Nebraska. She already had a 

working relationship with @homeArts 

booker Connie White of Balcony Booking 

and didn’t need much persuading to join 

the cohort. 

“Film Streams @Home gives us an 

opportunity to expand our mission and 

engage our patrons even while closed,” she 

says. “We pivoted our new releases and 

repertory programming to the digital space, 

were able to adapt education and special 

programs with discussion components 

like ‘Science on Screen,’ and created a 

virtual fundraiser event. These all proved 

successful. Likewise, our administrative 

staff adapted to the rhythm of virtual 

cinema, from box office reporting to 

providing tech help to customers. Though 

it was a great deal of work, @home became 

an extension of our brand. 

“The focus of @homeArts on user 

experience was key for us. Before 

@homeArts, we were sending patrons 

directly to different distributors’ sites, 

where the patron had to make a separate 

“When you spend so much 

time building an audience 

and gaining that trust, it’s 

great to know that that 

connection can carry far 

beyond our physical space 

in a tangible way.” 

account each time. @homeArts really 

streamlined and improved the user 

experience by offering a one-site, one-login 

solution, and we saw sustained engagement 

and positive feedback from that.” 

Martinez notes that “our audience on 

the platform gravitates toward tonally 

lighter fare, or choices anchored with 

indie stars—films like I Used to Go Here 

and Black Bear play really well in a 

setting with more distractions. That was 

a bit of a learning curve for me, because 

curatorially it demands a different kind 

of viewing than theatrical, and I had 

to program to that. I had to consider: 

If people have to pause the film or get 

distracted, does this story have the 

narrative momentum for them to press 

play again?” 


She says the online platform “helped 

immensely” in the marketing of her 

December 2020 fundraising event with 

the Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, 

“Icons: A Conversation with Chloé 

Zhao.” “We have over 55K views on that 

interview. … We filmed introductions to 

films as part of our ‘Science on Screen’ 

series. We had an interview series 

highlighting community partners. We 

began creating content that could take 

the place of our in-person events; offering 

those for free alongside films went a 

long way to differentiate us from being 

just another streaming service. We’re 

currently discussing what other content 

we can make now that we’re open that 

complements our theatrical films and inperson 

events.” 

Film Streams @Home seems to be here 

to stay. “We have two venues with two 

screens each, but we will always be limited 

by how many seats we have to sell when 

there’s lots of good film to play, so our 

virtual screen can be that fifth, unlimited 

space. As a local theater, we also hadn’t 

found a way to stay connected to patrons 

who move away or are less able to get to 

us physically. People can take us along 

wherever they are. And when you spend 

so much time building an audience and 

gaining that trust, it’s great to know that 

that connection can carry far beyond our 

physical space in a tangible way.” 

Martinez says, “I personally think 

the pandemic amplified issues already 

present in the theatrical model rather 

than created wholly new ones. Art houses 

probably could have tried to respond 

to streaming sooner, to have stronger 

national brands outside our local contexts, 

to become more accessible, to think 

more deeply about funding structures 

and diversifying sources of revenue. A 

great advantage of being an art house or 

an independent theater is our ability to 

be nimble, so even though the theater 

business will continue to be in flux, I 

think we’re more adaptable. 

“We began a phased reopening of our 

two locations in late May—opening our 

biggest screen at the Dundee Theater 

and then our smallest screen at the same 

location in early July. The Ruth Sokolof 

Theater will open fully by late July. I 

hope we can play films with the regularity 

we used to, but the movie business is 

unpredictable. There is always a sense of 

the unknown, but I remain optimistic.” 

Back on the East Coast, another 

resourceful @homeArts member 

is Amherst Cinema, a three-screen, 

nonprofit cinema in Amherst, 

Massachusetts. “We pivoted to streaming 

films within three weeks of our closure, 

and at that time it was truly the Wild West,” 

recalls Yasmin Chin Eisenhauer, executive 

director. Then they joined the Salt Lake 

Film Society’s initiative. “Like a startup, 

it took some time to help our filmgoing 

community navigate and understand our 

new platform. While the revenues from 

this innovation did not fully make up for 

income, it did keep us connected to our 

community.” 

George Myers, general manager, says, 

“We were certainly affirmed in our belief 

in the power of cinema. That in difficult 

times art is not disposable and people 

turn to cinema for entertainment, healing, 

escape, and learning. Though it was 

clearly a different experience than being 

in the cinema in person, our patrons still 

relied on us to provide great films and 

engagement with film culture. The support 

and concern for our future well-being was 

immense, and we’re grateful to be here and 

of service to our community and region. 

It was also a good opportunity to review 

ways in which we could alter what we do, 

including virtual Q&As, online seminars, 

and rethinking many of the systems we 

had inherited as an industry.” 

The Amherst Cinema strove to bring 

excitement to its virtual programming. 

“We were thrilled to be able to offer 

multiple presentations of live scored 

silent shorts with [silent film historian 

and accompanist) Ben Model,” Eisenhauer 

notes. “We’ve long admired his work 

in the New York City area but were 

never able to get him up here to western 

Massachusetts. He developed an entire 

digital broadcasting rig on his piano 

in his living room to live-score and 

stream these wonderful silent shorts. A 

digital retrospective and interview with 

filmmaker Andrew Bujalski was also a real 

highlight. In addition to those events, we 

were able to host some truly wonderful 

Q&As with filmmakers from around 

the world, often multiple times a week, 

including legendary jazz bassist Buster 

Williams, journalist Jaan Uhelszki, and 

director Spencer Nakasako.” 

Eisenhauer continues, “I think one of 

our takeaways [from our period of closure] 

is to remain agile, nimble, and openminded 

to the ways we might deliver our 

programming. We’re certainly looking 

forward to and will be prioritizing our inperson 

operations but will also continue 

virtual programming for the foreseeable 

future. Virtual cinema enabled program 

continuity in uncertain times and was also 

a pathway to greater inclusivity.” 

Myers adds, “The addition of the 

virtual space helps in some ways with 

the limitations of screen time/space that 

we face as independent theaters. Being 

able to broaden what you’re able to play 

may allow theaters to realize their vision 

and mission more fully and help attract a 

broader audience or create more impactful 

relationships with existing communities. 

On the other hand, the curation of the 

virtual space needs to be treated with the 

same care and consideration as your firstrun 

films, so audiences see that you hold 

the films in the same regard. Additionally, 

there’s an opportunity to reach audiences 

beyond your traditional footprint, which 

is a great opportunity to touch lives 

beyond your normal catchment area.” 

Does Myers see his in-person business 

returning to normal? “That’s the milliondollar 

question. It depends on what 

‘normal’ means, but I think the easier and 

honest answer is no, and likely that should 

be true of all theaters. If the pandemic 

didn’t reveal some shortcomings, 

oversights, deficiencies, or other 

information, I would wager you’re not 

looking closely enough at your operations 

or listening hard enough to your staff. This 

was a monumental event, and I hope that 

with all that happened and was lost over 

the past 18 months, we at least use it as a 

teachable moment in ways we can do our 

work better.” 

In conclusion, Salt Lake’s Tori Baker 

declares, “The good news is that at the 

end of the day this technology is not 

going anywhere, and we have a pathway 

to continue to develop the components 

that make it even more valuable to 

distributors, more valuable to the art 

house community, more succinct in its 

fundraising components. But in order to 

develop [@homeArts], we want to make 

sure that we’re impacting enough people 

nationwide.” 


29

Industry INDIE INFLUENCERS 

INDIE INFLUENCERS 

Brought to you by 

As the cinema industry begins to emerge from the Covid-19 

pandemic, Boxoffice Pro and Spotlight Cinema Networks are 

partnering to profile movie theaters and influential industry 

figures from across the country and asking them to share their 

first-person accounts of bringing the movies back to the big screen. 

LOOK DINE-IN CINEMAS 

Interview with Brian Schultz, CEO 

Veteran exhibitor and dine-in cinema 

pioneer Brian Schultz talked to 

Boxoffice Pro about his latest cinema 

project, Look Dine-In Cinemas. 

Can you tell us about the first job you 

had in the exhibition industry—how 

you came to it and how it evolved 

into the career you have now? 

I always loved going to the movies. Believe 

it or not, my first job was taking over a 

one-screen, sub-run movie theater that 

was built in 1948 here in Dallas, Texas. 

I was traveling from Washington, D.C., 

on my way back to Southern California, 

where I grew up. I was supposed to run 

a theater there, but I never quite made it 

back to California. 

How did that evolve into your work 

in the dine-in space, which you’ve 

been instrumental in launching in 

North America? 

I’ve been doing this for 29 years. It’s a 

passion project for me. It was love at first 

sight. I saw a movie theater/restaurant 

in Bethesda, Maryland. They had some 

frozen chicken fingers. They had some 

warm draft beer. I don’t know why, but 

I fell in love with it, and I couldn’t think 

of anything else. I said, “Boy, what 

would it be like if you could combine a 

great hospitality experience with a great 

moviegoing experience?” And we’ve 

spent the last 29 years trying to evolve 

that. Not only for the moviegoing public, 

but also for in-theater dining, which is 

an important way that people can enjoy 

film, especially those that maybe don’t 

like concession stands. They want a whole 

hospitality entertainment experience. 

Theatrical isn’t always the fastest to 

innovate. I really enjoy that space of 

pushing the industry and continuing to 

re-create. When we talk a little bit about 

Covid, what a horrible time for all of us, 

but also a time for the entire industry to 

reinvent itself. 

When you start something new in the 

cinema space, what are the hurdles 

you encounter in bringing your vision 

to its full potential? 

I don’t look at things as hurdles. I actually 

look at them as additional tests, so that we 

can continue to evolve. I like a philosophy 

of plan, do, check, adjust. We make a plan. 

It sounds really good. It looks good on 

paper. We think it’s going to work. And 

then we do it. And then we check it. And 

then we make adjustments. That constant 

reflection and improvement, continuously, 

makes a huge difference in how a concept 

can move from one point to another. 


Industry INDIE INFLUENCERS 

There are always going to be 

things that you learn the hard way, 

especially when you’re bringing the 

hospitality sector and the cinema 

sector together into one unique 

concept. What are some of those 

early management lessons that are 

still part of your philosophy today? 

A lot of lessons come from the movie 

theater business. It’s really feast or famine, 

with huge peaks and huge lulls. From 

a staffing perspective, it’s tough. From 

a food and beverage preparation and 

ordering perspective, it’s tough. Bringing 

that all together to make sure that we can 

pick films, schedule them properly, and 

then schedule the right number of staff 

and purchase the right amount of food is 

always the challenge. 

If you think about serving 800 of your 

best friends in a one-hour period—fresh, 

hot, made-to-order meals—you can see 

where that challenge is. And the solution 

that I came up with was, instead of always 

trying to optimize or cut labor or be the 

most efficient financially, I focus on the 

team member: making sure that they 

always earned a living wage and had a 

great place to work. And that created a 

hospitality environment that made the 

difference. That made guests want to 

come. It really differentiated us from being 

solely dependent on the film. Although 

the film is obviously such a critical point 

of what we do and really represents why 

people come to a dine-in theater, there’s 

[also] the hospitality aspect. We’ve always 

had a lot of our guests just show up to the 

brand: “We’re coming to Look Dine-In 

Cinemas. Now, what’s showing?” It is a 

tough thing to execute. Eight hundred 

meals, high-quality, fresh, made-to-order, 

delivered to your seat without distracting 

from the main thing, which is the movie. 

“If you think about serving 

800 of your best friends in 

a one-hour period—fresh, 

hot, made-to-order meals— 

you can see where that 

challenge is.“ 

bit differently. Unfortunately, through 

my daredevil background—racing 

motorcycles and various things—I had a 

few extra that I prefer not to replicate. 

But it always made me think—combined 

with growing up not the wealthiest, 

not the poorest, but on the lower end of 

the socioeconomic [spectrum]—“Let’s 

take care of the team, because the team’s 

the actual one that’s serving the guest.” 

And then I was blessed with some great 

mentors. Right when I came to Dallas, a 

gentleman named Norman Brinker—who 

was the founder of [Steak and Ale and] 

Brinker International, [which owns] Chili’s 

and Maggiano’s [Little Italy]—taught me 

how to build a great organization that’s 

team-focused. We used to meet weekly at 

the theater, and we would create this infrastructure. 

Whether it’s training, financial 

awareness, or just general kindness. We 

learned that all got embedded and became 

an important part, maybe even the important 

part. It affected so many different 

things that we did at the cinema. 

Even our—what we call “sensory 

friendly” now, but we called them “special 

needs screenings” in the past—that all 

came out of one of my managers not being 

Throughout the projects you’ve 

worked on in your career, you’ve put 

an emphasis on corporate social 

responsibility (CSR). Can you talk 

about why CSR is such an important 

part of your business philosophy? 

What’s a little bit strange is I’ve had five 

certified near-death experiences. With 

every near-death experience, there’s an 

internal transformation or learning that 

happens. What’s so fascinating, as we 

look forward, I think the entire world’s 

had a near-death experience and a chance 

to really reflect and look at life a little 


able to take his family to a movie. For me, 

movies are a platform for learning, for 

opening perspective and really being able 

to venture into different types of lives 

that can be educational. I know that I’ve 

learned so much from movies. So that’s 

part of that motivation. Even though a lot 

of the programs that we do sound good, 

and they’re great initiatives, it’s really 

movie by movie, guest by guest. We try to 

create this opening of perspective and an 

escape that allows people to continue on 

their journey. 

Cinema is really a populist 

experience—it’s an affordable form of 

entertainment, and everyone should 

be able to take part in it. 

I love that the movies really are for the 

population. And for different generations 

concurrently. Now, I also love food. And 

I love beverages. And I think that that 

rounds out the experience. But I’m taking 

this opportunity to re-create, in Look 

Dine-In Cinemas, the ability to have a 

distraction-free dine-in experience. By 

making some transitions, where before we 

had beautiful interior parts of the theaters, 

now we’ve really stripped that down to 

be more of a black box concept, so that 

you can really disappear and focus into 

the film. Not taking orders after the main 

feature begins. Really having the systems 

and processes. Ninja-like servers in their 

black shirts and black pants can get the 

food on the table before the movie really 

begins. All those things so that we can 

really honor the moviegoing experience 

and allow people to not be distracted 

in any way. That was really the chief 

drawback of dine-in that we heard. There’s 

a distinct population that thought it was 

distracting. So, at the start of Covid, that 

was one of the main things that I wanted 

to overcome at Look Dine-In Cinemas. 

The pandemic gave us all a chance 

to step back and recalibrate our 

future activities. That was the case 

for you. Can you walk us through how 

you got the Look Dine-In Cinemas 

concept together? 

In April of 2020, when Covid was really 

going on, I took a step back, started to 

reflect, and knew that this was going 

to be a tough road. I hired a consulting 

group called Jump, and we had one 

question, which was: If we were going 

to try to re-create the entire moviegoing 

community, what would we do? That’s 

the core playbook for the future of Look 

Dine-In Cinemas. Now, I always loved 

Look Cinemas. They had one location 

in Dallas, which oddly enough ended 

up replacing my original theater. They 

built an absolutely gorgeous location 

there. I always loved the feel of it, the 

brand, which is a little bit of an elevated 

food-and-beverage concept. I talked to 

the founder, Brian Mason, who’s a good 

friend, [and] Covid really wiped them 

out. There was a great relationship where 

we could get together, and I decided that 

this would be the perfect vehicle in the 

perfect brand to really extend and bring 

across the country. And that’s exactly 

what we’re doing. But the ethos of what he 

developed and that reputation for being 

future-forward innovation, high-quality 

food [remains.] 

I love that idea of starting from 

square one and figuring out what 

you want to do from there. Because 

there’s a lot to experiment with in how 

the traditional theater is run. 

Change is tough. A lot of things have 

been baked in for decades. Being able 

to start from a fresh piece of paper and 

just build from there was really a treat. A 

little bit scary. But a lot of fun. It got me 

really thinking, talking, learning, and 

trying things from all different kinds of 

industries that we could piece together 

into what we think is something really 

special that’s going to help lead our 

industry out of Covid and onto bigger and 

better things. 

That’s a question that every 

exhibitor around the world is asking 

themselves right now: What can we 

do as an industry to emerge from this 

pandemic in a positive way? What is 

in your mind that cinemas can do to 

move forward past the pandemic? 

So many of us are still tethered to the 

past, where there are big Hollywood 

blockbusters and we show them five 

times a day. It has to be in the largest 

auditorium for a certain amount of time. 

There are all these rules. I think the move 

is going to be from film booking to content 

programming. Our theaters hopefully will 

become kind of community centers. With 

the audiovisual improvements, with folks 

like [event cinema distributors] doing 

different things, I think we’re going to be 

bringing a lot more content to the screen. 

And with the shrinking of windows, I 

think that there’s going to have to be 

mutual flexibility to really bring to the 

communities what they want and to be 

more of a community gathering place that 

can use technology to bring us forward. 

Whether that’s video conferencing and 

training, concerts, education. And, 

obviously, our main thing is film. 

From a moviegoer’s perspective, you 

show up to a theater and you see a 

movie—people don’t really have an 

idea of the complex relationships 

that go into this business and how 

financially challenging it can be at 

times. One of the things that helps 

on that latter front is in-cinema 

advertising. Could you fill us in on 

your connection with Spotlight 

Cinema Networks and how cinema 

advertising can help Look Dine-In 

Cinemas as it expands? 

That’s a great relationship. It’s an example 

of a chance to really start from a blank 

page of paper and focus on, “Who would 

the best partner be?” And I don’t think 

of Spotlight as cinema advertising. I 

think of it as part of the show. Bringing 

our guests information about products, 

films, all different kinds of things that 

are educational. They’ve done a great 

job partnering and creating a preshow 

that’s both entertaining and informative. 

But not just hawking national brands or 

general products that you can see on TV. 

They’re really trying to tailor the content 

to that customer base. 

“Change is tough. A lot of 

things have been baked in 

for decades. Being able to 

start from a fresh piece of 

paper and just build from 

there was really a treat.“ 


33

Industry INDUSTRY INSIDERS 

DOWN TO THE 

LAST DETAIL 

DEBI BOIS AT 

THE MOVIES 

The Motion Picture 

Association’s Debi Bois Steps 

Down After 15 Years at the MPA 


After 15 years overseeing special 

projects at the Motion Picture 

Association, including the MPA’s annual 

presence at CinemaCon, industry veteran 

Debi Bois is stepping down from her role 

as she enters retirement. Her connection 

to the MPA dates to 1985, when she was 

the executive assistant of MPA board 

member and then-Paramount Pictures 

executive vice president Bob Pisano. Bois 

continued working as Pisano’s assistant 

through executive appointments at MGM 

and the Screen Actors Guild before they 

both landed at the MPA in 2006. 

By that time, Bois had already become 

a seasoned veteran in coordinating the 

intricate logistics ahead of the biggest 

convention on the industry’s calendar. 

Working from Los Angeles, Bois was 

responsible for arranging Pisano’s schedule 

at ShoWest, the predecessor to CinemaCon 

in Las Vegas, getting him to and from every 

location on the executive’s daily agenda. 

In addition to the early lessons absorbed 

from that experience, Bois also recalls the 

studio’s gift baskets during the ShoWest 

days. “It was fabulous,” she says, “and one 

year I managed to land one. I still have 

some of the pieces from it today!” 

Bois was promoted to director of 

special projects–West Coast at the MPA 

in 2011, following Pisano’s departure 

from the association. In that role, Bois 

was responsible for a variety of detailed 

tasks with multiple moving parts. “My 

role primarily focused on logistics,” Bois 

says. “I managed West Coast logistics for 

our chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin 

after he joined the MPA in 2017, worked 

with the COLCOA French Film Festival to 

bring French cinema to the United States, 

led our events committee, ran logistics 

for large executive and board meetings, 

and, of course, managed all of the MPA’s 

presence at CinemaCon.” 

Bois attended her first CinemaCon in 

2012, where she was tasked with handling 

the entirety of the MPA’s logistics at the 

conference. “The first big event I staffed 

was the joint NATO and MPA State of 

the Industry presentation that took 

place in the over-4,000-seat Caesars 

Palace Colosseum, filled to capacity. The 

enthusiasm that filled the venue was 

incredible, and you could instantly tell 

how much the theater owners loved these 

events. I remember how welcoming John 

Fithian, Mitch Neuhauser, Matt Pollock, 

Matt Shapiro, and Patrick Corcoran were 

that morning and how thankful I was that 

they guided me through the process. All 

of them are still with NATO today, and I 

think it is a true testament to how special 

that team is that the leaders and staff have 

been there for years and years.” 

The biggest challenges Bois faced in 

the role are familiar to anyone who has 

attended CinemaCon: finding a place to 

host a lunch or hold a private meeting 

on the fly. “CinemaCon is always so well 

attended that finding a last-minute place 

to host something can be difficult,” she 

says. To ensure the MPA’s schedule could 

be followed as closely as possible, Bois 

went as far as carrying a pedometer at 

her first CinemaCon. She recalls walking 

almost 13 miles a day as she timed 

and mapped walking routes between 

meeting sites at Caesars Palace. “After all 

my years at the event, I typically knew 

how to address any challenges quickly 

and could always tell you the fastest way 

to get somewhere depending on the time 

of day,” she says. 

As the head of the event committee in 

L.A., Bois was responsible for organizing 

Moviegoing Memory 

I grew up in a very small 

town. There was only one 

theater—the Scenic Theatre. 

On Saturday afternoons it 

catered to the children in the 

community, and as a little 

girl I can remember dancing 

and costume contests there. 

They also used to hide little 

tags under the seats where 

we could win prizes. At 

Christmastime, the theater 

would be open for parents 

to leave their children while 

they went holiday shopping. 

Growing up with something like 

that was very special. 

As I grew up, I visited California 

to see if I wanted to move 

there. I saw my very first movie 

in a theater in Westwood. It 

was Foul Play, starring Chevy 

Chase and Goldie Hawn. I was 

21 then, so you can imagine 

the excitement of sitting in a 

gigantic theater—with stereo! 

So very different from the 

Scenic Theatre I was used to! 

At the Concession Stand 

The minute I was old enough 

to pay for my own concessions, 

I would order a giant popcorn 

with extra butter and water— 

and, of course, I wouldn’t 

share with anyone! My tip 

to everyone is, don’t eat the 

popcorn until the movie starts! 


what she calls “modest but fabulous 

holiday parties.” Doing so required 

the special touch that defined all her 

assignments at the MPA: making sure that 

member studios and industry partners 

always felt taken care of in Los Angeles 

and were treated like family. 

Among the career highlights she 

lists during her tenure at the MPA was 

her first trip to an industry event in 

Washington D.C., where Will Smith 

served as a keynote speaker and former 

MPA chief Jack Valenti, then retired, 

was in attendance. “It was a great first 

introduction to Washington, with such 

a lively and energetic environment,” 

she remembers. The biggest highlight, 

however, came when the MPA organized 

a luncheon for Ban Ki-moon, the former 

Secretary General of the United Nations. 

“I had the privilege of working with his 

advance staff and security,” she says. “It 

was definitely a highlight, not only in my 

career, but in my life.” 

“I get emotional about [my retirement] 

because I’ve truly had an incredible 

time at the Motion Picture Association 

and at CinemaCon,” Bois says. “I have 

“The enthusiasm that filled 

the venue was incredible, 

and you could instantly tell 

how much the theater owners 

loved these events.” 

learned so many things about advocacy, 

teamwork, and having trust and respect 

for everyone I’ve met at the MPA. I 

certainly never thought spring 2020 

would be the last time I would see anyone 

before my retirement. I actually planned 

that I would attend CinemaCon 2020 and 

announce my retirement after the 2021 

dates were announced. As for the people 

at CinemaCon, they were so helpful, 

responsive, flexible, organized, and 

professional. I have nothing but praise for 

CinemaCon staff and events. Overall, I had 

such a fabulous experience. Though it was 

a tremendous amount of work, it was also 

the time of my life.” 


35

INDUSTRY CENTURY IN EXHIBITION 

‘ 

0 

s 

12020 marked the 100th anniversary of 

A CENTURY 

IN EXHIBITION 

The 2010s: The Great 

Disruption 

BY VASSILIKI MALOUCHOU 

the founding of Boxoffice Pro. Though 

the publication you hold in your hands 

has had different owners, headquarters, 

and even names—it was founded in 

Kansas City by 18-year-old Ben Shlyen 

as The Reel Journal, then called Boxoffice 

in 1933, and more recently Boxoffice 

Pro—it has always remained committed 

to theatrical exhibition. 

From the 1920s to the 2020s, Boxoffice 

Pro has always had one goal: to provide 

knowledge and insight to those who bring 

movies to the public. Radio, TV, home 

video, and streaming have all been perceived 

as threats to the theatrical exhibition 

industry over the years, but movie 

theaters are still here—and so are we. 

We at Boxoffice Pro are devotees 

of the exhibition industry, so we couldn’t 

resist the excuse of a centennial to 

explore our archives. What we found was 

not just the story of a magazine, but the 

story of an industry—the debates, the 

innovations, the concerns, and above 

all the beloved movies. We hope you’ve 

enjoyed our 10-part series, A Century in 

Exhibition, which concludes in this issue. 


The 2010s were eventful for the 

exhibition industry, full of rapid, 

profound transformations, innovation, 

and ingenuity, most notably the 

digitalization of the economy. Thanks 

to new platforms, social media, and big 

data, exhibitors and studios harnessed 

the power of information to better 

communicate with and understand 

their audiences. 

But with new opportunities also 

came new threats, as third parties and 

streaming platforms “disrupted” the 

cinema industry, largely from the comfort 

of the audience’s home. The disruption, 

however, pushed exhibitors to innovate 

and offer unique cinematic experiences 

in their theaters. A key element of that 

innovation had been under way since 

the previous decade in the form of digital 

projection. In 2009, only 15 percent of 

screens worldwide had been digitally 

converted. Ten years later, the digital 

transition was nearly complete, as 97 

percent of the world’s 200,000 screens 

were digitized. Digitalization established 

a new standard for cinema technology 

and raised the bar for premium offerings 

like 3-D, premium large-format screens, 

and immersive seating. 

The digital transition was a global 

endeavor, and exhibition gained a 

distinctly multinational identity through 

increased technological exchanges and 

innovations and an expansion of global 

markets, which in turn transformed 

Hollywood films and the studio system. 

The Digital Road Map: Reaching 

the Connected Moviegoer 

The switch to digital tools, especially the 

smartphone, ushered in a second digital 

revolution for the movie theater industry. 

The adoption of new technologies 

expanded the reach of exhibitors, who 

were now able to communicate directly 

with their customers anytime and 

anywhere, giving them, perhaps for the 

first time in the history of the industry, the 

power to better know their audiences. 

The push to innovate initially came 

from outside players, as third-party digital 

companies rushed to fulfill market needs 

that had been neglected by exhibition. 

Digital ticketing was such a market. In 

2010, Fandango and MovieTickets.com, 

the biggest online ticketing companies in 

the U.S., celebrated their 10th birthdays. 

Their first decade had been marked by 

growth and innovation. In the 2010s, 

Fandango’s expansion was particularly 

aggressive: it acquired Ingresso and 

Cinepapaya to ground itself in Latin 

America, established a presence in the U.K. 

and Canada, and diversified its content 

with the acquisition of leading YouTube 

channel MovieClips, streaming platform 

M-Go, and review aggregator Rotten 

Tomatoes. By the end of the decade, 

Fandango had created a comprehensive, 

international film hub with a strong, 

identifiable brand meant to accompany 

the movie fan on every step of their 

moviegoing journey. In November 

2017, it acquired its longtime rival, 

MovieTickets.com, becoming the 

indisputable leader in digital ticketing. 

Fandango, like MovieTickets.com, was 

an early adopter of one of the biggest 

trends of the decade: mobile ticketing. The 

results of mobile ticketing were promising 

as early as 2010. In an April 2010 article, 

West World Media CEO and founder Brett 

West shared encouraging figures: “In 

January, our daily average of all mobile 

users served was 13,846. In February, 

our daily average was up to 42,957.” The 

interest in mobile ticketing not only 

coincided with the popularization of 

smartphones but also with a new, mobilecentric, 

start-up culture. Companies 

such as Atom Tickets, which understood 

e-commerce primarily through mobile 

platforms, experimented with mobile apps, 

group ticketing, and dynamic pricing. 

But Silicon Valley was not the only 

influence for this shift to mobile; China 

was leading the way. Per a December 2016 

article, in 2015, 57.9 percent of movie 

tickets were bought online (as opposed 

to 20% in North America), and 9 out of 10 

of those tickets were purchased using a 


37


“Engaging with audiences 

on social media has to be 

done on the consumer’s 

terms, through the 

networks they use and 

sites they visit.” 

mobile phone. “Mobile will be the key to 

the next stage of the cinema evolution,” 

said Will Palmer, CEO of Movio, in an 

interview in May 2016. “I was just in 

China, and there’s been a huge step 

forward in mobile ticketing there, and 

that will continue to gain importance for 

a number of reasons. One, it’s convenient, 

customers can transact quicker. And 

two, it enables you to capture all the 

data information you need to capture a 

consumer’s purchase behavior.” 

In the 2010s, digital ticketing became 

more than a way to avoid long box 

office lines; it was all about reaching 

and understanding the “connected 

moviegoer.” A 2019 Boxoffice Pro 

white paper found that the entire 

journey of the moviegoer, from the 

discovery of the film to the purchase of 

tickets, increasingly took place online. 

From third-party ticketing companies to 

the growing trend of exhibitor apps and 

websites, one of the essential attributes 

of the mobile-first strategy was its 

overall convenience for the tech-savvy 

moviegoer. That meant a seamless, 

enjoyable, interactive, personalized 

platform that was always available. 

In addition to reserved seating, 

exhibitors (like AMC in May 2019) and 

third parties, such as Atom Tickets 

for select theaters, introduced mobile 

concession ordering. In the latter half 

of the decade, it became clear that the 

next frontier was about finding the 

moviegoer at the source, on any platform 

where their cinematic research started, 

including search engines and voiceactivated 

assistants like Amazon’s Alexa. 

According to Marine Suttle, SVP chief 

product officer at The Boxoffice Company 

(Boxoffice Pro’s parent company), in 

2019, Google was the third most common 

source of showtime information for 

moviegoers, behind exhibitor websites 

and Fandango. In a September 2019 

article, she summed up what that meant 

for the future of digital ticketing: “[It will 

become] easier for consumers to find 

showtimes and buy their tickets through 

a number of digital platforms, none of 

them necessarily exclusive to the cinema 

sector. The entry of digital publishers 

into the cinema e-commerce ecosystem 

signals this shift, as tech titans like 

Amazon, Facebook, and Google have 

begun to dip their toes into the business 

with unique offerings.” 

Websites, mobile apps, third-party 

platforms, search engines, virtual 

assistants—the days of the unique 

sales channel for exhibitors were long 

gone. With a rapid multiplication of 

platforms throughout the decade, it 

became imperative to target moviegoers 

on as many of them as possible. Social 

media became an essential part of this 

strategy. In April 2011, the magazine’s 

publisher, Peter Cane, noted, “everybody 

knows that social networking is changing 

the landscape, but nobody can tell you 

definitively how important it really is, how 

much of a change it’s really made, and 

how far the change will go.” 

The impact of social media on the 

entire cinema industry was nothing 

short of revolutionary. Social media 

changed marketing, programming, and 

even content itself. Boxoffice Pro 

documented this trend closely. To help 

exhibitors navigate these new tools, 

Boxoffice Pro started integrating 

Facebook and Twitter analysis into box 

office predictions in September 2009, 

presented the “Giants of Social Media,” 

with data and insights from exhibition’s 

most active social networkers, and 

launched the “Boxoffice Social Club” 

series in August 2014, with profiles of 

individuals and companies that made a 

difference in the way they harnessed the 

power of social media. Boxoffice Pro 

also gauged the interest of early “social 

networkers.” In a November 2010 article, 

an exhibitor from Alabama explained his 

enthusiasm: “Do it! At this moment, there 

is no better way to communicate with 

your customers—if for nothing else, think 

about how valuable it would be to have 

your customers read your name daily. Just 

think about that!” 

The advent of social media allowed 

exhibitors to establish a direct line 

of communication with their fans, 

empowering them to enhance their 

brands and launch grassroots marketing 

campaigns. As audiences in North 

America and Europe became older, social 

media was a way to attract younger 

moviegoers. Social media metrics also 

became key to predicting box office 

performance. Facebook, Twitter, and 

later Instagram allowed exhibitors and 

studios to quantify “word of mouth.” The 

platforms gave moviegoers the power to 

make or break a film: Their ability, or lack 

thereof, to generate “buzz” could strongly 


impact a film at any point of its release, 

especially on the opening weekend. 

“Engaging with audiences on social media 

has to be done on the consumer’s terms, 

through the networks they use and sites 

they visit,” wrote Daniel Loria in June 2015. 

Similarly, “The internet is a place where 

users have a great deal of control,” said 

Jake Zin, V.P. of digital marketing for 20th 

Century Fox in July 2010. “That’s a good 

thing, but it’s also a challenging thing as a 

marketer—we have to be very strategic.” 

Fortunately for marketing specialists, 

studios, and exhibitors, the tools that 

gave audiences more control were also 

the ones that granted the industry the 

power to be strategic. The key behind 

this was big data. Though cinemas 

often served as cultural centers for their 

communities, exhibitors had historically 

little information about their customers. 

With social media, mobile ticketing, and 

other digital tools, it became possible to 

use analytics to gather information about 

patrons and decipher their behavior, 

habits, and preferences. In October 

2014, Marcus Theatres’ president and 

CEO Rolando Rodriguez highlighted the 

importance of data. “We should know 

our customers, including how they 

prefer to purchase tickets, and we should 

customize our conversations to them.” 

Never had decision making in the 

industry been driven by data as much 

as in the 2010s. Reflecting the closer ties 

between exhibition and data, Boxoffice 

Pro was acquired by Webedia Movies Pro 

(later The Boxoffice Company), the world’s 

second-largest publisher of web and 

mobile movie platforms, in 2015. Naturally, 

the focus on data was already evident 

throughout the magazine, but it boosted 

its coverage of box office grosses, started 

using data for its predictions in 2010, and 

regularly profiled the main data players in 

the field. 

Data greatly contributed to the 

development of loyalty programs and 

an experimentation with different price 

points. Using the data, however, required 

access to the data first. “The key word 

here is control,” said Malcolm MacMillan, 

at the time chief marketing officer of 

Webedia Movies Pro. While data was 

a potential gold mine for the industry, 

exclusive proprietary data and “data 

silos” were sometimes impediments 

to effective strategies and growth. In 

particular, the collaboration between 

distribution and exhibition was crucial for 

better programming, marketing, and the 

development of content. Julien Marcel, 

CEO of Webedia Movies Pro, stressed 

the importance of sharing in a panel on 

Big Data at 2017’s CineEurope, noting 

that “this data only is valuable when we 

can share it; digital is an economy of 

collaboration.” 

The Digital ‘Disruptors’ 

The question of data and its control was 

central to the development of subscription 

services. In 2011, San Francisco–based 

MoviePass launched a subscription 

service that allowed audiences to attend 

up to one screening a day for a fee of $50, a 

price point later to be adjusted downward, 

depending on the market. Five years later, 

former Netflix and Redbox executive 

Mitch Lowe took over as CEO. MoviePass 

truly took off after the summer of 2017, 

when it was acquired by the data firm 

Helios and Matheson, which leveraged 

data from their subscribers for the purpose 

of targeted advertising and providing 

analytics to studios. The program was 

revamped, and membership prices were 

slashed to $9.99 per month. By January 

of 2018, MoviePass had gained more than 

one million subscribers, passing that 

milestone faster than Spotify, Hulu, and 

Netflix. The trade press quickly labeled 

MoviePass a “disruptor.” In February 2018, 

at the height of MoviePass’s popularity, 

Julien Marcel noted that “‘Disruption’ 

is an often-repeated buzzword in any 

business publication. (…) MoviePass 

isn’t new to the industry, and neither are 

subscription models, but its influence is 

stronger now than it has even been.” As 

proof that anything that sounds too good 

to be true usually is, in June of this year, 

the operators of MoviePass agreed to settle 


39


Federal Trade Commission allegations 

that they developed tactics to deny service 

to subscribers and failed to secure users’ 

personal data. 

Subscription models, which were 

starting to pop up in every sector of the 

economy, were already well established 

on the other side of the Atlantic. In 

France, UGC launched its UGC Illimité, 

an unlimited subscription plan, in the 

1990s as a response to the popularity of 

the cable channel CanalPlus. Cineworld, 

Odeon, and Gaumont Pathé also enjoyed 

success in implementing the concept. 

MoviePass brought the trend to the United 

States. Its early success revealed what 

could happen when the price factor was 

taken out of the equation and moviegoers 

were able to choose the theaters and films 

they truly enjoyed. As Boxoffice Pro’s 

editorial director Daniel Loria wrote in an 

interview with Mitch Lowe in February 

2018, “The MoviePass effect sheds light 

on one of the biggest challenges facing 

American exhibitors after a 2017 marked 

by a downturn in attendance. After years 

of upgrades to the moviegoing experience, 

what can the industry do to drive more 

people to the cinema? And what can be 

done to have them come back more often?” 

Subscription services skyrocketed in 

2018. Following the rapid rise of thirdparty 

providers, North American theaters 

introduced their own in-house offerings, 

often as expansions of their loyalty 

programs. In December 2017, Cinemark 

became the first major U.S. circuit to 

launch its own unlimited subscription 

service with Cinemark Movie Club, which 

experimented with concession discounts, 

shareability, and rolling credits. Just a 

few months later, AMC launched its own 

service with AMC Stubs A-List, a premier 

tier of its loyalty program. Studio Movie 

Grill, Studio C, Showcase Cinemas, Regal, 

and Alamo Drafthouse also introduced 

their own subscription services. 

The idea behind in-house subscription 

services was to boost the attendance of 

frequent moviegoers. Jean-Marie Dura, 

who was part of the UGC team when they 

first launched their subscription service, 

explained in April 2019 that to increase 

the frequency of attendance, you need to 

appeal to the audiences who support you 

the most. “The airline industry perfected 

this: If you’re a frequent flyer, you get a 

first-class experience all around. Similarly, 

we need to take care of our most frequent 

moviegoers. Our best customers are our 

greatest allies.” Ultimately, while in-house 

solutions remained, MoviePass, after 

internal power struggles and a reckoning 

with the reality of an unsustainable 

business model, interrupted its 

service on September 13, 2019. Cash 

shortages, emergency loans, and a 

plummeting stock price led to a series 

of decisions by MoviePass executives 

to secretly limit customers’ use of the 

service, irreparably damaging its brand 

reputation and ultimately leading to the 

above-mentioned FTC ruling. Despite 

its short-lived success, MoviePass was a 

catalyst in the introduction of exhibitor 

solutions. But MoviePass’s experiment 

also underscored the resilience of the 

exhibition industry against the big threat 

of the 21st century: “disruptors.” 

At the January 2017 Art House 

Convergence, producer/screenwriter 

James Schamus detailed the “latest” 

headlines from the trade press 

emphasizing the imminent demise of 

theatrical exhibition. The catch was that 

the entire presentation used clippings 

from 1916. “The alarmist, doom-andgloom 

storyline has been around for over 

a century, renewed by today’s increasingly 

tired tropes of tech stories vying to break 

the latest ‘disruption du jour,’” commented 

Boxoffice Pro’s editor in the May 

issue. In his State of the Industry address 

at CinemaCon in 2018, NATO’s John 

Fithian reassured the audience: “The 

word ‘disruption’ is thrown around way 

too much. Nothing needs to be disrupted 

when it comes to the basic goal of our 

industry: bringing people together to share 

a communal experience,” he proclaimed. 

His comments were also pointed toward 

streaming and exclusivity windows. 


“The world has fundamentally 

changed, we are told. The 

internet—and now the myriad 

of devices that connect to 

it—has altered forever the 

relationship between content 

creators and the people that 

consume it.” 

The debate began with premium 

video on demand (PVOD), an experiment 

proposed by a handful of studio 

executives in the early 2010s to counter 

the declining sales of their cash cow, 

DVDs, affected by piracy and the low 

cost of streaming outfits. The idea was 

to make films available via video on 

demand or streaming following a much 

shorter theatrical window, just 30 to 

60 days after a film opened in theaters. 

While “exhibitors and the creative 

community responded aggressively, and 

the experiment failed,” as summarized 

by Fithian in May 2012, the threat of 

streaming was just beginning. 

In August of that year, Patrick 

Corcoran, vice president and chief 

communications officer at NATO, wrote, 

“The world has fundamentally changed, 

we are told. The internet—and now 

the myriad of devices that connect to 

it—has altered forever the relationship 

between content creators and the people 

that consume it.” Streaming platforms 

had surely changed the way films were 

consumed at home. But their challenge 

to exhibition began in 2014, when 

Netflix announced a deal with Imax 

and The Weinstein Company to release 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword 

of Destiny simultaneously in theaters 

and on the streaming platform. Netflix’s 

chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, 

provoked the ire of the industry when 

he announced that “movie distribution 

is pretty stuck in old models. We need 

to stop distinguishing the experience by 

access. Many movies are just as good, if 

not better, at home.” Corcoran critiqued 

Sarandos’s position in a December 2014 

article stating that “the entire argument 

for simultaneous release is founded on 

bad faith, shoddy data, and mysterious 

bookkeeping.” Fithian also rebutted 

the economic argument put forward by 

Netflix, saying that “it makes absolutely 

no business sense to accelerate the release 

of the lowest value in the chain.” In May 

2016, in his takeaways from that year’s 

CinemaCon, Fithian argued that “third 

parties will not decide movie distribution 

models. … To be sure, more sophisticated 

window modeling may be needed for 

the growing success of a modern movie 

industry,” he wrote. “But those models 

will be developed by distributors and 

exhibitors in company-to-company 

discussions, not by third parties.” 

At that CinemaCon, another unlikely 

“disruptor,” Amazon Studios, made a 

point in front of exhibitors with the 

presentation of its upcoming films, 

including Manchester by the Sea and The 

Neon Demon. “Amazon simply gets it,” 

wrote Fithian in March 2019. “Though 

Apple [which entered streaming in 2019] 

does not have an established record of 

release patterns yet, the company has 

begun to entertain theatrical windows as 

it enters into movie deals. … The one clear 

exception to all of this, of course, is Netflix.” 

In a strategic shift, in 2018 Netflix 

announced a limited theatrical run 

prior to a streaming release to boost the 

chances of Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, the 

Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster 

Scruggs, and Susanne Bier’s Bird Box. 

While the plan allowed a small period of 

theatrical exclusivity and gave Netflix its 

first Academy Award for a feature film, 

exhibitors condemned the move because 

of the shortness of the window, as well as 

Netflix’s refusal to divulge its data. 

Despite the tension between 

exhibitors and SVOD players, toward the 

end of the decade the conversation on 

streaming moved from pure antagonism 

to complementarity—if the rules of the 

game were respected. In fact, an Ernst 

and Young survey commissioned by 

NATO in 2018 revealed that the more 

time people spend streaming at home, 

the more times they go to the cinema. At 

2019’s CinemaCon, Fithian also noted that 

streaming platforms could help audiences 

get exposed to more content that would in 

turn boost theatrical attendance. That was 

the case with the documentary renaissance 

of 2018, when 14 documentaries grossed 

over $1 million each. 

Then came November 12, 2019. In 

a watershed moment for the industry, 

Disney launched its own streaming 

platform, Disney Plus. As explained by a 

Boxoffice Pro writer, Disney’s capacity 

to leverage millions of fans due to its IPs 

“will not only drive subscriptions but help 

drive interest in further theatrical films.” 

He concluded, “Disney Plus might be 

the first streaming service to show how 

the two can coexist and thrive together.” 

Other studios quickly announced their 

plans to launch their own platforms 

in 2020, altering the dynamic with 

exhibitors. On the exhibition front, 

exhibitors also understood the value in 

building a platform that not only allowed 


41


them to adapt to the streaming and 

data era, but also to enhance their own 

brands and build a stronger, more direct 

relationship with their fans. Already 

in the late 2010s, circuits like Canada’s 

Cineplex, Mexico’s Cinépolis, and, since 

November 2019, AMC, had launched their 

own streaming services for the members 

of their loyalty programs. 

Toward a Premium-Experience 

Economy 

Just as it came to pass with the advent 

of radio, TV, Betamax, VHS, and DVDs, 

streaming revealed that the resilience of 

theaters lies, at least partly, in the unique, 

communal experience they provide. The 

experiential value of exhibition was 

frequently defended by exhibitors and 

filmmakers, including Christopher Nolan, 

Steven Spielberg, Aaron Sorkin, Sean 

Baker, Greta Gerwig, and Jordan Peele. 

With this new context of heightened 

competition with home entertainment 

and a better knowledge of the expectations 

and habits of their loyal customers, 

exhibitors fully embraced the “experience 

economy.” To provide a moment that 

could not be replicated at home, it became 

necessary for exhibitors to create a 

unique and memorable experience at a 

premium price point. Jay Baer, a digital 

marketing and online customer service 

expert, highlighted this at the 2018 

CinemaCon. “It’s not about providing a 

better experience than another theater 

chain or the cinema across town,” he said, 

“but about how your experience compares 

to everything else.” Just as exhibitors 

were improving the moviegoing journey 

with digital ticketing and mobile apps, 

they were improving the moviegoing 

experience at the theater with large-format 

screens, luxury and immersive seating, 

and premium food and drink options. 

The digital transition introduced the 

concept of premium ticket prices with 3-D. 

The industry had James Cameron’s Avatar 

to thank for their new moneymaker. “Any 

remaining doubt about the power of 3-D 

exhibition evaporated with the runaway 

success of Jim Cameron’s Avatar, a name 

applauded so often in Vegas, it would 

have made Elvis jealous,” wrote Fithian 

after the first-ever CinemaCon in May 

2010. Opening in 2009, Avatar became 

the top-grossing film of all time with 

$2.7 billion in global ticket sales, more 

than 80 percent of which came from 3-D 

screenings. Critics within the industry 

like Roger Ebert and Walter Murch took 

the view that 3-D was nothing more than 

an overpriced gimmick. Yet its effect on 

the box office was astounding. In 2010, 

according to NATO, 8 percent of box 

office revenues came from the 3-D/2-D 

ticket price differential. In March 2014, 

MasterImage 3D estimated that the 

surcharge for 3-D added $1.5 billion to box 

office sales worldwide in 2013, increasing 

profits as much as 30 percent in some 

markets. In that year, more than a third 

of U.S. screens were equipped to display 

the format. Nevertheless, the 3-D hype 

did not last long in the U.S. Disappointing 

performances of films like Star Wars: 

Episode I – The Phantom Menace and 

Titanic compelled studios to scale down 

their investments. But 3-D had already 

left its mark on the premiumization of 

the industry. “The proliferation of [PLF] 

formats in the last half-decade has to be 

considered alongside the decline of 3-D 

box office revenue in recent years,” wrote 

Daniel Loria in May 2019. The rise of PLF 

and immersive seating in the last part of 

the decade showed that premium pricing 

at cinemas wasn’t eradicated—it merely 

diversified. 

Data from IHS Markit showed that the 

number of PLF auditoriums worldwide 

nearly doubled between 2014 and 2017, 

jumping from 1,667 to 3,202. Imax, a 

pioneer of PLF, solidified its presence 

throughout the North American market 

and abroad in the 2010s. In 2015, Dolby 

ventured into the market with the 

launch of its branded premium cinema 

offering, Dolby Cinema, in Barcelona 

and Eindhoven, Netherlands. Dolby 

Cinema coupled Dolby’s immersive sound 

system—Dolby Atmos, introduced in 


2012—with its high dynamic range (HDR) 

projection system, Dolby Vision. More 

PLF solutions, including RealD, ScreenX, 

CGS, and Samsung’s Onyx LED cinema 

screen, proliferated, employing the latest 

developments in projection technology, 

including laser, HDR, and RGB. Though 

these global PLF brands accounted 

for 57.4 percent of total PLF screens in 

2018, exhibitor-branded screens such as 

CinemarkXD rose 16.8 percent, creating a 

more cluttered space. The rise of in-house 

PLF solutions was often motivated by a 

desire for greater control by exhibitors. 

A case in point is CGR’s ICE technology, 

which adds ambient light effects and 

peripheral video to a large-format screen 

and allows exhibitors to keep control of 

their ticketing revenues, as it is based on 

a zero third-party royalty business model. 

The concept was introduced in 2018 in 

France before expanding to the Middle 

East and North Africa in 2019 and finally 

reaching Los Angeles in early 2020 at 

Regal’s L.A. Live flagship. 

The PLF trend was preceded by a boom 

in luxury seating. “For years now the 

home-theater market has been trying to 

bring the movie theater experience into 

the home,” said Gaylord Stanton, V.P. of 

sales at First Class Seating in December 

2014. “Now, exhibitors are bringing the 

comfort of home to the theaters.” The 

concept of luxury seating was already 

present in premium theaters like iPic and 

Cinépolis, but it was truly popularized 

after 2014. For instance, luxury seating, 

mostly comprising an array of premium 

recliners, was a key component of Marcus 

Theatres’ $50 million investment in 

premium features in 2014–2015. The 

investment was aimed at boosting 

attendance and adding revenue. In a 

December 2014 article, AMC credited 

recliners as a catalyst for enhancing the 

productivity of its existing assets after 

the average attendance in theaters with 

premium seating went up by 76 percent 

despite a seat loss of 62 percent. 

Luxury seating coincided with the 

rising trend of high-end cinemas. In 

the middle of the decade, boutique 

cinemas—a new take on art house and 

luxury theaters—offering premium 

amenities for a more general audience 

emerged in North America. Chains such 

as iPic Theatres, Alamo Drafthouse, 

Movie Tavern, and Landmark Theatres 

differentiated themselves with premium 

amenities and expanded and elevated 

their menus. The trend had originated 

a few years earlier in Asia, just like 

immersive seating, which after its success 

in the APAC region and Latin America 

began to pique the interest of North 

American exhibitors. “Since synchronized 

sound in the 1920s, we’ve been only 

using hearing and our vision; we haven’t 

been using the other senses,” said Mervi 

Heinaro, CEO of the Finnish immersive 

seating company Flexound in September 

2019. Immersive seating became a way 

to expand the moviegoing experience by 

adding another amenity that could not be 

replicated at home. According to European 

cinema trade body UNIC, immersive 

seating grew 39 percent worldwide in 

2018. All major 4-D companies expanded 

their footprint in the 2018–2019 period. 

CJ 4DPLEX, with its 4DX immersive 

seating concept, announced a major deal 

with Cineworld in 2019 to increase its 

presence at Regal locations in the U.S., 

grew in Saudi Arabia, and entered the 

Latin American market with Cinépolis. 

Canadian immersive seating provider 

D-Box, which celebrated its 10th birthday 

in 2019, clinched high-profile deals with 

major players like Cineplex and Hoyts, 

extending its footprint in Canada and in 

Australia. MediaMation’s MX4D did so 

in five continents with deals with B&B 

Theatres, Cine Colombia, and Nigeria’s 

Filmhouse Cinemas. Emerging markets, 

where the construction of new theaters 

was still on the rise, witnessed the largest 

growth, while Western Europe and its 

mostly saturated market lagged behind. 

A Global Industry: Between Uniformity 

and Diversity 

The digitalization and the premiumization 

of the industry in the 2010s shared a 

common strategy: optimizing individual 

admissions instead of trying to maximize 

mass admissions. They shared another 

commonality: they both had global roots 

and a global reach. Mobile ticketing 

started in China, subscription services 

in France, immersive seating in Asia and 

Latin America. The 2010s made clear that 

exhibition was now a globalized industry. 

“Exhibition is itself becoming a global 

business,” proclaimed John Fithian in 

March 2017. “U.S.-based AMC is going into 

Europe with the acquisitions of Odeon 

and Nordic. Chinese company Wanda 

has invested in AMC and has acquired 

“Since synchronized sound 

in the 1920s, we’ve been only 

using hearing and our vision; 

we haven’t been using the 

other senses.” 


43


Hoyts in Australia. Korean-based CJ 

CGV has acquired Mars in Turkey and is 

opening cinemas in the U.S. Mexico-based 

Cinépolis operates now in four continents, 

with cinemas across Latin America, India, 

Spain, and the U.S.” Mexico’s secondlargest 

circuit, Cinemex, opened its 

CMX upscale dine-in theater in Miami 

and acquired Cobb Theaters in 2017, the 

same year that Kinepolis Group acquired 

Canada’s Landmark Cinemas. Cineworld, 

the U.K.’s leading cinema circuit, acquired 

Regal in 2018. 

The globalization of the industry led 

to the birth in June 2017 of the Global 

Cinema Federation (GCF), a volunteerbased 

organization meant to represent 

the global cinema exhibition community 

and to advocate for global stakeholders. 

Its creation, however, came at a moment 

when the future of globalization was 

under fire by politicians everywhere. “In 

many territories in the world, including 

Europe and the United States, nationalism 

is on the rise,” Fithian wrote in March 

2017. “Voters in many countries are 

supporting candidates who seek to 

reduce immigration, to pull back on 

international alliances, and to impose 

barriers on free trade. In this author’s 

opinion, those trends are bad for the 

exhibition industry.” NATO, GCF, UNIC, 

and other multinational trade bodies 

vowed to protect free trade and the global 

movement of people and goods in order 

to sustain the competitiveness of global 

markets. The interconnectedness of the 

industry also created unprecedented 

vulnerabilities, exemplified by the 

2014 Sony Pictures hack. In November 

of that year, the studio was attacked 

by a hacker group, allegedly linked to 

the North Korean government, who 

leaked confidential data and demanded 

the withdrawal of The Interview, the 

controversial film about a plot to 

assassinate North Korea’s leader. 

Regardless, emerging markets, such as 

Russia, Nigeria, the newly opened Saudi 

Arabia (where cinemas were legalized in 

2018 for the first time in four decades), and 

APAC countries, created an international 

moviegoing audience of billions of 

moviegoers, often younger than North 

America’s graying audiences. But no other 

market intrigued American exhibitors 

and studios as much as China and its 1.44 

billion inhabitants. An Ernst and Young 

report published in the magazine in 2013 

predicted that China would overtake 

the North American box office by 2020. 

Tapping into that market, however, meant 

that U.S. studios and exhibitors needed to 

overcome strict regulations, quotas, and 

censorship. According to the MPA, the 

global box office increased by a whopping 

15 percent in the first five years of the 

decade. In a December 2012 article entitled 

“Our rapidly globalizing 

industry has helped bring 

about a welcome wave of 

inclusion and diversity ...” 


“Our Future Is Linked to Asia,” a Boxoffice 

Pro writer stated that “success at home 

will feel empty to Hollywood studios if 

they haven’t also hit the bullseye in key 

international markets. … The number of 

films that appeal only to Americans will 

shrink very rapidly,” he predicted. 

The writer was right. Overseas appetite 

for foreign films changed Hollywood. 

It was the era of mega-franchises, of 

superhero movies and blockbuster 

IPs that championed universal ideas 

and themes. Conversely, midbudget 

films were increasingly struggling to 

compete, frequently finding homes on 

streaming platforms. As the studio system 

adapted its stories to cater to vast global 

audiences, the global box office responded 

accordingly. With fewer movies accounting 

for larger percentages of annual revenues, 

the international marketplace brought 

profitability to domestic flops. It also 

contributed to the trend of unprecedented, 

massive opening weekends. Marvel’s The 

Avengers and its record-breaking opening 

weekend started this phenomenon in 

2012. “We are now living in a new era for 

blockbusters,” commented one writer in 

June 2012. “An opening of $150 million is 

no longer the ultimate goal—and that’s 

kind of insane.” The Avengers records were 

soon dwarfed by those of many other films 

in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the 

Star Wars saga. 

Hollywood’s international strategy 

required studios to be more sensitive 

to foreign cultural values. But studios 

also began to look inward, realizing the 

potential of their overlooked audiences at 

home. “Our rapidly globalizing industry 

has helped bring about a welcome 

wave of inclusion and diversity, just as 

Hollywood studios begin to capitalize 

on the rewards of inclusiveness when 

it comes to their tentpole productions,” 

wrote Julien Marcel in April 2018. 

Although much remains to be done, 

and the “newfound” interest in diverse 

audiences has periodically manifested 

itself in other periods of exhibition history, 

the industry ramped up its efforts to 

appeal to its underserved audiences in 

an unprecedented manner in the 2010s. 

Trade events increased their panels 

on diversity and inclusion. Boxoffice 

Pro, too, increased its coverage of such 

issues significantly, offering studies on 

underserved moviegoers, interviews with 

more diverse filmmakers, and launching 

a series showcasing the most influential 

women in the industry. Vendors like Dolby 

and QSC began offering accessibility 

products such as descriptive audio and 

captioning for patrons with disabilities. 

More independent films, such as 

Moonlight and Get Out, were centered 

on the African American experience 

to great commercial and critical 

success. Exhibition also increased its 

targeting of America’s biggest movie 

fans: Hispanic audiences, who are 

consistently overrepresented among 

frequent moviegoers. Just a few examples 

of this effort include the launching of 

TheaterEars, an app providing dubbed 

content in Spanish for non-Englishspeaking 

moviegoers; the partnership 

of ticketing company Ticketón with 

Atom Tickets in 2019 to serve Hispanic 

audiences; and Marcus Theatres’ 

introduction of the CineLatino Hispanic 

Film Festival in 2017. Finally, the massive 

successes of Coco, Crazy Rich Asians, and 

Black Panther shattered the myth that 

films led by persons of color couldn’t 

draw in diverse audiences. There were no 

more doubts that diversity was paying off, 

domestically, and globally. 

The industry’s diversity strategy 

occurred, however, against the backdrop 

of increased consolidation. The trend 

was evident in exhibition, but more 

so in distribution. At CinemaCon 2019, 

for instance, Annapurna and MGM 

announced their merger to revamp United 

Artists. Nothing could compare to the 

shock produced by Disney’s presentation 

at CinemaCon, where the studio touted 

its own slate as well as that of 20th 

Century Fox. After more than a decade 

of stunning acquisitions, including the 

purchase of Marvel Entertainment in 2009, 

Lucasfilm in 2012, and 20th Century Fox 

in 2019, Disney had total dominance. In 

2019, Disney claimed the top five highestgrossing 

movies in North America with 

Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Toy 

Story 4, Frozen II, and Captain Marvel. 

Owning the most lucrative IPs with the 

Star Wars universe, Marvel, and Pixar, 

Disney controlled nearly 40 percent of the 

domestic market by the end of the decade. 

The decade came to a close with 

the announcement of the end of the 

Paramount Decrees, in place since the late 

1940s. Seventy years after the landmark 

ruling that prohibited it, vertical 

integration was once again on the table. 

Despite an uncertain landscape full 

of “disruption” and consolidation, in 

the 2010s the industry learned to use 

the digital revolution to its advantage, 

reinvented its premium strategy, and 

expanded across the globe. In 2019, global 

box office receipts surpassed $42 billion 

for the first time ever. The domestic 

box office clocked in at $11.4 billion, the 

second highest-grossing year of all time, 

and international revenues passed the 

$30 billion mark. The sky did not fall, and 

exhibition not only survived but thrived. 

The 2010s were another testament to 

the power of the cinematic experience. 

Just like the nine decades of Boxoffice 

Pro’s existence before that, the 2010s 

proved that the larger-than-life theatrical 

experience was still an essential part of 

moviegoers’ lives everywhere in the world. 

That fundamental truth would be 

called into doubt by naysayers yet 

again at the beginning of this decade; 

Covid-19 and its aftermath continue to 

spark conversations about the theatrical 

exclusivity window, competition from 

at-home viewing, the shifting balance 

between domestic and international 

markets, and the expansion and 

contraction of the industry through 

mergers and acquisitions. The challenges 

brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic are 

significant but not unsurmountable; as 

we’ve shown in this 10-part series, they’re 

not even new. The story of exhibition is 

a story of resiliency, of an industry that’s 

jumped every hurdle put in its path, from 

radio and TV to a global pandemic. It’s a 

story that Boxoffice Pro has been proud 

to tell for 100 years and looks forward to 

telling for 100 more. 

For our fellow exhibition history buffs: Keep an 

eye out for the December issue of Boxoffice Pro, 

in which we celebrate our own centennial and 

honor the generations of Boxoffice Pro reporters 

and editors for their contributions to this industry. 


45

Curtain Raiser 48 | Trade Show Directory & New Products 51 

CINEMACON 

“The world is recognizing that it’s safe and 

it’s great to get back to the movies.” 

Mitch Neuhauser, p. 48 


47

Cinemacon CURTAIN RAISER 

RETURN TO 

LAS VEGAS 

After a Two-Year Hiatus, 

CinemaCon Prepares to Go Live 


“We are a social people— 

we have a joie de vivre, a 

passion for life and being 

together. And where are 

you together that’s a great 

experience? At the movies.” 

It’s been more than two years since 

delegates assembled in Las Vegas 

for the National Association of Theatre 

Owners’ annual CinemaCon convention, 

the world’s largest gathering of cinema 

professionals. Now, with the country 

gradually returning to a semblance of 

normalcy, NATO is hosting an in-person 

event with protocols to ensure that 

attendees can mingle and network safely. 

Managing director Mitch Neuhauser says, 

“It’s probably as hectic and crazy as it’s 

ever been in my professional career, but 

I’d rather have it this way than the way it’s 

been for so many over the past 18 months.” 

We spoke with Neuhauser in early July 

about CinemaCon’s return to Caesars 

Palace on August 23. 

How does it feel to be coming back 

live after more than two years? 

I’ve actually traveled with my family 

starting a year ago June and visited with 

studios a year ago July. I’ve traveled 

safely and had meetings in people’s 

houses, and it’s been great. Now that 

things are getting back to normal, it’s 

a great thing. There have been a lot of 

challenges, but we’re doing our thing. 

We’re dancing as fast as we can. 

Are you expecting any problems 

enforcing the rules at CinemaCon? 

Actually, no, we aren’t. We’ve gotten 

a lot of support from the Hollywood 

community and from the exhibition 

community. We’ve put forth our protocols 

and, yes, we are going to be diligent about 

them. Whether it’s attending an event in 

the Colosseum or the trade show or a food 

function, if you want to get into one of 

our officially scheduled events, you will 

have to show a wristband. And the only 

way to get that wristband is when you’re 

picking up your badge or credentials, 

you’ve shown proof of vaccination or have 

had a negative Covid test within 48 hours. 

We will have an official testing site on the 

premises, because we want people to know 

that we take this seriously and we want to 

provide a service to those attending this 

year’s convention. 

With all the rules and restrictions, how 

close is CinemaCon going to be to the 

show people enjoyed back in 2019? 

The real holdback for us is international 

travel. Right now, people from overseas, 

unless you’re a U.S. citizen, can’t come to 

the United States, for the most part. So, 

we have been very forthright and frank 

with the industry that the show will look 

different, that we are going to be missing 

a good portion of our international 

colleagues. But we’ve got great support 

from the domestic industry, and it’s 

important symbolically for the industry 

to get together. We take great pride in 

being the first to undertake this. Cannes 

is the first major film festival to do it, and 

I guess we’ll be the first major industry 

convention. 

Is the programming going to address 

the pandemic and the new climate 

for theaters? 

As always, we’ll focus on studios and what 

they’re going to showcase from a product 

standpoint, which is more potent than 

ever, and the trade show. Will there be 

topics of discussion about the landscape 

of the industry? I think we would be like 

ostriches with our heads in the sand if the 

answer to that was no. So yes, there will 

be some discussion. What’s that going to 

be? I’m just the convention guy, so I leave 

that to exhibition and distribution to work 

out. But if we can take credit for getting 

everyone together under the same roof at 

the same time, that’s a positive thing. 

I’ve been saying this for over a year 

now: Our industry has been resilient 

throughout history. Whatever obstacle 

we’ve been faced with, we have risen to 

the occasion and come out mightier and 

stronger than ever before, whether it’s 

World War II, or whether it’s television 

or the VCR, DVD, or cable—whatever. 

Were there extraordinary circumstances 

during the pandemic, and streaming was 

the absolute flavor of the month? You 

betcha. But you can’t live your life at home 

morning to night. There’s a great place for 

streaming, and a great place for movies 

and getting people out of the house 

together to experience what we do best— 

to have people, laugh, cry, scream, and 

just involve themselves in the magic of 

the big screen. We’re going to be stronger 

than ever before, and there will be a 

renaissance of our industry. There were 

the roaring twenties in the 1900s, and 

there will be the roaring twenties again. 

I guess one sign of that is that 

so many major studios are back 

participating in the show. [Disney, 

Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., 

Universal, Focus, and Lionsgate will 

all be hosting events.] 

The studios have been just unbelievable. 

They’re supporting the industry. To 

know that we even have MGM-UAR on 

board—I mean, they’ve had to postpone 

the release of No Time to Die how many 

times, and now to be able to have MGM- 

UAR showcase what we hope will be 

some exclusive stuff from No Time to Die 

leading up to its international opening is 

really exciting. We have Neon coming on 

board, and now Solstice Studios is getting 

involved with the party, because they 


want the industry to know that hey, we’re 

here, we’re going to have product, and we 

believe in you. 

As you know, a lot of the service 

industries are having trouble 

filling positions right now. Is your 

programming going to address 

that issue? 

We do have a session on human resources, 

diversity, and inclusion, and it may 

touch upon that. How do you get good 

employees? How do you retain them? 

What needs to be done in this day and age? 

But that’s a situation that’s being faced 

by not just the theatrical movie industry. 

When we’re in Vegas and we meet with 

nightclubs and Caesars—and you read 

about this all the time—it’s a major issue 

that needs to be addressed. But I do believe 

that time will heal all wounds, as they say, 

and things will get back to normal. 

During the course of planning the 

show, you talk to a lot of exhibitors. 

What is their general mood right now? 

They’re optimistic, they’re excited. 

When we started coming out with major 

tentpoles such as A Quiet Place Part 2 on 

Memorial Day, then F9 and Black Widow, 

the opening grosses continue to grow. 

The world is recognizing that it’s safe and 

it’s great to get back to the movies. This 

is now creating a new cash flow that’s 

been missing for so many. It’s a domino 

effect, bringing people into movie theaters, 

selling tickets, selling popcorn, selling 

soda and candy. That revenue is going to 

filter down to the equipment companies 

and remodeling projects. So it’s all 

chugging along—we’re going to get back 

up to speed. 

I have to believe with people stuck 

in their homes and their apartments 

for over a year, there’s probably a 

real longing, a nostalgia to have that 

social experience again. 

Unless we’re destined to become a society 

of hermits where we can continue to get 

our groceries delivered to our house and 

watch our entertainment and work out of 

the house, we’ll be like Sigourney Weaver 

in Copycat—it’s like we’ll never leave. 

That’s not going to happen! It’s not human 

nature. We are a social people—we have a 

joie de vivre, a passion for life and being 

together. And where are you together 

that’s a great experience? At the movies. 

Home is a great place, and there’s a lot to 

be said for that, but there’s even more to 

be said about getting out into the open, 

going to sporting events, going to concerts, 

and going to the movies. 

Anything we haven’t covered? 

I think it’s going to be great to hear what 

John Fithian and Charlie Rivkin have to 

say. It’s going to be more than two years 

since they’ve addressed the industry. And it 

will be great to hear what the studios have 

to say when they’re taking the stage. It’s 

funny—when we met with a studio last July, 

we talked about moving the show to August 

2021. This industry executive said, “You 

know, the end of August, it’s slow. There’s 

not a lot of product to showcase.” Well, little 

did we know that so much product would 

be pushed off until the fall holiday that 

we’re going to have a great roster. 


49

Cinemacon NEW PRODUCTS 

TRADE SHOW 

DIRECTORY & NEW 

PRODUCTS GUIDE 

CinemaCon Showcases the Latest Products and 

Technologies for Movie Theaters 

A 

AC RadioCom 

Booth: 720J 

acradiocom.com 

Kenwood ProTalk Two Way Radios 

Kenwood ProTalk Two Way Radios are built for 

business and retail use—military spec’d, digital or 

analog, and water resistant with audio clarity and 

ranging from 1.5 watts to five watts of power. Instant 

communication lets clients accomplish tasks safely 

and securely. Kenwood ProTalk Two Way Radios are 

cost-effective, simple to use, and private, with longlasting 

battery and powerful audio. 

American Licorice Co. 

Booth: 1004J 

americanlicorice.com 

Sweet Bites 

Try new Sweet Bites, one of the latest innovations 

from the Sour Punch candy brand. Not a sour candy 

fan? Not a problem! These sweet candy pieces were 

made just for you, offering all of the sweet but none 

of the sour. These soft and chewy candy bites come 

in four uplifting flavors: Dream Berry, Passion Punch, 

Grateful Grape, and Cotton Candy. Available in a 5 oz. 

hanging bag and a 9 oz. standup bag. 

Apex Order Pickup Solutions 

Booth: 520J 

apexorderpickup.com 

Apex OrderHQ Lockers 

Give guests fast concessions pickup with Apex 

OrderHQ. Employees load orders into the open 

compartments in back, then customers scan their 

secure order code to open the door in front. It’s 

the digital experience guests love that increases 

throughput while reducing labor needs. Apex 

OrderHQ food lockers utilize software and hardware 

technologies that seamlessly integrate with an 

existing tech stack. Users also get portfolio-wide 

data visibility for order management, control, and 

analytics. Apex’s intelligent locker solutions help 

cinemas benefit from data and analytics to improve 

the customer experience and operational efficiency. 


51


Arts Alliance Media 

artsalliancemedia.com 

Producer 

Producer is a specialized cloud-based circuit 

management system (CMS) designed to centralize an 

entire circuit’s workflows from one location, driving 

circuit-wide efficiency and enhancing the experience 

of their audiences. By managing each theater from 

a single dashboard, exhibitors remove the need to 

duplicate day-to-day tasks, such as playlist creation 

and content scheduling, across their sites, enabling 

site-level staff to focus on their customers’ needs. 

With a versatile “titles” dashboard offering a scoped 

view of all feature content, and a new live tasks feed 

revealing show-stopping issues in a practical timeline 

display, exhibitors can embrace comprehensive site 

visibility. Playlist automation ensures content can 

be scheduled across sites instantaneously, as new 

macro pack services offer the essential ingredient in 

dynamic playlist creation and auditorium control. 

As strategic task management and quality customer 

care stand at the forefront of post-pandemic 

rehabilitation, Producer holds the key to an 

unparalleled cinematic experience. 

Atom Seating 

Booth: 418J 

spacesandbetween.com/ 

atom-seating 

Platinum Recliners by Atom Seating 

The latest addition to Atom Seating’s premium line 

of recliners, Platinum Recliner by Atom Seating is 

adjusted with several versatile features considering 

the demands of cinema owners and their patrons. 

The VIP recliner features a spacious design and a luxe 

leather finish with high-density molded foam for the 

perfect movie-watching experience. 

B 

The Boxoffice Company 

company.boxoffice.com 

Boost Food & Beverage Sales 

Don’t miss out on food and beverage sales. Let your 

customers buy concessions online with The Boxoffice 

Company’s new F&B solution. Boost Food & Beverage 

Sales works with Vista, RTS, and Omniterm pointof-sales 

systems and is totally integrated to the 

ticket-buying journey. The solution features a built-in 

content management system, allowing exhibitors to 

organize concessions items into categories (Drinks, 

Snacks, Meals, etc.) and add custom images to each 

entry to make items attractive to customers. The order 

is sent to a theater’s printer so it can be prepared 

before the customer arrives. This experience is 

complemented by The Boxoffice Company’s digital 

ticketing solution, giving customers the chance to 

buy concessions online simultaneously or separately 

from their ticket purchase, all on a mobile-friendly 

experience that integrates with point-of-sales 

systems, payment processors, and loyalty programs. 



53


C 

C. Cretors and Company 

Booth: 413J 

cretors.com 

UV-C Sanitizing Chamber 

Cretors presents the 360-degree UV-C Sanitizing 

Chamber. This patent-pending UV-C Sanitizing 

Chamber with UV-C Light (Germicidal 254nm) 

will sanitize a wide range of items within one to 

five minutes—killing over 99.99 percent of most 

microorganisms, including E. coli, Staphylococcus, 

and Leviviridae—on most items. Safety goggles, keys, 

fobs, phones, tablets, hand-held radios … you name 

it! As long as it fits inside the chamber’s carousel, the 

options are endless. Use for shift changes and shared 

tools/items. White paper test results are available. 

Christie 

Booth: Milano 1 

christiedigital.com 

Christie CP4430-RGB Pure Laser Cinema Projector 

Featuring CineLife+ electronics and Real|Laser 

illumination, this compact, all-in-one DCI-compliant 

projector excels in image quality and operational 

lifetime, while providing a low cost of ownership. 

Christie Real|Laser uses compact, next-generation 

multi-laser pack devices (MPDs) that achieve 

breakthroughs in brightness, color reproduction, image 

uniformity, contrast, and operational lifetime. Featuring 

Christie’s patented, fully sealed optical path, Real|Laser 

offers long-term stability and reliability. CineLife+’s 

streamlined UX-designed interface simplifies the 

playback and management of cinema movies as well as 

alternative cinema content. It is compatible with select 

third-party IMBs, and its wide range of inputs not only 

support all existing content formats but future-proofs 

your investment for years to come. The Christie CP4430- 

RGB pure laser cinema projector is part of Christie’s 

expanding line of CineLife+ Series projectors, ranging 

from 15,000 lumens up to 55,000 lumens. 

Cinema Solutions 

Booth: 616J 

cinemasolutions.com 

Recipe Management & Mobile App 

Cinema Solutions announces the addition of two major 

components to their procure-to-pay solution: recipe 

management, and a shiny new mobile app. With their 

new recipe management solution, you can now track 

recipes used throughout your concession stands, 

restaurants, and catering, all in the same system you 

use to do your purchasing and payables. When used 

with their already existing inventory module, you will 

have the visibility you need to lower food cost and 

increase profitability even more. 

Also coming out in 2021 is the new Cinema Solutions 

companion app, which will allow you to approve 

requisitions, payables, and item requests, as well as 

conduct an invoice search while on the go. These 

are just the initial features, with many more on the 

horizon. The app is available for iOS and Android. Visit 

Cinema Solutions at CinemaCon 2021 for a quick demo. 


THE FEATURES YOU NEED. 

THE OPTIONS YOU WANT. 

THE COMPANY YOU TRUST. 

When it comes to concessions, 

it comes from Cretors. 

Only Cretors combines five generations of industry leadership with more than 

130 years of forward-thinking innovations. Backed by our industrial manufacturing 

R&D for global snack food giants, we bring revolutionary products to the 

concessions marketplace, time and again. Whether it’s an industry-changing 

safety feature, a long-sought-after option or a customizable machine made 

for the way you sell anywhere in the world, there’s no limit to our ingenuity. 

Made in America, loved world-round! 

Contact Shelly Olesen at 847.616.6901 or visit www.cretors.com 


55


Cinionic 

Booth: Roman 1-4 

cinionic.com 

Barco SP2K 

The award-winning Barco Series 4 from Cinionic 

is now available for smaller screens with the new 

Barco SP2K. The expanded lineup includes four new 

SP2K models ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 lumens, 

rounding out the state-of-the-art Series 4 family. 

Designed for smaller screens, the Barco SP2K-7, SP2K- 

9, SP2K-11, and SP2K-15 yield the perfect resolution 

for images that will remain constant over time. SP2K 

is designed to be quiet, with a noise output as low 

as 40dB, making boothless installations possible for 

compact auditoriums. The new models retain all the 

features from the company’s Series 4 line of cinema 

laser projectors. 

Coca-Cola 

Booth: 401J 

coca-cola.com 

Aha Flavored Sparkling Water 

Aha flavored sparkling water pairs familiar flavors 

in unexpected ways for a uniquely delightful, flavorforward 

experience. Try all eight refreshing flavor 

blends to liven up your day. No sweeteners, no 

calories, no sodium. Bold aromatics and 30 mg of 

caffeine in select flavors. 

Conagra Foodservice 

Booth: 617J 

conagra.com 

Andy Capp’s Beer Battered Onion Rings 

Flavored Baked Oat and Corn Snacks 

Indulge in beer-battered onion ring flavor anytime 

with Andy Capp’s Beer Battered Onion Rings Flavored 

Baked Oat and Corn Snacks. Delicious, bold, beerbattered 

onion ring flavor is baked right into these 

crispy, baked snack chips. Whether you are craving 

onion rings or corn chips, they’ve got you covered. 

D 

Dolby 

Booth: Milano 2 & 6 

dolby.com 

System 128 Screen Channel Speaker 

Dolby’s new System 128 screen channel speaker is 

designed to meet the needs of today’s large, immersive 

venues. Its patented asymmetrical waveguide 

delivers superior audio coverage and uniform volume 

shading for every seat. Purpose built for auditoriums 

approximately 66 feet (20 m) in depth, the System 

128 comprises one mid/high passive loudspeaker 

for delivering enhanced mid- and high-frequency 

detail, and one loudspeaker for low-frequency energy, 

providing greater intelligibility and enhanced bass 

extension. These two cabinets work in concert to 

create a bi-amplified screen channel speaker system 

that provides better audience coverage, lower 

distortion, and extended, premium low-frequency 

delivery. With intuitive ergonomic design features like 

the laterally mounted input plate and shallow 13.4- 

inch (340.30 mm) depth, the Dolby System 128 enables 

quick, easy installation and service. 


Your website is 

the new lobby 

Scan it with the camera on your phone or visit 

company.boxoffice.com/boost to book a meeting with us. 


57


E 

Enpar Audio & Supply Co. 

Booth: 430J 

enparaudio.com 

Enpar Audio & Supply Co. 

Enpar Audio & Supply Co. is a full-service equipment 

supply company specializing in digital projection 

conversions along with complete cinema build-outs. 

Enpar can assist in design, layout, and installation— 

offering turnkey package options that supply cinemas 

with everything they need. 

Entertainment Supply & 

Technologies 

Booth: 926J 

ensutec.com 

Entertainment Supply & Technologies 

As cinema returns, Entertainment Supply & 

Technologies remains steadfast in helping clients 

weather the storm with supportive services, terms, 

and the creation of state-of-the-art premium 

presentations. ES&T provides turnkey services 

including laser projection, recliner seating, and 

immersive sound to create a cutting-edge and 

luxurious moviegoing experience. The firm is a 

certified Imax partner and dealer for all major brands 

of cinema technology. Integrated FF&E services 

also include concession casework, food-service 

equipment, menu boards, lighting, wall draperies, 

and flooring. Through an extended network of 

longtime industry partnerships, ES&T offers complete 

operational support with industrial supplies, personal 

protective equipment, food-service equipment 

replacement parts, digital lamps, and projector filters. 

Eomac 

Booth: 715J 

eomac.com 

Pro-Stretch 

With over 30 years of experience and expertise 

in cinema design, Eomac offers a comprehensive 

product range for acoustical solutions. Their highly 

acoustic Pro-Stretch is unlike any other regular panel. 

Pro-Stretch comes with unique components, for 

efficient on-site coordination, timely installation, and 

many other benefits. Installation with a flexible track 

profile means any configuration or shape is possible. 

With customization available, you have an infinite 

number of design possibilities at your fingertips 

without giving up quality sound. It’s ideal for new 

construction, refurbishment, or retrofit. 


ack 

to 

the 

< 

cinema 

ES&T 

Turnkey FF&E including luxury seaang, laser projeccon, 

immersive sound, screen systems, food service equipment, 

aisle lighhng, digital lamps, as well as parts and supplies. 


59 

sales@ensutec.com | 813.960.1646 | www.ensutec.com


F 

Fandango 

fandango.com 

Return to Theaters Whitepaper 

Moviegoers feel safe and comfortable in returning 

to the cinema, according to a new Fandango study. 

Fandango surveyed more than 4,000 of its ticket 

buyers as part of their “Return to Theaters” study on 

moviegoers’ recent cinema experiences. The results 

were overwhelmingly positive, with 93 percent 

of film fans saying they were gratified with their 

return to theaters, and 87 percent praising theater 

owners for doing a great job making them feel safe. 

According to the Fandango study, 76 percent of 

moviegoers said theater safety policies, like social 

distance seating, enhanced cleaning measures, and 

contactless ticketing, made their experiences even 

more enjoyable, while 86 percent indicated they were 

comfortable ordering concessions. The full results of 

the study can be found in the Fandango white paper, 

available upon request by emailing partnering@ 

fandango.com. 

Figueras Seating 

Booth: 2701A 

figueras.com 

Figueras Seating 

Figueras believes that the movie theater experience 

is unique. For that reason, they put their best efforts 

into designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art 

cinema seats to make the experience unforgettable. 

With more than 90 years in the cinema seating 

industry, Figueras Seating has installed its seats in top 

movie theaters around the world. They are experts in 

designing comfortable and stylish seats, with a special 

focus on durability and functionality. They develop 

seats for all kinds of cinemas, from comfortable movie 

theaters to the most luxurious ones with VIP and 

smart seats. 

Flexound Augmented Audio 

Booth: 2508A 

flexound.com 

Flexound Pulse 

The Flexound Pulse seat is a fully loudspeaker-free 

cinema concept that transforms any space—small or 

large—into an immersive soundscape. Stores, malls, 

auditoriums, museums, live theaters, and concert 

arenas can all become fully functioning cinemas or 

gaming stations without any external loudspeakers. 

The seat creates a personal soundsphere with a deeper 

focus and immersion into music, stories, relaxation, 

or gaming. The multisensory experience enhances 

the emotions created by the content, enriching art 

and making it accessible to more people, such as the 

hearing impaired. It provides equal sound quality 

and the sensation of touch for every person in every 

seat. By listening through skin as well as ears, the 

user doesn’t need as many decibels to achieve clarity 

of speech, and dramatic scores and sound effects 

won’t ever drown out dialogue, even during the most 

chaotic action movie sequences. 



61


G 

GDC Technology of America 


gdc-tech.com 

Espedeo Supra-5000 

The Espedeo Supra-5000 RGB Plus Laser Phosphor 

Cinema Projector is a DCI-approved system available 

with a CineCache 2TB built-in solid-state storage for 

playback. The Supra-5000 is a compact, lightweight, 

and quiet projector that can be ceiling-mounted with 

no hush-box. It received the 2020 Red Dot Award for 

its product design, as well as the Projection Expo 2021 

Best of Show award. 

The Supra-5000 is designed for mini-theaters 

and alternative venues and was developed by 

GDC in cooperation with renowned technologists 

Appotronics and Texas Instruments. Its ALPD 4.0 

RGB Plus laser phosphor technology delivers contrast, 

brightness, and vibrancy without the risk of harm 

from the laser light source. 

The Supra-5000 boasts an optional built-in 

professional cinema audio processor and a 3-D 

polarized system. It also supports cinema-on-demand 

platform GoGoCinema. Please contact marketing@ 

gdc-tech.com or visit mailchi.mp/gdc-tech.com/ 

supra-5000-bo to learn more. 

Gold Medal Products 

Booth: 707J 

gmpopcorn.com 

ReadyServe Commercial Popcorn Dispenser 

Gold Medal makes it easy for any cinema to add 

gourmet popcorn to its menu for a better customer 

experience and higher profits. The ReadyServe 

Commercial Popcorn Dispenser has been engineered 

with the capability to hold both caramel and cheese 

corn. Created with movie theaters in mind, the unit 

features a 48-inch base with a divider, a dual auger 

system, and a forced-air crisper. The improved chute 

design allows for even more flow of product. Select 

models also include dual temperature zones, which 

means optimum freshness for each flavor of popcorn 

served. ReadyServe minimizes labor by allowing 

customers to serve themselves. No more scooping! 

Simply fill the cabinet with popcorn, then individuals 

can dispense using a convenient push-button system. 

Photo shows unit filled with Gold Medal’s premium 

bulk, nitrogen-flushed, ready-to-eat gourmet 

popcorn. Base and cabinet sold separately. 


Espedeo Supra-5000 RGB+ Laser Phosphor Projector 

The World’s Smallest, Quietest, and Lightest 

DCI-compliant Projector Designed for Mini-theatres 

300+ units shipped! 

• Features ALPD 4.0 RGB+ laser phosphor technology to deliver 

vibrant colors. 

• So lightweight and quiet that can be ceiling mounted with 

Espedeo VM-1140 without a hush box. 

• Built-in CineCache TM 2TB memory. 

• Optional built-in cinema audio processor. 

Diskless SR-1000 Media Server 

Near-zero Maintenance and Minimal Total Cost of Ownership 

14,000+ units shipped! 

• Simplify content management by combining with CA2.0 and 

eliminating content ingest to local HDDs. 

• Tested by SGS for 100,000 hours Mean Time Between Failures 

for high reliability. 

• Upgrade options for 4K, CineCache 2TB, and a built-in cinema 

audio processor. 

• Remote and wireless access to IMB SMS using a desktop PC, laptop, 

or mobile device. 

Built-in Cache Memory 

CineCache 2TB = No local HDD required. 

Incredibly fast ingest during playback and 

fast transfer across IMBs. 

Built-in Cinema Audio Processor 

New option to playback DCP movie titles 

in 5.1/ 7.1 uncompressed surround sound 

with crossover. 

Visit us at CinemaCon Milano III, Promenade Level. 

GDC Technology 

Hong Kong • Beijing • Shenzhen • Barcelona • Dubai • Jakarta • Los Angeles • Mexico City • Mumbai • SãoPaulo • Seoul • Singapore • Tokyo 

Powering your digital cinema experience 

@GDCTechnology 

PA-1126-2107-V1E 

Copyright©2021 GDC Technology Limited. All rights reserved. 


63 

www.gdc-tech.com


H 

High Performance Stereo 

Booth: 2705A 

hps4000.com 

High Performance Stereo 

High Performance Stereo has always believed that 

“Sound Is the Experience.” That’s why HPS brought 

the very first feature presentations with digital 

sound to commercial movie theaters in 1985—four 

years before the rest of the industry. Envelopment is 

nothing new to High Performance Stereo. Its HPS- 

4000 sound systems are known around the world 

for their clarity and immersive impact. Exclusive 

All Seats Hear Stereo technology and proprietary 

surround placement formulas provide full 

stereophonic coverage for the entire audience. When 

HPS-4000 sound systems are coupled with today’s 

immersive soundtracks, audiences will experience 

the full potential of modern motion picture sound. 

I 

ICE Theaters 

Booth: 2101A 

icetheaters.com 

ICE Immersive 

With over 100 blockbusters available in the ICE 

Immersive format from all major studios, ICE 

Theaters widen moviegoers’ field of vision to deliver 

a new premium large-format experience. With 

ICE, audiences can enjoy 220º angle immersive 

special effects throughout the entire length of a 

movie, enhancing the movie experience to a level 

that could never be experienced at home, let alone 

another theater. Boasting a 90 percent satisfaction 

study, ICE Theaters combine LED side panels, an 

immersive pathway, VIP reclining seats, Dolby Atmos 

immersive sound, and pure RGB laser projection to 

set a new standard of cinema experience that features 

among the highest return on investment available 

on the market. ICE claims the technology and the 

construction works are recouped in less than five 

years, through the premium fee only, offering an 

additional revenue on top when compared with a 

standard auditorium. 



65


Irwin Seating 

Booth: 106J 

irwinseating.com 

Spectrum ZG4 

Irwin Seating Company continues to expand and 

refine its Spectrum Recliner Luxury Series. Options 

include privacy panels, drink and beverage tables, 

heated backs, USB charging ports, and several 

features to assist crews prepping an auditorium 

between shows. Spectrum’s ZG4 model uses a 

proprietary recliner mechanism that provides a 

smooth “Zero G Motion” for first-rate comfort. ZG4 

customers praise its ability to let them find their 

optimal position. Spectrum ZG4 offers easier cleaning 

and better sightlines, with the same durability Irwin’s 

customers expect. ZG4 features a 3-inch reduction in 

the chair envelope while providing more recline than 

previous models, which could help create additional 

seating in large theaters. 

J 

Jacro 

Booth: 815J 

jacro.com 

Internetticketing.com Platform 

The internetticketing.com platform provides a hub 

for cinema circuits looking to manage and monitor 

multiple locations on a single device with serverbased 

reliability, combined with cloud access and 

two-factor authentication. 

The Private Watch Party feature is available to all POS 

customers, helping cinemas rent auditoriums, and 

may be used for public watch parties too (where the 

first customer selects the film with a block booking, 

allowing additional customers to buy tickets in the 

auditorium). 

The platform also provides an employee gamification 

scoreboard, online food sales, inbuilt CRM, Fandango 

and Atom Tickets compatibility, a ticket-scanning app 

for Android, and a full API. Create custom reports, 

monitor for employee fraud, easily compare date 

ranges of data, and export to Excel and an industryleading 

purchase-ordering system. 



67


K 

Kernel Seasons 

- Sauer Brands 

Booth: 915J 

kernelseasons.com 

Duke’s Dipping Sauce Cups 

Duke’s Dipping Sauce Cups come in an ideal 

1.5-ounce serving size and are available in seven 

flavor varieties including Duke’s Signature Sauce, a 

mayo-based dipping sauce with zesty tomato and 

black pepper notes. Other classic flavors include 

Blue Cheese, Ranch, Sweet & Sour, Barbecue Sauce, 

Honey Mustard, and Wing Sauce. These portioncontrol 

products allow consumers to experience 

bold and flavorful condiments with a premium. 

Duke’s offers a full portfolio for food-service 

operations including mayo, sauces, dressings, and 

other condiments, available for front-of-house and 

back-of-house bulk portions. For more information 

about Duke’s food-service capabilities or to request 

samples to have Duke’s in your operation, reach out 

to firstcall@sauerbrands.com. 

RTS 


Online Ticketing is 

the new box office 


company.boxoffice.com/boost to book a meeting with us. 


69


Keurig Dr. Pepper 

Booth: 214J 

keurigdrpepper.com 

Clamato Original 

Clamato Original is the main ingredient in the 

authentic Clamato Michelada. Try it with your 

favorite beer, or mix it with vodka or any other spirit. 

Mr & Mrs T Mixers 

Keurig Dr. Pepper takes mixing seriously. There’s 

an art to the science. A subtle nuance you can taste. 

Which is why they source only premium-quality 

ingredients for their Mr & Mrs T Mixers. In everything 

they do, they seek to find the perfect balance of work 

and play. 

L 

Lavazza Premium Coffees 

Corp. 

Booth: 521J 

lavazza.us 

Lavazza Premium Coffees Corp. 

For four generations, Lavazza has been sharing 

their passion for coffee, nurturing their heritage, 

and refining their expertise. They bring that same 

passion for coffee into theaters by creating café-style 

experiences. Lavazza offers a variety of brewing styles 

and systems to meet every need, from their Flavia and 

Expert single-serve options to Bean to Cup machines 

and custom solutions. 



71

LA IMAGEN SOLO ES REPRESENTATIVA LOS COLORES Y MATERIALES PUEDEN VARIAR 

THE IMAGE IS ONLY REPRESENTATIVE THE COLORS AND MATERIALS CAN VARY 


Lighting Technologies 

International 

Booth: 2505A 

ltilighting.com 

Lighting Technologies International 

Located in Baldwin Park, California, Lighting 

Technologies International (LTI) offers digital cinema 

xenon lamps made in the U.S. and especially designed for 

the demanding requirements of today’s digital cinema 

projectors. Their high light output ensures optimum onscreen 

brightness, while a proprietary electrode design 

ensures high arc stability for sharp digital pictures. Long 

lifetimes and a highly robust design ensure a low total cost 

of ownership for digital cinema. Each lamp is customized 

per projector model to ensure the best performance. 

M 

Mobiliario Seating 

Booth: 1005J 

mobiliarioseating.net 

Hermus 

Hermus Luxury Recliners 

Mobilario’s Hermus luxury recliners are designed to 

last longer through a cushion injection system rather 

than using traditional fillings. This upgrade offers 

greater comfort and design, giving moviegoers the 

opportunity to enjoy a movie for hours, regardless of if 

they are light or heavy patrons. The seat’s cushion offers 

natural support and is available in three configurations: 

individual, loveseat, and full-row options. The steel 

frame has been manufactured to allow hard traffic, and 

movie owners will get long-lasting loungers. 

AN INDUSTRY THAT STOPPED. AND HOW IT WAS BORN AGAIN. 

CINEMA POS 

HEAD OFFICE 

CUSTOM 

DEVELOPMENT 

DATA 

ANALYTICS 

DREAM BIG 

FEATURING 

DRAG & DROP REPORTING 

UPSELLING & UPSIZING 

LIVE MANAGER 

DASHBOARDS 

FILM RENTAL 

LOYALTY & MEMBERSHIP 

LIVE OVERTIME ALERTS 

From the producers of internetticketing.com 

A JACRO production for over 25 years 

www.jacro.com 

internet 

ticketing 

.com 

from JACRO 


ALWAYS A GOOD FIT 

The Best of Both Worlds 

LTI is the only manufacturer that can supply both laser upgrade 

systems and xenon lamps. You choose the best technology for your 

application: high performance, long life laser for your larger 

screens, cost-effective xenon lamps for smaller screens. LTI’s 

revolutionary Helios modular laser upgrade systems fit multiple 

projectors and can be easily relocated between projectors as your 

requirements change. 

www.ltilighting.com 


73


Mondelez International 

Booth: 707J 

mondelezinternational.com 

Oreo Popcorn 

Give returning moviegoers a thrill with a salty-sweet 

treat starring Oreo. Made with real Oreo cookie pieces, 

Oreo base cake, and drizzles of Oreo creme, Oreo 

popcorn delivers quality and consistency. 

Motion Technology Inc. 

mtiproducts.com 

MultiChef XS, MultiChef XLT 

Motion Technology Inc. (MTI), manufacturer of 

the AutoFry, introduces two new products to their 

MultiChef high-speed oven line. The MultiChef XS 

is a compact, high-speed oven designed to fit just 

about anywhere. The new touch screen is designed to 

assist any business looking to expand their menu. The 

MultiChef XLT is a larger, high-speed oven equipped 

with an intuitive touch-screen controller and capable 

of serving a wide variety of demands. 

“The past year has been challenging for the foodservice 

industry, so we wanted to take the time to really 

focus on how we can expand our brand,” said Kathy 

Smith, president. “The new additions to our MultiChef 

line provide customers a variety of options to fit their 

specific needs and, most importantly, budget.” 

O 

Olea Kiosks 

Booth: 419J 

olea.com 

Olea Kiosks 

Olea Kiosks Inc. displays its family of ticketing and 

concessions kiosks at CinemaCon 2021. Self-service 

kiosks put the guest in control, removing friction 

from the buying cycle with reduced wait times and 

improved order accuracy. When faced with long lines 

at the counter, customers may forego that snack or 

refreshment. Data indicates that if they can quickly and 

easily check out on a kiosk, they will take the time to 

consider add-ons and read descriptions for new menu 

items, resulting in approximately 20 percent ticket lift. 

Self-service kiosks can help unpredictable demand 

and workforce management while removing 

mundane tasks like order and payment processing, 

allowing staff to focus on higher-value tasks that truly 

enhance the guest experience. 

Olea Kiosks have been tested and deployed with most 

ticketing and food and beverage software systems in 

North America. Financing and rental agreements are 

available. 


Meet the Treat 

That Really Pops 

Excite and entice moviegoers with popcorn 

starring America’s Favorite Cookie! 1 

Roll out the red carpet and drive guests to the 

concession stand with a spectacular treat that combines 

a movie theater staple with real OREO Cookie Pieces, 

OREO Base Cake and OREO Creme Variegate. 

TASTE FOR YOURSELF AT CINAMACON 2021 

BOOTH #707J 

AND LEARN HOW YOU CAN BRING THIS 

THRILLING TREAT TO YOUR THEATER TODAY! 

1. Nielsen, xAOC plus Convenience—52 CinemaCon weeks 2021 ending 12/26/2075


Omniterm 

Booth: 414J 

omniterm.com 

Social Distancing and Online Concessions 

In today’s ever-changing environment, theaters 

are expecting more from their POS suppliers. 

Omniterm continues to add to their suite of theater 

management software solutions by enhancing their 

ticketing application to ensure multiple options are 

available to enable social distancing. These options 

are completely configurable by auditorium, providing 

the ability to customize each auditorium based on 

the seating type or health regulations. In response 

to market changes, where contactless is now highly 

desired, Omniterm is adding an online concessionpurchasing 

application. This new feature will allow 

the purchase of concessions while buying tickets 

online to shorten and simplify customers’ ability 

to get their favorite snacks in time for the movie. 

Utilizing new WebServices allows Omniterm to 

introduce numerous enhancements to the online 

experience, including loyalty redemption. 

CINEMA POS SOFTWARE 

LOOKING FOR THE LATEST APPS 

THAT WILL IMPROVE YOUR 

BOTTOM LINE? 

Point of Sale, Kiosks, Web Ticketing, Gift Card, Loyalty, Digital Signage, Film Settlement 

and Multi-location Reporting and Monitoring. Omniterm’s Integra Theatre Management 

solution provides these apps which give you the control and information you need. 

Visit us at our booth# 414J @ CinemaCon. 

sales@omniterm.com 844.730.1430 



77


P 

Packaging Concepts 

Booth: 819J 

packagingconcepts.com 

Bagasse Plates and Bowls 

Packaging Concepts Inc. is once again doing its 

part to help save the planet. New for 2021, as part 

of their ever-growing line of concession packaging, 

is a stock line of Bagasse eco-friendly 10 x 10-inch 

square plates and 7 x 7-inch (32 oz.) square bowls. 

These are the perfect solution for both hot and cold 

foods. PET-domed lids are available for both items 

as well. As movie exhibitors continue to increase 

their concession offerings, PCI is there to assist with 

design, graphics, and delivery of quality concession 

packaging at an economical cost. 

PlexCall/Order Commander 

Booth: 718J 

plexcall.com 

PlexCall Dashboard 

PlexCall, leader in server call systems, presents 

PlexCall Dashboard, a revolutionary new way to 

evaluate customer interactions and monitor the 

success of your business. PlexCall Dashboard brings 

the features of several products into a centralized 

theater management tool with a proprietary algorithm 

that allows you to make the most informed inventory 

and show decisions. 

Order Commander 

Order Commander announces their next generation 

of service management and touchless kiosk solutions. 

Cutting-edge technology allows Order Commander 

kiosks to recognize and track hand motions when 

ordering, eliminating the need to touch surfaces or 

tap to pay, and minimizing the chance spreading of 

germs. Combined with Order Commander at your seat 

orders, this further reduces the need for in-theater 

customer contact and reduces staffing needs. 

POSitive Cinema 

Booth: 2601A 

positivecinema.com/ 

marketing-automation/ 

Marketing Automation 

POSitive Cinema’s Marketing Automation module 

provides automated marketing actions that turn 

into personalized communication with customers. 

It allows the creation of different campaign types: 

one-time, continuous, and real-time campaigns 

activated by defined triggers. Messages can be built 

from scratch or based on using fully customizable 

templates (with A/B testing for even greater 

efficiency), sent to the recipient’s group based on 

statistic and behavior conditions and delivered via 

email, SMS, or push notifications. It also provides 

full insights into the effectiveness of campaigns. 

Marketing Automation uses a central database 

for one’s entire circuit, making it easy to collect, 

store, and analyze data from all sales channels to 

automatically send the right messages to the right 

customers at the right time. 


VARIETY CHARITY AUCTION 

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WIN 

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KIDS 

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disorder slow him down. After practicing on his school tryke, Ryder 

got one of his very own and now has the freedom to ride with his 

family – especially his little sister. He’s even learned how to pedal 

on his own! Adaptive bikes give kids like Ryder a sense of confidence 

and independence that is crucial to their development. 

Please visit USVariety.org for more information. 

TEXT ‘VARIETY21’ TO 76278! 

or register to bid at Variety21.givesmart.com 

Thank you to Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation 

and our exhibitor partners for participating in the 

2021 Variety Gold Heart Campaign! 

JOIN US AT YOUNG VARIETY’S CINEMACON NIGHT OUT! 

Harrah’s Carnaval Court 

Wednesday, August 25 at 9PM 

Buy your ticket at varietysocal.org 

15 th Annual Variety Charity Auction at CinemaCon Presented by: 


79


Q 

QSC 

Booth: 2301A 

qsc.com 

Q-SYS Core Nano and Core 8 Flex 

Built on the same flexible and scalable software 

foundation as the rest of the Q-SYS processor 

portfolio, these new cores expand design options 

to meet a wider variety of cinema applications. The 

Q-SYS Core 8 Flex has 64 x 64 networked I/O channel 

capacity, with eight onboard FLEX audio channels 

and eight GPIOs to quickly and easily integrate analog 

audio and control devices into the Q-SYS ecosystem. 

Q-SYS Core Nano offers the same 64 x 64 networked 

audio I/O without the onboard analog I/O to support 

installations with smaller spaces with centralized 

processing and fully networked endpoints. Both 

Q-SYS processors occupy a smaller half-width, 1RU 

footprint and include pre-installed 8 x 8 softwarebased 

Dante audio channels (license-upgradeable 

up to 32 x 32 channels), driverless USB audio, and AV 

bridging capabilities. 

R 

RealD 

reald.com 

Ultimate Screen 

The RealD Ultimate Screen is 75 percent more 

light efficient than silver screens, providing a 

brighter, deeper, crisper 3-D image with uniform 

light distribution and true color replication. The 

proprietary technology offers the most effective 

laser despeckling solution, along with a giant leap in 

the reduction of ghosting. Its computer-generated 

surface is embossed on a rigid polyester substrate, 

coated with a thin layer of aluminum and a protective 

liquid-repelling coating, which means it’s cleanable. 

Currently in use in more than 300 premium largeformat 

auditoriums and dozens of state-of-theart 

postproduction and visual-effects facilities 

worldwide. 150 micron nano perforated available 

in the following configurations: 2.0 Gain; 40° HGA; 

300:1 Stereo Contrast | 3.0 Gain; 30° HGA; 800:1 Stereo 

Contrast | 4.0 Gain; 25° HGA; 1000:1 Stereo contrast. 


SCww 

To the big screen, 

and beyond! 

CREATE A FULL MULTIPLEX EXPERIENCE WITH Q-SYS FROM QSC 

Today’s cinema experience is so much more than movies! And Q-SYS TM is so much more than a 

cinema processor. With the Q-SYS Platform you can deliver sound to each theatre and every other 

space in the theatre complex where high quality sound is important. You can also monitor and 

control every sound system component and many other devices, from anywhere in the building or 

remotely from anywhere with a network connection. 

To learn how, visit QSC at CinemaCon 2021, Augustus Ballroom 2301 

qsc.com/cinema 

©2021 QSC, LLC all rights reserved. QSC, Q-SYS and the QSC logo are registered trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and other countries. 


81


RCM Media 

Booth: 811J 

rcm-media.com 

Contactless 360 Cinema App 

Innovation is the heart of any successful business. 

This is why RCM Media, which helped revolutionize 

the world of concession merchandise, has kept 

working to bring new and exciting products to the 

cinema industry. The innovation and spirit continue 

to this day, with the launch of RCM Live, a new 

division dedicated to digital marketing initiatives. 

RCM’s new Contactless 360 Cinema App allows users 

to access movie trailers, purchase tickets, reserve 

seats, and even buy concession items prior to their 

arrival. “That’s the beauty of our 360 App,” says Jim 

McGinness, president of RCM Media. “We can even 

change our Movie Graphic Collectible promotional 

items and pricing tiers at the flip of a switch—just like 

with a digital menu board.” 

Retriever Solutions 

Booth: 919J 

retrieversolutionsinc.com 

App-Based Food & Drink Sales 

Retriever Solutions, a leading provider of ticketing 

and theater point-of-sale systems, launches the inapp 

food and drink sales platform to help operators 

increase revenue and reduce labor costs. The app 

also features movie information, ticketing, and a 

customer wallet for easy and fast transactions. A 

customizable app-based loyalty program provides an 

enhanced customer experience. The robust admin 

console allows theater management to message users 

through push notifications. Purchase data is available 

for targeted marketing campaigns. See the app in 

action at CinemaCon and discover more of the latest 

enhancements to Retriever’s point-of-sale solutions. 

Royal Corporation 

Booth: 919J 

royalcorporation.com 

Royal Self Cleaning Electric Mop/Vacuum 

The new Royal Self-Cleaning Electric Mop is cordfree, 

making it an ideal tool for quick spill cleanups 

and maintaining hard-surface floors. At the touch of 

a button, operators can dispense water or cleaning 

solution onto the floor to clean with the spinning mop 

head. The unit’s suction will collect the liquids into a 

separate tank for disposal. It also comes with a second 

cleaning head for carpeted floors and two batteries 

each with a 56-minute run time, allowing operators 

to charge one while the other is in use. The unit also 

has a docking station that auto-cleans the mop head 

between uses and voice notifications when the dirty 

solution tank is full and the battery is running low. 


ce4-7 OCT 

ce2021 

convention & tradeshow 

CCIB/BARCELONA 

CELEBRATING 

30 

YEARS OF 

CINEEUROPE 

CENTRE CONVENCIONS INTERNACIONAL BARCELONA (CCIB) 

CINEEUROPE.NET 

OFFICIAL CORPORATE SPONSOR 


83


S 

Schult Industries and 

Sonic Equipment 

Booth: 412J 

schult.com 

sonicequipment.com 

Schult Industries and Sonic Equipment 

Schult Industries has built specialized theater poster 

cases and signage for over 45 years. They provide for 

a cinema’s entire visual communications package, 

including all poster cases, menu systems, auditorium 

blade signs, BXO, ADA signage, decorative elements, 

fabric light boxes, and more. Products include a variety 

of poster cases, marquees, menu boards, and BXO, 

both digital and traditional, as well as replacement 

parts for poster cases. Schult Industries has experience 

working with designers, architects, and general 

contractors; a partnership with Sonic Equipment 

provides a wide range of services and products. 

Severtson Screens 

Booth: 2606A 

severtsonscreens.com 

SēVision Folded 3D GX Line 

Severtson Screens will exhibit its most popular 

options for its folded SēVision 3D GX line of cinema 

projection screens at CinemaCon 2021. “Our folded 

shipping method makes international distribution 

of our industry-acclaimed SēVision 3D GX highly 

affordable, reducing international shipping costs 

by up to 70 percent,” says Toby Severtson, president 

and CEO of Severtson Corp. According to Severtson, 

both microperf and digi-perf offer multiple benefits 

versus standard perforation screens. “Either one is the 

answer for current ultra-high-performance cinema 

screens, depending on one’s specific needs, and are 

the perfect solutions for 4K, 8K, 12K, and even higher 

projection resolutions as these technologies become 

available in the future.” Both microperf and digi-perf 

provide approximately 7 percent open space against 

the traditional 4.5 percent open space. 

Sharp NEC Display Solutions 


sharpnecdisplays.us 

NC2443ML 4K RB Laser Projector 

Featuring a built-in modular laser light source, suited 

for theaters with medium- to large-sized screens, or 

projection booths that are looking for high-quality cinema 

projection. The NC2443ML uses an RB laser light source 

to produce a rich color spectrum with unsurpassed 

brightness. The use of the RB laser and 4K DC-compliant 

quality creates an image bright enough to display on 

screens up to 72 feet in DCI color. The projector does not 

require lamp replacement, leading to less maintenance 

and lower running costs. It can be installed on the floor or 

the ceiling without the need for an exhaust system. 

NC1202L Laser Projector 

Suited for theaters with small screens in or out of 

projection booths. Featuring maintenance-free 

operation with approximately 50,000 hours expected 

usage, this projector boasts lower running costs and 

cost-savings resulting from no lamp replacement or 

maintenance labor. 


Experience the new 4K 24,000 lumen 

NC2443ML Digital Cinema Laser Projector! 

Designed for theaters with screens up to 72 ft. wide, NEC's NC2443ML is the latest DCI compliant RB Laser 

DLP cinema projector. Delivering precise 4K (4096 x 2160) resolution, 3-D capabilities and high contrast 

images, this model is easy to operate, extremely user-friendly and requires minimal maintenance 

providing up to 50,000 hours of laser life for unsurpassed TCO. 

Come visit us at CinemaCon! 

Sharp NEC Display Solutions Suite: 

Milano 4 

For more information, visit our website at 

www.sharpnecdisplays.us 


85


StepGuard by Light Tape 

Booth: 2207A 

lighttape.com 

StepGuard Egress Lighting Systems 

StepGuard is the only manufacturer in the world 

that makes both the lighting element and the profile. 

Using their Light Tape as the light source, cinema 

guests will experience no annoying on-screen glare 

as they would with traditional LED bulbs. StepGuard 

has a wide variety of profiles available to suit different 

needs, with step, aisle, row, and wall illumination 

being their specialties. Their system is built to order 

and is supplied as a complete plug-and-play package 

that can be quickly installed and controlled with ease. 

Storming Images 

stormingimages.com 

Media Director Platform 

Storming Images is a leading digital content delivery 

provider serving the needs of cinema owners. Its 

Media Director Platform is proprietary technology 

presenting a one-stop digital delivery system for 

preshow, movie trailer, film, and event distribution. 

Cinema owners no longer need to scramble lastminute 

to get a preshow, trailer, or event to their 

theaters. Simplify the management of content 

with one easy-to-use system that provides delivery 

verification and proof-of-play. 


25 – 28 APRIL 2022 

CAESARS PALACE LAS VEGAS 

The world goes to the movies. 

The movie world goes to CinemaCon. 

The Official 

Convention of 


87


Strong Technical Services 

Booth: 2401A 

strong-tech.com 

Strong as a Service (SaaS) 

Introducing Strong as a Service (SaaS), their newest 

program to package equipment, installation, and 

service for new builds or theater renovations. SaaS 

offers fixed monthly payments for the duration of the 

program, backed by the entire Strong team to outfit 

your theater with the equipment needed to keep your 

customers happy. 

Strong LMS 

Strong has leveraged their years of experience 

building LMS hardware to bring you the nextgeneration 

Strong LMS. Their new models have 

capacities of 200+ features in desktop or 1,200+ 

features in rack-mount configurations, capable 

of lightning-fast 18-minute transfers, and hosting 

multiple operating systems via virtualization at an 

unbeatable starting price of $5,000. 

Strong eSports 

Ready to deliver an immersive experience and tap 

into a new customer base? Stop by Strong’s booth to 

discuss their Eclipse immersive screen and projection 

blending solution—the same solution offered at your 

favorite theme park. 

T 

Telescopic Seating Systems 

Booth: 201J 

telescopicseatingsystems.com 

Smart Programmable 

Telescopic Seating Systems’ new Smart Programmable 

compact recliner combines minimum space 

requirements with maximum comfort. With TSS’s 

microprocessor-controlled Smart Programmable 

compact recliner, cinemas have the ability to program 

the recline, compactness, and ottoman and/or back 

control and integrate with building safety controls, 

giving complete control either in-person or from their 

theater networks. Thirty-six recliners, including seat 

heaters, can fit on a single 20-amp circuit. RBG underseat 

lighting provides effects and allows cinema staff 

to see what needs to be cleaned; the system can be 

programmed so that only the seats that have been 

used for the current show or throughout the day can 

be opened. 



89


Theater Toolkit 

Booth: 201J 

theatertoolkit.com 

Customizable Website Platform for Exhibitors 

Tailored and branded for cinemas, Theater Toolkit 

is a mobile-first modern website platform with 

streamlined ticket purchasing. Theater Toolkit 

integrates seamlessly with point-of-sale systems and 

other third-party providers to unify your customer 

experience and help you manage your online brand 

easily and painlessly. Theater Toolkit provides a bigtheater 

look, without the big-theater budget. For more 

information, visit the website listed at left or call 

(844) 321-3414. 

TouchMate 

Booth: 913J 

touchmateusa.com 

TouchMate 

TouchMate supplies self-service solutions across 

multiple markets with customized kiosks and other 

products built in the United States. Touchmate 

delivers products with a focus on industry-specific 

functionality, creative branding, and specialty 

designs. From color choice to graphic placement, 

every last detail is specific to your business. 

TouchMate products come with a three-year warranty, 

which includes on-site service and maintenance, 

so customers can feel confident the machine they 

purchase will provide excellent performance for many 

years to come. 

U 

Usheru 

usheru.com 

Usheru 

Usheru is a movie marketing and analytics company 

focused on connecting content to audiences through 

smart and long-term relationships. Powering a data-led 

approach, Usheru builds direct-to-consumer solutions 

and supports exhibitors in selling more cinema tickets 

by connecting to its global partners’ distributor and 

studio marketing campaigns—with no additional 

cost or work attached. The company supports a wide 

range of global partners such as distributors, studios, 

cinemas, exhibitors, and national film agencies, 

boosting their audience reach, cinema ticket sales, and 

home entertainment views. 



91


V 

Venue Valet Call Connect 

Booth: 201J 

venue-valet.com 

CallConnect QR Code Virtual Call Button 

Venue Valet has integrated Q.R. code technology into 

its cinema operations management system and now 

allows customers to use their mobile phones to scan 

for service using virtual call buttons and alert a server 

to come take their order. Exhibitors can also provide 

guests a way to request certain food and beverage 

items right from their phones without employees 

having to run to their seat. Whatever your theater’s 

current or future service model has in store, Venue 

Valet can help cinemas achieve their service goals by 

adding cost-effective, scannable Q.R. codes to their 

customers’ ordering experience. 

Vista Group International 

vistagroup.co.nz 

Vista Cloud 

Introducing Vista Cloud, a new generation of Vista 

Cinema’s cinema software. Based on decades of 

exhibition expertise, Vista combined industry-leading 

technology and the benefits of cloud to craft a solution 

that empowers your cinema experience. While Vista 

hosts and manages a cinema’s environment and takes 

care of complex security and compliance services, 

regular product updates ensure that every cinema has 

access to the latest innovation faster than ever before. 

Vista’s evolution even expands to a circuit’s digital 

sales channels: web, mobile, and kiosk. 

Vistar 

Booth: 807J 

vistar.com 

Vistar 

Vistar is the nation’s leading distributor of concession 

products to the theater industry, offering cinemas 

a large and diverse product selection, convenience, 

and accommodating service. Temperature-controlled 

trucks take to the streets from their strategically 

placed OpCos, delivering anywhere in the country. 

Vistar’s weekly delivery schedule ensures a constant 

supply of brand-name candy, snacks, popcorn, 

beverages, and frozen and refrigerated foods; along 

with non-food items such as cups, tubs, food trays, 

napkins, and sanitation/janitorial supplies. By 

leveraging industry data and working in conjunction 

with its supplier network, Vistar can also help 

determine what products will help boost sales. 

Vistar can also cater to special events that may call 

for increased inventory or customized promotional 

cups and paper products. Whether your business 

is a thriving multi-property theater, or a small 

independent exhibitor, Vistar has the expertise 

to provide distribution and logistics for all your 

essential products. 


we understand moviegoers 

data-driven marketing solutions 

for the film industry 

Copyright 2021 Movio Limited. All rights reserved. A company of Vista Group International Ltd.

seNOV 8-11 


LOEWS MIAMI BEACH HOTEL 

MIAMI BEACH, FL 

CELEBRATING 

35 

YEARS OF 

SHOWEAST 

LOEWS MIAMI BEACH HOTEL, MIAMI BEACH, FL 

SHOWEAST.COM 

PRODUCED BY 

FilmExpoGroup 

: 


94

Premium Formats 96 | Tech Update 108 | Dolby 116 | Barometer 124 

THEATER 

“The more we can tune into how the theater patron’s 

experience goes, that helps the theater owner, and it 

helps us. We all reap benefits from that.” 

Proctor Companies Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary, p. 130 


95

Theater PREMIUM FORMATS 

PREMIUM FORMAT 

AUDITORIUMS 

COME OF AGE 

Premium Experiences Lead the Way 

to Box Office Glory 

BY CHARLOTTE JONES 

Premium large-format (PLF) screens 

provide an immersive and engaging 

experience that makes every screening 

an event. These augmented, high-impact 

screens elevate the moviegoing experience 

and increase audience engagement in ways 

that cannot easily be replicated in the home. 

As studios push ahead with experimental 

release windows in 2021, premium screens 

are sure to be a major motivator, inspiring 

audiences to reestablish their loyalty to and 

enthusiasm for movie theaters. 

Global box office fell an unprecedented 

71.9 percent in 2020, to $11.7 billion, based 

on Omdia’s Cinema Intelligence territories, 

equivalent to lost box office revenue in the 

region of $29.7 billion year on year. Despite 

the economic hardship, there are positive 

signs for future investment based on 

several deals, particularly in the influential 

Chinese market and the new PLF hotspot of 

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). 

As exhibitors prepare for a year of 

box office recovery, recent successes in 

China and Japan indicate significant 

levels of pent-up demand for premium 

experiences, with Imax and other formats 

already acting as drivers for key content. 

Premium technology formats stand to play 

an increasingly critical role in reviving 

engagement for cinema audiences, 

thereby aiding the wider theatrical 

recovery; the 2021 global tally remains on 

track to approximately double from the 

pandemic-hit year, although it will still 

likely fall around 40 percent below 2019. 

Premium-Screen Growth Amid Covid 

Total premium large-format screens rose 

7.5 percent to over 4,700 worldwide in 

2020, a solid result considering this was 

a global pandemic, but with a notable 

slowdown equating to less than half of 

2019’s new screens. Of the 330 new PLF 

screens in 2020, the vast majority (over 

70%) opened in the first six months of the 

year. Prolonged shutdowns due to Covid-19 

(some self-imposed) fueled the slowdown, 

and a very small number of permanent 

shutterings had an impact as well. 

China vs. U.S. Total PLF Screens 

Source: Omdia 

U.S. 

China 

2020 

2019 

2018 

2017 

2016 

2015 

2014 

0 

450 900 1350 1800 

As exhibitors prepare 

for a year of box 

office recovery, recent 

successes in China 

and Japan indicate 

significant levels of 

pent-up demand for 

premium experiences. 



97


This trend may become more apparent 

in 2021 as the impact of Covid-19 persists 

into its second year but is not likely to 

have a significant impact, as the trend for 

new screen construction with a higher 

allocation of flagship screens and higher 

relative growth in emerging markets will 

continue to propel the market forward. 

PLF screens accounted for 2.3 percent 

of world screens at year-end 2020 (up from 

1.9% at end 2018), with innovative key 

exhibitors in some territories exceeding 

this average, highlighting how PLF screens 

are being deployed more quickly than 

regular screens. 

Asia Pacific Stands Out 

Asia Pacific was again the leading region, 

with over 2,200 premium large-format 

screens accounting for a 46.8 percent 

share of the total PLF screen base. Of these, 

China accounts for the vast majority, or 

over 77 percent of PLF in the region. 

China has the highest number of 

branded experiences, including Cinity, a 

joint venture formed by Christie, GDC, 

and Huaxia and built around 4K and 

HDR technology. This was also the fastest 

growing brand in H1 2020. 

China remains the largest PLF territory 

globally with 1,710 screens at year-end 

2020, ahead of North America, where 

the majority are in the United States 

(1,293). The vast majority of PLF screens 

in China fall under global brands, the 

highest proportion of any market in Asia 

and Oceania and the highest number of 

branded experiences of any region. 

China is Imax’s largest market by 

screen count with a 42.5 percent market 

share of PLF in the territory. Imax sees 

potential to expand by 50 percent in China 

by 2023, underscoring the potential even 

in key territories. Imax has scored several 

new deals in China, including a 12-theater 

deal with JinYi, 20 screens with Wanda, 

and a four-theater deal with Broadway. 

Imax has also homed in on Japan, with 

plans to triple the number of screens from 

the current 39. 

There were six global territories with 

over 100 screens in 2020, led by China, the 

U.S., Canada, Brazil, the U.K., and South 

Korea, and a total of just 11 territories with 

over 50 PLF screens, including Australia, 

Japan, Russia, and Mexico. The top 20 PLF 

territories account for 90 percent of all 

global PLF screens. 

Emerging Markets Are the Next 

Frontier 

Emerging markets have a higher 

propensity for premium technology 

formats and stand to play a major role 

in growing the total market for cinema 

experiences. In emerging markets, 

particularly the Middle East, PLF already 

has an above-average screen penetration, 

which will further feed into growth (as 

these markets are more agile), coupled 

with a higher propensity to invest in a 

wide range of banner screens. 

There were 95 international territories 

with at least one type of PLF screen in 

2020 (including 64 territories that had 

over three PLF screens), as PLF continues 

to gain a foothold in emerging cinema 

markets, including the newly opened-up 

Top 20 PLF Territories 2020 

1,800 

1,350 

900 

450 

0 

Country 

Amount 

1 China 1,686 

2 U.S. 1,293 

3 Canada 162 

4 Brazil 145 

5 U.K. 143 

6 South Korea 136 

7 Australia 93 

8 Japan 92 

9 Mexico 86 

10 Russia 86 

11 France 85 

12 UAE 46 

13 India 36 

14 Colombia 33 

15 Ireland 30 

16 Netherlands 27 

17 Spain 24 

China 

U.S. 

Source: Omdia 

Canada 

Brazil 

U.K. 

South Korea 

Australia 

Japan 

Mexico 

Russia 

France 

UAE 

India 

Colombia 

Ireland 

Netherlands 

Spain 

Germany 

Malaysia 

Turkey 

18 Germany 23 

19 Malaysia 21 

20 Turkey 19 


cinema market of Saudi Arabia, already 

the second largest PLF market in the 

region after the UAE, which has 46 screens. 

The wider adoption of PLF screens 

throughout the Middle East has been 

driven by global brands such as Dolby 

Cinema and CGR’s ICE. Reel Cinemas’ 

Dubai Mall became the first cinema to host 

two Dolby Cinema auditoriums in 2020. 

Saudi Arabia is the global hotspot 

for new premium screens—PLF screens 

tripled there in 2020—with five global 

brands active, including the launch of the 

third Sphera screen (from CinemaNext) 

at Empire Cinemas in December 2020. 

Sphera combines vertical columns of LED 

lighting, reclining seats, 4K laser, and 

Dolby Atmos sound. 

Muvi Cinemas was the first to bring 

Dolby Cinema to KSA in 2020. It will 

expand to a total of 300 screens to include 

15 PLF screens, plus the launch of a new 

format known as Muvi Boutique. AMC 

also plans to bring 16 Dolby Cinema 

screens to Saudi Arabia over the next 

four years. There are also four exhibitor 

brands present, but they account for just 

seven screens, including Muvi’s Xperience, 

AMC’s Prime, Vox Max, and Cinepolis’s 

MacroXE. 

With 24 PLF screens out of 320 screens 

total at the end of 2020, equivalent to 7.5 

percent, Saudi Arabia has a very high 

premium-screen penetration, which 

is in keeping with the above-average 

investment in the region and the higher 

number of multiplexes in the territory (its 

average of 8.3 screens per site is the highest 

in the world). It also has the highest-priced 

cinema tickets globally. This underscores 

how exhibitors have strategically 

positioned these premium screens in highincome, 

urban areas with demographics 

best suited to higher ticket prices. 

Despite its high prevalence of 

multiplexes, Saudi Arabia will also 

welcome its first boutique cinema in May 

2021, which will offer four screens with an 

average of just 95 seats per screen. 

Global Brands Are an Attractive 

Option in the Pandemic 

The market share of global technology 

brands reached a new high in 2020, 

accounting for 61.6 percent of the total 

premium large-format screen base, a small 

but steady increase from 2019 and previous 

years. The enduring nature of best-in-class 

premium experiences coming from trusted 

and respected global brands are behind 

the rise, plus rising audience awareness 

of novel formats such as ScreenX. There 

were 13 global branded formats in 2020, 

up one from 12 in 2019. RealD launched 

RealD Luxe in China, but the number of 

providers remained the same. 

Alongside large format, other premium 

technologies such as immersive motion 

seating and 4-D, like D-Box, 4DX, and 

MX4D, also sit firmly in this wider category 

of augmented premium experiences. 

There has been a significant expansion 

in the number of global-branded screens 

(including IMS/4D), which more than 

doubled from 2015 to 2020. This does not 

include 3-D screens such as RealD, the 

largest 3-D provider, or exhibitor-branded 

PLF screens. Of all brands, Imax remains 

the largest premium theatrical brand, 

spanning 84 territories as of 1Q 21. 

4-D and IMS screens account for nearly 

40 percent of the global-branded total. 

D-Box was the second largest individual 

global format after Imax in H1 2020, based 

on Cinema Intelligence territories. D-Box 

also announced its first full auditorium 

outfit in Vienna, Austria, in 2020. 

With its 4DX, 4DX Screen, and ScreenX 

brands, CJ 4DPlex is ranked second only 

to Imax as a major premium provider, with 

over 1,080 installs worldwide. 4DX is its 

largest format, with 731 auditoriums in 

2020 and just over half of those coming 

from exhibitors in Asia and Oceania. 

In the competitive global-branded 

space for large screens, Imax remains 

the clear market leader with a 56.6 

percent share, a proportion that has 

been slowly eroding due to the increased 

competition from other formats, as well 

as the rising popularity of PLF in general. 

Much of Imax’s success has centered 

on its involvement with the end-to-end 

lifecycle of a movie. In 2019, a record five 

of the top 10 Imax movies featured Imax 

DNA. Further out, the content pipeline is 

increasingly catering to movies filmed in 

Imax, underscoring its premium quality. 

China was Imax’s largest market 

(734 screens in Greater China) in 1Q 

21. Dolby Cinema had 263 installations 

worldwide in 2020, including more 

recent expansion in Japan and Saudi 

Arabia. CGS was the second largest global 

format (including China), followed by 

ScreenX and Dolby Cinema. 

A slew of new competitors lost 

momentum in 2020, for obvious reasons. 

ScreenX was one of the fastest growing 

formats of 2019 but was unable to sustain 

levels in 2020. Nonetheless, some bright 

spots emerged. ScreenX finished 2020 

with 316 screens plus 35 4DX screens 

worldwide. China, Korea, the U.S., the 

U.K., Japan, and Canada were the top five 

markets for ScreenX. Saudi Arabia had six 

installations. 

Cinionic Giant Screen (CGS) is 

expanding wider outside China, with a 

total of 384 screens globally as of 1Q 2021 

(although the vast majority are in China). 

THX Ultimate Cinema has partnered with 

CGS, launching in Europe in 1Q 2021 with 

Nordisk Film at the Imperial Theatre in 

Copenhagen, Denmark. CGS has also 

partnered with Maya Cinemas in the U.S. 

to power Maya’s brand format, MPX. 

The Cinity Cinema System was 

developed by Christie for Huaxia Film 

in conjunction with GDC Technology, 

based on 120fps HFR among other high 

specs. Just over 40 screens were installed 

worldwide as part of a longer-term plan to 

add as many as 500 Cinity screens over the 

next few years. 

CGR’s ICE brand was another to gain 

momentum, including the recent install 

of a second screen in Saudi Arabia at the 

In the competitive globalbranded 

space for large 

screens, Imax remains the 

clear market leader with a 

56.6 percent share. 


99


end of 2020 (with Vox Cinemas). The first 

international install was at the Regal L.A. 

Live theater in Los Angeles. 

Total exhibitor-branded screens rose 

5.6 percent, a below-average growth rate as 

global exhibitors showed signs of limited 

or delayed investment in own-brand 

screens during the pandemic-hit months. 

New Outliers for Technology Formats 

The convergence of formats is also an 

area for potential growth—4DX is a 

screen based on the ScreenX peripheral 

screen and coupled with 4DX seating. 

Opportunity also exists to expand 

technology by combining premium 

formats with other luxury attributes like 

recliner seating and boutique formats 

like Imax’s Sapphire brand. Recliner 

seating is another common feature of 

many premium auditoriums, whether 

added to stand-alone screens or a 

component of complete venue retrofits. 

They complement the appeal of premium 

auditoriums and have become a fixture at 

luxury dine-in cinemas. Marcus Theatres 

has a distinct auditorium concept based 

on the PLF-plus-recliner. Other formats, 

such as Dolby Cinemas, have recliners 

as standard, while D-Box also has a full 

recliner option. 

There is also the opportunity to use 

technology as a differentiator among PLF 

screens, and Imax with laser and Kinepolis’s 

Laser Ultra are two such examples. 

New technologies can strengthen the 

theatrical sector by inspiring filmmakers to 

The outlook for premium 

formats remains positive, as 

they are highly sought-after 

by audiences and increasingly 

targeted by exhibitors to raise 

the bar for cinemagoing in 

general. 

create and optimize their works expressly 

for premium platforms such as Imax, Dolby 

Cinema, 4DX, Cinity, and ScreenX. This 

includes filming (Imax), in post-production, 

mastering/optimizing to HDR, and 

conversion for peripheral formats. 

Strong Titles Deliver on Premium 

Formats 

Imax has already reported gains, both 

from significant pent-up demand and a 

robust theatrical slate of global releases, 

especially in the latter part of 2021. Imax 

has also been boosted by its position in 

China, now its leading market by box 

office revenue, where stronger consumer 

confidence and select local titles have 

helped the market recover. 

According to data from the Imax 

Corporation, Imax generated its first 

quarter-on-quarter box office gain with 

$110M in 1Q 21. In China, recent titles have 

over-indexed, including Avatar (rerelease) 

with 30 percent taken in Imax theaters 

for the opening weekend, and Godzilla vs. 

Kong, with 12 percent from Imax theaters. 

There were also impressive results for 

local titles, such as Shockwave 2 with 20 

percent box office on Imax screens in 

China on the New Year holiday. 

In North America, Warner Bros.’ 

Godzilla vs. Kong, a day-and-date theatrical 

SVOD release (on HBO Max), generated a 

reported 25 percent box office split from 

premium (PLF) screens, approximately 

double the regular split for a key title. 

Global-Branded Premium Technology Formats by Provider 

Imax Digital D-Box 4DX CGS MX4D Other 

2020 

2019 

2018 

2017 

2016 

0 

Source: Omdia 

1,250 

2,500 3,750 5,000 


Market Outlook 

As the industry stages its recovery and as 

completed vaccinations climb, cinemas 

will need to continue to innovate and 

invest in opportunities such as premium 

technology screens in order to provide 

customers with levels of service, luxury, 

and quality they would not otherwise be 

able to experience at home. 

Premium formats have received a 

renewed focus in the recovery stages, 

with audiences seeking out and 

demanding differentiated and best-inclass 

experiences after months of home 

entertainment. The outlook for premium 

formats remains positive, as they are 

highly sought-after by audiences and 

increasingly targeted by exhibitors to raise 

the bar for cinemagoing in general. 

Technology premium-format screens, 

excluding stand-alone 3-D or immersivesound 

auditoriums, accounted for 3.1 

percent of global screens in 2020. There 

is potential to achieve further growth of 

at least 5 percent and up to 10 percent 

of screens in this area. This trend bodes 

well for the future of cinemagoing, as 

audiences crave immersive environments 

that provide the justification for enjoying 

films outside their homes. 

During the pandemic, the decades-long 

exclusive theatrical window has come 

under further pressure, as studios attempt 

to balance a return to theatrical exhibition 

with streaming’s continued rise in 

popularity. In the post-Covid era, premium 

screens will be key to increasing the 

attractiveness of the theatrical experience, 

even when the same movie could be 

viewed almost immediately at home. 

Omdia believes the number of 

luxury and technology-based formats 

will continue to grow, based on market 

demand and the need for innovation. In 

2021, many exhibitors will be focused 

on survival, and in many cases this will 

mean closing unprofitable sites, although 

these sites are less likely to include the 

latest augmented screens. Moreover, new 

builds that are still in the pipeline can 

bring in multiple times the revenues of 

underperforming sites due to the higher 

allocation of luxury fittings and premium 

and other technology formats. 

Cinemas can also help shape the 

future of the industry by engaging more 

closely with audiences, encouraging and 

rewarding repeat loyalty, and ultimately 

by shaping the audience journey from 

beginning to end as an event underpinned 

by premium, augmented experiences. 

Charlotte Jones is the associate director 

of cinema at Omdia, now part of 

Informa Tech. 

Source: OMDIA 

Note: some data remains provisional/estimated 

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101

Theater EVENT RECAP 

GIANTS OF 

EXHIBITION: 

PREMIUM 

FORMAT 

Premium-Format Auditoriums 

Drive Audiences’ Return to 

Cinemas 


As moviegoers make their longawaited 

return to cinemas, premium 

large-format (PLF) auditoriums have 

emerged as a preferred destination. The 

trend began to emerge as early as last 

summer, when Chinese cinemas first 

reopened following the closures that 

presaged the pandemic’s global disruption. 

The August release of The Eight Hundred, 

the first Chinese film to be shot in Imax, 

brought blockbuster earnings from Imax 

screenings despite the format being 

available in just 1 percent of the country’s 

screens. Imax continued to see similarly 

strong performances from its locations 

as more cinemas opened around the 

globe. The box office hot streak carried 

over during the lull in new releases 

experienced by much of the market 

during the first half of 2021. A rerelease 

of James Cameron’s Avatar in China, for 

instance, brought in nearly a third of its 

opening weekend haul from Imax screens. 

Domestically, Imax began to hit similar 

benchmarks as audiences returned. By 

July, Imax claimed nearly 10 percent 

of the $80 million domestic opening 

weekend from Disney’s Black Widow—at 

the time, the biggest pandemic-era debut 

in North America. 

The over-indexing of PLF auditoriums 

in the global return to cinemas hasn’t 

been exclusive to Imax. Immersive seating 

provider D-Box experienced that same 

bump with the release of Godzilla vs. 

Kong earlier this year. The film opened 

overseas in late March to $123.1 million 

from 53,256 screens, 5 percent below the 


LEADING 

EXHIBITOR- 

BRANDED PLFS IN 

NORTH AMERICA 

(*Does not include Dolby Cinema 

auditoriums, exclusive to AMC 

Theatres in the United States). 

The number of PLF 

auditoriums has more than 

doubled over the past six 

years, according to the 

latest report from research 

firm Omdia. 

$130 million international bow of 2019’s 

Godzilla: King of the Monsters from 

53,515 screens. Despite the slight drop 

in overall box office, D-Box sold more 

tickets in its motion-seating format for 

Godzilla vs. Kong than it did for the film’s 

2019 predecessor—even with cinemas 

operating under capacity restrictions. 

The number of PLF auditoriums 

has more than doubled over the past 

six years, according to the latest report 

from research firm Omdia. The sector 

grew by 17 percent from 2018 to 2019, 

slowing down to a 7 percent growth the 

following year because of the pandemic. 

By the end of 2020, there were close to 

6,400 PLF screens globally, “a very small 

number in terms of the 203,000 cinema 

screens worldwide,” says Charlotte Jones, 

1 Cinemark XD 

2 Regal Cinemas RPX 

3 Cineplex UltraAVX 

4 Marcus Theatres 

UltraScreen DLX 

5 AMC Prime 

6 Cinema West Giant Screen 

7 B&B Theatres Grand Screen 

8 Xscape Theatres Xtreme 

9 Santikos AVX 

10 AMC GXL 

11 Galaxy Theatres GXL 

12 Emagine EMAX 

13 Harkins Theatres Ciné 1 

14 Showbiz Cinemas SDX 

15 Showplace ICON Theatres 

ICON-X 

16 Landmark Cinemas Laser 

Ultra 

17 Epic Theatres Epic XL 

18 GTC Movies GTX 

19 Marquee Cinemas MXC 

20 Maya Cinemas MPX 

21 Bow Tie Cinemas BTX 

22 Showcase Cinemas 

(National Amusements) 

XPLUS 

Source: Omdia 


103


associate director of cinema at Omdia. 

Jones expects that global footprint to 

increase in the coming years, sharing 

her insights in a presentation at a recent 

edition of Boxoffice Pro’s latest LIVE 

Sessions webinar series focusing on the 

topic [see her in-depth report on p. 96]. 

Jones defines PLF as auditoriums where 

best-in-class image and sound technology 

feature prominently and sometimes 

include newer formats, like immersive 

seating and panoramic screens. “By 

definition, premium formats elevate the 

cinema experience. They are multifaceted, 

often consisting of more than one element, 

and, in fact, exhibitors are known to 

cherry-pick and combine a number of 

concepts in their approach,” she says. 

If her definition is broad, it is by design. 

The rise of premium-format screens 

over the years has expanded from what 

Omdia defines as “global-branded PLFs,” 

auditoriums under a third-party vendor’s 

brand like Dolby, RealD, and Imax, 

involved in the end-to-end life cycle of a 

film—from production to exhibition—to 

what has come to be known as “exhibitorbranded 

PLFs.” The exhibitor-led efforts 

are private-label offerings independently 

assembled by circuits themselves and 

oftentimes incorporate branded formats 

like Dolby Atmos immersive audio with 

non-branded fixtures like luxury seating 

or laser projection. 

“Different exhibitors have different 

strategies, investing in a number of 

formats,” says Jones. “While [the top 

five circuits in North America] have 

investments in exhibitor PLF, it doesn’t 

preclude them from any investment 

across a number of other formats, so 

multiple brands can coexist, and we’ve 

actually seen this trend increasing.” 

In North America, for example, more 

than 80 percent of AMC Theatres’ PLF 

auditoriums are globally branded through 

Imax and Dolby Cinema, the latter 

available exclusively in the United States 

through AMC. Regal and Cineplex each 

have 40 percent of their PLF fleet under 

their in-house brands—Regal RPX and 

Cineplex UltraAVX, respectively—with 

over half of their premium auditoriums 

branded under a variety of global partners. 

On the other hand, the two remaining 

top five cinema chains in North America, 

Cinemark and Marcus Theatres, both 

have a majority of their PLF rooms 

TOP 20 

TERRITORIES 

BY PLF 

SCREENS 

(2020) 

1 China 

2 U.S. 

3 Canada 

4 Brazil 

5 U.K. 

6 South Korea 

7 Australia 

8 Japan 

9 Mexico 

10 Russia 

11 France 

12 United Arab Emirates 

13 India 

14 Colombia 

15 Ireland 

16 Netherlands 

17 Spain 

18 Saudi Arabia 

19 Germany 

20 Malaysia 


under their respective private labels. 

Cinemark XD auditoriums represent 

over half of the circuit’s premium-format 

screens, with the bulk of its globalbranded 

PLFs represented by D-Box and 

Imax auditoriums. D-Box expanded its 

relationship with Cinemark in the United 

States earlier this year, increasing its 

footprint by eight locations and reaching a 

total of 99 screens across the circuit. In the 

case of Marcus Theatres, over 90 percent 

of the circuit’s PLF screens operate under 

its in-house brand, UltraScreen DLX. 

“When we break out that split between 

the global and exhibitor PLF brands, we 

can see a very different picture emerging 

by region,” says Jones. “North, Central, 

and South America are the only regions 

with more exhibitor-branded PLF screens 

than global PLF screens. Exhibitor PLF 

screens are less developed in Europe, 

particularly among some of the exhibitors 

in Eastern Europe, whereas in Asia Pacific 

there is a very high proportion of global 

PLF—mostly coming from China.” 

The share of PLF screens relative to a 

territory’s total screen count remains low 

despite this growth. Emerging markets 

like Croatia, Saudi Arabia, the United 

Arab Emirates, and Morocco are the only 

countries where PLF represents more than 

5 percent of total screens, in accordance 

with markets tracked by Omdia. 

“There is definite potential to expand 

in a lot of these markets. Looking towards 

the end of the scale, we do have some 

European markets, particularly those in 

Eastern Europe, as well as some others 

such as Germany and France that we can 

consider to be under-penetrated when it 

comes to PLF,” says Jones. 

Recognizing the opportunity of 

investing in PLF while their territory 

was still underserved, French circuit 

CGR Cinémas hit the market in the late 

2010s looking for a solution they could 

introduce to their audience. Unable to 

settle on any one concept, CGR devised 

its own PLF, ICE Theaters, in 2018. “We 

looked at all the premium large formats; 

those we found impressive were 

financially challenging for us, and those 

that were financially easy to recoup were 

not that impressive,” recalls ICE Theaters 

SVP of Global Sales Guillaume Thomine 

Desmazures. “So we tried to build our own 

premium large format, which initially 

was only for our own theaters, but all of 

a sudden it started to generate interest 

Scan me 

“By definition, premium 

formats elevate the cinema 

experience. They are 

multifaceted, often consisting 

of more than one element.” 

outside of our own theaters in France, 

and we realized that maybe this model, 

invented by an exhibitor, might interest 

other exhibitors.” 

CGR spun off its ICE Theaters concept 

as a global-branded PLF, making it 

available to other cinema chains around 

the world. ICE incorporates a series of 

LED panels into the sides of the screen, 

creating an immersive experience by 

adding background peripheral elements to 

a viewer’s line of sight throughout a film, 

without distracting from the film image 

on the screen itself. The auditoriums are 

equipped with laser projectors, luxury 

recliner seating, and Dolby Atmos. “These 

are elements that not everyone will be 

able to recognize at first glance,” says 

Desmazures. “For instance, my niece 

and her friends won’t have a clue if 

they are in a theater with Dolby Atmos 

or laser projection—but they’ll be able 

to recognize the LED panels from the 

moment they walk into the room.” 


105


Scan me 

CGR’s approach to developing ICE 

Theaters reflects Jones’s comments about 

how the latest generation of PLFs have 

incorporated a variety of elements into 

their design. Desmazures admits ICE 

Theaters had to walk a tightrope in its 

messaging to consumers in order to sell the 

premium nature of the format. “The main 

risk we identified is that if we treat this as a 

gimmick, we may attract some audiences— 

but they won’t come back later,” he says. 

“We needed to start with something flashy 

enough to be new, but complement it with 

a spectacular presentation so it convinced 

both studios and moviegoers on returning 

to the format.” 

CGR now operates 40 ICE locations in 

France. ICE Theaters has since expanded 

to global sites like Regal’s L.A. Live 

“What we’ve seen is that 

premium format creates 

more value for the whole 

content chain, not just in 

movie theaters, by eventizing 

the movie.” 

location in the U.S. and a six-screen deal 

with Middle Eastern circuit Vox. Omdia’s 

research identifies emerging markets in 

general, and the Middle East in particular, 

as the hottest hubs for PLF expansion 

in the coming years. The Middle East 

boasts 129 PLF auditoriums spanning 

16 territories, showing above-average 

investment in the sector. “We think 

it’s driven by the innovative nature of 

these exhibitors. We’ve got new screen 

construction there; new screens are 

more likely to invest in premium formats 

because they’re built from scratch,” 

says Jones. “It also has to do with the 

propensity of local audiences and a very 

high prevalence of multiplex theaters, 

as opposed to the sort of boutique or art 

house cinemas more common in some 

European territories.” 

Programming also plays a big role in 

the prevalence of PLF, as major studios 

dedicate additional effort to incorporating 

premium formats into the production and 

post-production stages of their biggest 

titles. A film’s availability in premium 

format is often mentioned in marketing 

materials for the biggest tentpoles on the 

studio calendar. Those campaigns help 

eventize theatrical releases over other 

distribution models—including day-anddate 

SVOD and PVOD releases—enticing 

viewers to leave their homes and pay a 

higher ticket price at the cinema. 

“Even the smallest screen in any of 

our theaters is better than what you have 

at home, but the premium experience— 

whether it’s sight and sound or seating—is 

something that you just can’t get in your 

living room,” says Ryan Wood, SVP and head 

film buyer at AMC Theatres. “We’ve seen it 

from our loyal guests and average consumers 

alike: They seek out our premium formats, 

especially on the big event titles.” 

If PLF was once the domain of actiondriven 

capers and sci-fi adventures, more 

genres have come to find success in 

premium format in recent years. Family 

films, horror movies, and musicals have 

all reached PLF screens in 2021. “We work 

across all genres,” says Jean-François 

Gagnon, global sales director, theatrical, 

at D-Box. “We’ve seen the haptic 

experience deliver a value that consumers 

recognize and are willing to pay extra for 

because it’s so different from anything 

they have at home.” 

D-Box has leveraged the unique quality 

of its motion seating system as a main 


selling point for moviegoers. The company 

works with studios during a movie’s postproduction 

to ensure its haptic seating 

technology works in harmony with the 

sound and visuals on-screen. That process 

is perfected by a team of designers, most 

of whom have a background in music or 

sound design, to design each film’s unique 

haptic track in a way that can accentuate 

and highlight specific details of a scene. 

The end result is a synchronization 

between the film and the patron’s seat, 

offering a level of immersion unavailable 

to home viewers. 

A focus on the out-of-home experience, 

positioning cinemas as entertainment 

destinations for a night out, has received 

increased attention as movie theaters 

contend with a shorter (in some cases, 

nonexistent) theatrical exclusivity window 

emerging from the pandemic. “I think 

we’ve already seen how audiences are 

seeking out enhanced experiences on their 

return to movie theaters,” says Jones. “I 

think this presents further opportunities 

for cinemas to invest in their flagship 

screens. The rollout of these new concepts 

is not coming at a particularly opportune 

time [during the pandemic], but 

nonetheless, exhibitors need to continue 

to innovate and invest to remain relevant, 

particularly in the case of audiences 

having a higher number of subscriptions 

at home. What we’ve seen is that premium 

format creates more value for the whole 

content chain, not just in movie theaters, 

by eventizing the movie.” 

The saturation of streaming content 

available at home has made it more 

difficult for new releases to stand 

out in the market. It has also led to 

a collaboration between studios and 

exhibitors that prioritizes event-driven 

campaigns ahead of a film’s release, 

often attached to advance ticketing 

opportunities. AMC’s Wood emphasizes 

the importance of promoting a circuit’s 

PLF showtimes during these advanceticketing 

campaigns, “We make sure 

whenever an advanced sale campaign is 

launched by a studio, that our premium 

formats go along with it,” he says. 

“Normally, the first consumers to come to 

the movies want to see a title in the best 

format. If you are buying your ticket early, 

it means you want the best seat and you 

want the best format.” 

The titles usually released in PLF 

auditoriums tend to be front-loaded studio 

tentpoles, earning the bulk of their grosses 

during the first 10 days of release. Success or 

failure for a PLF release often comes down 

to a film’s opening-weekend performance 

in these auditoriums. “For us, we need to be 

there on opening weekend,” says Gagnon. 

“That’s the important part, reaching the 

people who are ready to pay for a ticket to 

see a movie the day it comes out.” 

Coordinating the release schedule 

around the availability of premium 

screens is another important factor Wood 

believes exhibitors should consider in 

their PLF strategy. “You want to make sure 

you maximize your starts on premium 

format because, as we know, those runs 

typically only last for a week,” he says. 

“It’s a churn business, especially with this 

year’s slate. As a norm, if that consumer 

doesn’t get a chance to see it during 

the opening week, they may not get the 

chance to see it in Dolby or Imax.” 

While the rise of PLF pre-dates the 

pandemic by several years, its role in 

drawing audiences during the reopening 

period has been significant enough to 

make analysts question the pace of its 

future growth. The slowdown in growth 

that occurred in 2020 can likely be 

attributed to the pandemic’s devastating 

effect on cinema circuits, which were 

forced to either temporarily suspend or 

permanently shutter operations. Those 

that did reopen now face the challenge 

of negotiating back-rent agreements with 

landlords. These factors could cause 

further disruption for the expansion 

of PLF screens in the coming years, as 

circuits’ capex investments are paused or 

curtailed because of the pandemic. 

“Obviously this will have an impact 

going forward in terms of operators and 

their target investments. I think the first 

port of call was in reducing operating costs 

and driving down expenses. But operators 

need to innovate to survive, and I think, 

going forward, these premium formats 

will become a clear target for investment,” 

says Jones. “But, of course, this is all based 

on their return on investment.” 

TOP 20 

TERRITORIES 

RANKED BY PLF 

AS A SHARE OF 

TOTAL SCREENS 

1 Croatia 

2 Saudi Arabia 

3 United Arab Emirates 

4 Morocco 

5 Canada 

6 Ireland 

7 Luxembourg 

8 Brazil 

9 South Korea 

10 Australia 

11 United States 

12 Latvia 

13 United Kingdom 

14 Bulgaria 

15 Netherlands 

16 Colombia 

17 New Zealand 

18 Hong Kong 

19 Belgium 

20 Iceland 


107

Theater INNOVATION 

“Technology has always 

played a big role in helping 

movie theaters consistently 

wave off threats from other 

ways of watching content.” 

TECH TO 

THE RESCUE 

Technology Helps Cinemas Compete 

in a Post-Pandemic Climate 


Cinemas have been fighting 

competition for the public’s leisure 

time for almost 100 years, beginning 

with the rise of radio and television and 

continuing with the growth of homeentertainment 

options. But the movie 

theater business is currently facing one 

of its most daunting challenges ever, 

now that the pandemic has shattered 

exclusivity windows, and a return to 

“business as usual” seems highly unlikely. 

Throughout the decades, cinemas’ 

most important survival strategy has been 

technology, from the wide-screen formats 

born in the 1950s to advancements in 

sound to the digital revolution and the 

creation of luxury auditoriums offering 

comforts you can’t get at home. As 

theaters attempt to recapture some 

semblance of normalcy, we asked leaders 

in cinema technology to share their 

thoughts on how advanced tech can help 

persuade the public to return to cinemas 

when so many big-budget movies beckon 

on their home screens. 

Man Nang Chong, founder, chairman, 

and CEO of GDC Technology Ltd., 

comments, “Technology has always 

played a big role in helping movie theaters 

consistently wave off threats from other 

ways of watching content. At the same 

time, technology has kept moviegoing an 

affordable out-of-home entertainment 

choice. Although the pandemic gave rise 

to narrowing the exclusivity window, it 

did not keep GDC from continuing to 

technologically improve the moviegoing 

experience. As an industry, we cannot 

allow technology to stop simply due to 

changing business models. Because we 

constantly listen to the creative community, 

distributors, and exhibitors, there is always 

a new idea to improve the big-screen 

experience on our drawing board. For 

example, at GDC, we will introduce several 

new hardware and software products 

at CinemaCon, including our smallest, 

lightest, and quietest laser projector— 

Supra-5000, designed for the emerging 

mini-theater concept.” 

Mark Mayfield, director of global 

cinema marketing at audio leader QSC, 

says this is the time to upgrade. “There 

are many ways that theater operators can 

use technology to further differentiate 

the experience they can deliver in the 

theater from what people can create 

in their homes. First and foremost, 

evaluate the presentation quality inside 

your theater. Are both the sound and 

projection systems functioning at their 

best potential? If not, use this postpandemic 

period as sort of a reset, to 

recalibrate or upgrade your equipment so 

that when patrons return to the theater, 

the difference between streaming a movie 

at home and seeing it in the theater will 

be more dramatic and persuasive. 

“Also, you can use technology to expand 

the use of the theater for applications 

other than showing feature films. Even 

a minor investment in conferencing and 

collaboration technology can let you turn 

the theater into a presentation space with 

remote viewing capability for business 

meetings and celebrations. Use streaming 

technology to your advantage inside the 

multiplex by combining rooms to create 

as large or small of a ‘virtual’ space as your 

rental customers need, by streaming from 

room to room. Also, this is the perfect time 

to explore ‘event cinema.’ All of this can 

reduce your reliance on first-run feature 

films. Also, network technologies are 


Lobby of the hightech 

Grand Cinema 

Sunshine in Tokyo 


109


available that offer ways to streamline 

whole building operations, allowing 

centralized or remote monitoring and 

control of all theaters, public spaces, and 

building systems, offering many ways to 

increase efficiency and save money.” 

Doug Darrow, senior V.P. of Dolby 

Laboratories’ Cinema Business Group, 

cites the role of premium large-format 

venues like his company’s high-tech Dolby 

Cinema concept in luring customers 

back to cinemas. “From an industry 

perspective, we anticipate the shift to 

a shorter theatrical exclusivity window 

will increase the significance of PLF 

offerings to exhibitors—allowing them 

to capture incremental box office while 

providing moviegoers with the premium 

experiences they crave. Particularly as 

we see vaccination rates increase, and 

exciting new content release in theaters, 

we expect Dolby Cinema and all PLFs to 

be a vital part of the resurgence of the 

industry. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, 

premium large format had the highest 

PSA of any screen in the world. Coming 

out of Covid-19, we are seeing that trend 

pick up where it left off. Over F9’s opening 

weekend, PLF screens generated 24 

percent of the total box office, despite only 

accounting for 3 percent of all screens 

in North America. And moviegoers are 

continuing to return to cinemas.” 

Brian Claypool, executive V.P., cinema, 

at venerable projection company Christie, 

is confident exhibitors can weather 

this turbulent period. “Following the 

pandemic, the exhibition business will 

see a change. It is true that there will 

be shorter windows; however, that is a 

reality that many had already expected. 

The pandemic has simply increased the 

velocity at which this change occurs, but 

the underlying drive that creates the 

demand for cinema remains strong. 

“People want to experience the richness 

offered by the presentation of a compelling 

story together, and technology has always 

been a tool that allows exhibitors to do 

this. We will continue to work with our 

exhibition partners to ensure we bring 

solutions that offer an experience better 

than anything the audience can get at 

home, and at a price that is economically 

viable for their business.” 

Sean Spencer, V.P. of sales and 

marketing at leading 3-D provider RealD, 

declares, “The reduction in theatrical 

windows increases the options for 

consumption of content, but cinema 

is more than content. It is a venue that 

combines the best in modern technology 

with the social engagement that can 

only be enjoyed by watching a wonderful 

movie in a packed auditorium. Now, 

more than ever, we in the theatrical 

industry need to remind customers just 

why cinema is so special, and premium 

experiences will be a large part of that. 

Laser projection, beautiful screens, 

booming sound, and, dare I say it, 3-D 

content—cinema brings all this together, 

combining it with an engaged audience 

focusing all their attention on the best 

Hollywood and world cinema can offer. 

The big-screen experience simply cannot 

be replicated at home.” 

Jeff Kaplan, national account manager, 

digital cinema, at Sharp NEC Display 

Solutions, notes, “Technology is a main 

factor in driving consumers to the theater. 

As we discovered during the pandemic, 

we can all stream the latest from Netflix 

or Disney Plus on our TV or home theater 

setup, but nothing can compete with 4K 

projection on a 70-foot screen. Overall, it 

comes down to capex versus opex. With 

so many theaters recovering from a year 

of lost revenue, many are trying to quickly 

replace projection equipment for the 

lowest cost. However, without evaluating, 

the operating costs associated with the 

purchase could be costly. For example, the 

operating advantage of laser technology is 

a higher-quality image at a lower overall 

cost of ownership. Assessing the overall 

costs could drastically change the ROI of 

a projector purchase and is an important 

component for theater owners to consider 

in order to survive and thrive.” 

Sebastien Mailhot, president and CEO of 

motion-seating company D-Box, observes, 

“Moviegoers who have been confined 

for a long time are now looking for an 

entertainment experience that is different 

from what they can experience at home. 

They will go back to the cinema, but they 

want a premium experience, which often 

only technology can offer them. Whether 

it’s the size of the screen, the enhanced 

sound experience, or haptic movement 

technology, they want to experience 

something unique that exhibitors who own 

the technology can bring.” 

“From an industry 

perspective, we anticipate 

the shift to a shorter 

theatrical exclusivity window 

will increase the significance 

of PLF offerings to exhibitors.” 


Claypool touts the role of cinema 

technologies like Christie’s projectors 

with RealLaser illumination in clearly 

differentiating an audiovisual experience 

from what guests experience at home. “We 

also believe ensuring that audiences have 

a consistent, high-quality experience is 

key. Images need to be perfectly focused 

and framed on screen. Light levels need 

to remain consistent, as do the audio 

components in the auditorium.” 

He continues, “Ensuring guests feel 

safer returning to theaters is also top of 

mind, which is why Christie has developed 

Christie CounterAct commercial U.V. 

disinfection fixtures with patented 

Care222 technology, which inactivates 99 

percent of surface pathogens using 222 

nm filtered light, while people are present. 

It is specifically designed for rooms with 

high ceilings, making CounterAct perfect 

for cinema.” 

Another key factor in attracting 

patrons to cinemas is technology that 

conveys an enhanced experience unique 

to big-screen venues. 3-D, which entered 

a whole new era with the release of 

Avatar in 2009, is certainly one of those 

enhancements. RealD’s Spencer contends, 

“Without question, 3-D will be a part of the 

resurgence in cinema, for a couple of key 

reasons. The first I mentioned previously, 

as part of the premium technology 

offering that differentiates theaters from 

the home. Of course, 3-D is not the only 

factor here, nor should it be. The drive 

to improve the cinematic experience 

has been a continuous one, and we are 

proud of the role 3-D has played and 

will continue to play. Secondarily, 3-D 

offers the opportunity to generate a 

premium ticket price, which is vitally 

important, especially when occupancies 

are limited and maximizing revenue 

from each available seat is key. We saw 

very promising results with Godzilla vs. 

Kong, with the number of 3-D showtimes 

actually increasing on week two due to 

the demand. And we have a solid slate 

of great 3-D titles in the pipeline, which 

demonstrates that the studios remain 

committed to the format.” 

Motion-seating and 4-D effects 

are another increasingly popular 

enhancement. “Immersive haptic 

technology enhances the cinematic 

experience,” says Mailhot. “Moviegoers 

are looking for a different experience from 

the one they had during the pandemic. 

“People want to experience 

the richness offered by the 

presentation of a compelling 

story together, and 

technology has always been 

a tool that allows exhibitors 

to do this.” 

Left. The whimsical Joy 

City Kids Theatre in 

Zhejiang, China 

Below. D-Box motion 

seating, Dolby Cinema, a 

GDC SX-4000 IMB player 

at Joy City 

The D-Box haptic technology certainly 

helps attract moviegoers looking for the 

enhanced experience that movies, such as 

most recently F9, can provide.” 

With theaters gradually recovering 

from the pandemic, what advice can our 

technology gurus offer? Mayfield responds, 

“The obvious one—be sure to have your 

sanitization and safety measures in place. 

The public needs to feel safe and confident 

returning to the theaters if we’re going to 

get back to pre-pandemic capacities and 

revenue. Beyond that, objectively evaluate 

your presentation experience, and make 

improvements now. Then use this period 

to promote the experience you can offer 

that patrons cannot get at home.” 

Chong observes, “The best advice we 

can give movie theaters is to always deliver 

the best possible experience. Walt Disney 

said it best: ‘Do what you do so well that 

they will want to see it again and bring 

their friends.’ Keeping guests coming 

back again and again has to consist of a 

totally positive experience, from booking 

tickets to parking your car to purchasing 

concessions to maintaining a comfortable 

temperature in the auditorium. As a 

technology provider, our best advice 


111


is to constantly monitor and maintain 

your digital cinema equipment to ensure 

the best possible experience. The days 

of talking about movies around the 

watercooler on Monday morning are gone. 

In today’s social media world, the word 

spreads fast about a great movie, including 

instantly sharing images of the amazing 

experience with family and friends.” 

Claypool adds, “Make sure that 

your equipment is working optimally. 

Because now, more than ever, when 

audiences return, you’ll want them to 

have an experience to remember. We 

have prepared a checklist [christiedigital. 

com/help-center/reopening-cinemas/] 

to help keep theaters ready for showtime. 

Staying at home is the easy choice. We 

want moviegoers to know that choosing to 

watch it at the cinema is the right one.” 

Dolby’s Darrow again advises 

exhibitors to offer a premium experience. 

“Moviegoers have a lot of choices when 

deciding where to spend their money. 

Over the past year with theaters being 

closed down, consumers experienced 

their entertainment at home or on-thego. 

Because of this shift in consumption, 

the importance for exhibitors to deliver 

great experiences has never been more 

imperative than it is today. The big-screen 

experience has always been the choice of 

creatives and remains the premier venue 

in the minds of most consumers. The 

emergence of the PLF solutions that include 

immersive audio and HDR are giving 

moviegoers a higher-quality experience 

every time they step inside these cinemas. 

Because of these expectations, it is more 

important than ever for exhibitors to 

invest in premium experiences to counter 

alternative offerings.” 

Spencer emphasizes quality control. 

“Theater owners know their business better 

than we ever will, but there are some areas 

we are speaking to our partners about. … 

Customers expect a premium experience 

if they are being asked to pay a premium 

price—so we as an industry must focus 

on getting that technology right. For 3-D, 

that means ensuring the brightness on 

the projector is at the optimum level and 

the system is aligned correctly. With both 

of those factors addressed, the customer 

will enjoy deeper, sharper images that are 

comfortable to watch.” 

He continues, “From a marketing 

perspective all companies need to 

focus on their brands and what makes 

their business special. This applies 

to everyone in the industry, not just 

theaters. What makes your cinema 

different from everyone else and focus 

on those core competencies with the 

advertising messaging. Previously, we 

may have relied on the studios to generate 

demand with their theatrical campaigns, 

but there is an extra job to do now. We 

also need to convince the customer as 

to why they should select the movie 

theater as their method of consuming 

the latest blockbuster. A focus on those 

competencies means that we can deliver 

on the promise of our marketing. At RealD, 

we offer the best 3-D in the world. We have 

to make sure that message and experience 

is delivered consistently, and the same is 

true for theaters. 

“We are also discussing hygiene, 

which has never been more important 

in reassuring customers they are in safe 

hands. We must recognize customers’ 

health and safety concerns, creating 

procedures and messaging to calm any 

fears they may have. We have produced 

marketing materials letting patrons 

know that our glasses are U.V.-sanitized 

and hygienically, individually wrapped. 

This has always been the case, but until 

recently we have never felt the need to 

communicate these facts to the final 

consumer.” 

We couldn’t resist asking our experts 

for their forecasts about the cinema 

business post-pandemic. 

“At GDC, we are bullish about the health 

of cinemas in 2022 and beyond,” Chong 

affirms. “We foresee big changes coming 

to the big screen. The naysayers have been 

predicting the demise of cinema for nearly 

70 years, and not one prediction has come 

true. The pandemic slowed the industry 

down, but there’s a new generation of 

filmmakers that still understand the 

best venue to showcase their story is the 

big screen. It is our job to ensure theater 

owners have the technology to bring their 

imagination to life by displaying the 

content exactly as the young filmmaker 

intended. It’s why we feel watching 

a movie on a handheld device or a 

streaming platform will never replace a 

night out at the movies. However, it’s up to 

us as a technology provider to continually 

improve the moviegoing experience with 

technological advancements targeted at 

consumers, such as cinema-on-demand 

platforms like GDC’s GoGoCinema, where 

the consumers select the movie they want 

to see, where they want to see it, and when 

they want to see it.” 

Says Darrow, “Dolby truly believes 

in the power of shared experiences, and 

that the cinema is a unique environment 

that can’t be replicated. We know Dolby 

Cinema provides a transformative 

premium offering, where consumers can 

deeply connect with the story onscreen. 

With the reopening of cinemas, we feel 

that 2022 box office numbers will be 

strong and will only continue to grow 

over time as possibilities for additional 

“We owe it to future 

generations to give them the 

opportunity to connect with 

movies in the way that we 

all do, and it simply will not 

happen without cinema.” 

Top right. GDC, Christie, 

and Huaxia Film 

collaborated on the 

advanced Cinity highframe-rate 

system. 

Right. The Grand 

Cinema Sunshine 


high-value content increases. We see 

cinemas focusing on the quality of the 

experience as well as beginning to offer 

more alternative events such as sports 

and music, simulcasted staged events, 

and gaming as the industry drives for 

more immersive experiences in a shared, 

community environment.” 

QSC’s Mayfield observes, “If you look 

back at the 125-plus years of theatrical 

exhibition, it has always been a cyclical 

business that’s sensitive to technological, 

social, regulatory, and many other types of 

historical events. But it always comes back, 

often by implementing new technologies 

that increase the appeal and that enhance 

the moviegoing experience. Obviously, 

I’m one of those who is bullish on the 

recovery and rebound of the exhibition 

industry. But there is no return to 

‘business as usual’—it will be necessarily 

different. Exhibitors shouldn’t fear this; 

differentiation is a powerful competition 

strategy, and it may be the key to survival.” 

Christie’s Claypool says, “We have 

always been, and continue to be, in cinema 

for the long term. We are stoic believers 

in the experience that only cinemas can 

offer. While the next two years may be 

a bit rough as exhibitors hit hard by the 

financial impact of the pandemic find 

their footing, we’re here for them. In fact, 

we are already seeing positive signs of 

recovery with studio releases we’ve been 

waiting over a year for that are finally 

around the corner, and box office returns 

continuing to improve as people that have 

been resilient during the pandemic are 

returning to spaces they love.” 

Sharp NEC’s Kaplan is also bullish. “In 

my opinion, the future of cinema is a 

healthy, more profitable industry. Post- 

Covid, they are expecting 25 to 30 percent 

permanent theater closures. With less 

competition in physical theaters, there 

is an opportunity to create the best 

experience for consumers. I liken it to 

this analogy: Everybody has a kitchen 

in their house, yet they still go out to eat. 

People crave a shared experience and the 

memories of going to the movies. There 

is just something about the experience of 

buttery, salty popcorn and a large fountain 

drink that will continue to drive consumers 

to the theater for generations to come.” 

RealD’s Spencer predicts, “The cinema 

will rebound. The opening weekend of F9 

saw the best box office result domestically 

since before the pandemic, and there is 

“With less competition in 

physical theaters, there is an 

opportunity to create the best 

experience for consumers.“ 

a backlog of blockbusters waiting to hit 

theaters in the next six months. More 

than that, I believe that the increased 

competition will actually improve the 

theatrical experience in the long term, by 

making everyone in our industry focus on 

the areas that matter to customers, and 

that we do better than anyone else. We 

owe it to future generations to give them 

the opportunity to connect with movies in 

the way that we all do, and it simply will 

not happen without cinema. We need to 

make it special to keep it alive. We need 

the anticipation as the house lights drop. 

We need wonderful, pin-sharp projection 

that knocks our socks off. We need sound 

so loud we feel it in our chest. We need to 

laugh, cry, and be scared with an audience 

of strangers. We need the cinema, and 


113

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115

Theater DOLBY: THE EARLY YEARS 

DOLBY: 

THE EARLY 

YEARS 

When one thinks about modern cinema sound, one is 

keenly aware of the name Dolby. Yet before Dolby came into 

existence, there was a long, and sometimes sordid, history in 

sound recording technologies. 

BY JOHN F. ALLEN 


“To be an inventor, you have to 

be willing to live with a sense 

of uncertainty, to work in this 

darkness and grope towards 

an answer, to put up with 

anxiety about whether there is 

an answer.” — Ray Dolby 


117


Ray Dolby and his technological partner 

on film sound issues, Ioan Allen, have 

helped bring audio recording, and cinema 

sound in particular, into the modern age. 

This article explores that history and 

pays tribute to some of those who made 

valuable contributions along the way. 

From the earliest days of analog disc 

recording systems and magnetic tape 

recorders, the simultaneous limitations 

of noise and distortion have defined the 

record and film industries. The louder 

the recording, the greater the distortion. 

The quieter the recording, the greater 

the audible noise.For tape recorders this 

noise was referred to as tape hiss. For 

program material with limited dynamic 

range, a news broadcast for example, the 

recordings were very good, as hiss was 

not a problem with such material. When 

it came to music, however, especially 

orchestral music, the limits of magnetic 

tape were all too audible. 

Various methods to optimize tape 

recording were employed. One simply said 

that the zero dB level on the recording 

meter would be set when a recording level 

on the tape reached 1 percent distortion. 

Of course, this would vary depending on 

the magnetic formulation. In later years, 

rather than a distortion level, zero dB on 

the meter would correspond to a specific 

flux level on the tape. 

As with long-playing records, the 

technique of frequency pre-emphasis/ 

de-emphasis was also employed with tape 

recorders. In recording, this technique 

boosted the high frequencies and reduced 

the lows. Reversing this in playback 

not only resulted in a flat playback 

frequency response, it also reduced the 

audibility of tape hiss and low frequency 

distortion. However, the high frequency 

pre-emphasis was enough to itself cause 

distortion. Even so, hiss would remain a 

problem in need of a solution, especially 

for music recording. 

Beginning in 1947, Ampex* was the 

major manufacturer of professional tape 

recorders. Ampex engineers were well 

versed in the standards for disc-based 

systems. What was needed was a similar 

set of standards for tape machines so that 

recordings made on any one machine 

could be played back on any other. 

Ampex engineer Frank Lennert 

made the first standard test tape to be 

used for calibrating tape recorders. The 

company then decided to hire a 16-yearold 

teenager to make the copies. That 

teenager was none other than a high 

school student by the name of Ray Dolby. 

Ampex founder Alex Poniatoff had met 

Ray as a 16 mm projectionist at a high 

school lecture Alex was giving, and he 

hired Ray for the job. 

By the early 1950s, magnetic tape 

recorders had become the most widely 

used method for recording audio. The 

motion picture industry began using 

sprocketed 35 mm stock fully coated with 

magnetic oxide for motion pictures such 

as The Ten Commandments and Moby Dick, 

both from 1956. Over the next decades, as 

tape formulations improved so did the 

standard tapes. 

While earning his electrical 

engineering degree at Stanford University, 

Ray Dolby continued his work at Ampex 

and contributed to the development of 

the first video tape recorder in 1957. This 

was a machine that some said could never 

be built: a round disc with four heads 

spinning perpendicular to the two-inchwide 

tape. With the tape running at 15 

inches per second, the disc would spin at 

1440 rpm to obtain the necessary writing 

speed. It all sounds pretty familiar now, 

but in the 1950s Ampex had to make it 

work without shredding every inch of tape. 

Even today it amazes me whenever I go 

near a so-called quad machine. I always 

visualize millions of pieces of tape flying 

all over the room. 

By the mid 1960s, Dolby had left 

Ampex, earned a Ph.D., and worked for 

a while for UNESCO in India. His goal, 

however, was to develop a noise-reduction 

system for audio tape recorders that 

would reduce hiss in music recordings to 

near inaudibility. After working for several 

years on a better way to solve the tape hiss 

problem, he founded Dolby Laboratories 

in London in 1965. The Dolby A-type noise 

reduction system was introduced the 

same year, achieving about 10 to 15 dB of 

noise reduction. 

At first, adding a compression/ 

expansion process to recordings was met 

with concern by many audio engineers. It 

was feared that such a dynamic operation 

would produce audible artifacts. Indeed 

it does, unless the recording and playback 

levels are matched throughout the entire 

encode/decode process. To ensure that 

they were, Dolby noise reduction systems 

included a tone oscillator at a specific 

level and frequency called Dolby Tone that 

would be used with all recordings using 

this system. Of course, this also meant 

that the all-important gain structure of 

the entire record/playback chain would be 

optimized. This alone would reduce the 

chance of noise and distortion creeping in 

along the way. 

It wasn’t too long before classical music 

recording engineers learned to use the 

Dolby system and appreciated its benefits. 

Some FM radio stations also added Dolby 

noise reduction to their microwave studio- 

The company then decided 

to hire a 16-year-old 

teenager to make the 

copies. That teenager was 

none other than a high 

school student by the name 

of Ray Dolby. 

*Much of the history of Ampex was drawn from 

a paper entitled, “Standard Alignment Tapes, A 

History at and After Ampex,” presented by Jay 

McKnight at the Association for Recorded Sound 

Collections’ annual conference in March 2008. 


transmitter links. Boston’s WGBH-FM was 

one of them. 

Noise reduction also allowed for 

mixing down multiple tracks before the 

added noise would become objectionable. 

Such a feature made Dolby A-type noise 

reduction a natural for motion picture 

sound, at a time when soundtracks 

derived from many tracks were the norm. 

Enter Ioan Allen. Allen began his career 

at Dolby in 1969 and soon became a major 

innovator as well as the company’s leader 

in film sound. 

While the consumer audio industry 

was rapidly advancing with the creation of 

increasingly superior home high-fidelity 

stereo systems, the state of motion picture 

sound in 1969 was pretty stagnant, lacking 

uniform standards and going nowhere. 

The soundtracks for 70 mm and 35 mm 

magnetic films were often outstanding, but 

there were major sound quality issues in 

the theaters where films were presented. 

(Sadly, such constraints can still be found 

today.) In the early 1970s, 70 mm prints 

were becoming fewer, theaters playing 35 

mm magnetic prints were also declining, 

and the soundtracks of all the remaining 

35 mm optical soundtracks were dull and 

boring mono. A trip to most movie theaters 

involved listening to two hours of “honky” 

distorted sound with a limited frequency 

bandwidth of approximately six of the 10 

octaves we typically hear. Dynamic range 

was—well, there wasn’t much dynamic 

range. L.P.s and FM radio sounded better. 

Imagine where we would be if Dolby 

had not made the investment to pursue 

the film industry? Convincing studios to 

employ Dolby noise reduction was a slow 

process. The industry was very reluctant 

to change anything to do with sound. 

But two long years later in 1971, Stanley 

Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange was the first 

film to use Dolby noise reduction in all the 

premixes and masters. This was followed 

in 1972 by the introduction of the Model 

364 cinema unit, which allowed Dolbyencoded 

mono soundtracks to be decoded 

for playback in theaters. 

With the introduction of Dolby A 

encoded soundtracks came an often 

underappreciated change in the optical 

soundtrack itself. Noise reduction not 

only allowed for a considerable reduction 

in distortion, but it also allowed for a 

welcome frequency bandwidth increase to 

nearly nine octaves. 

Of course, using noise reduction 

in soundtrack recording made perfect 

sense. But what about the theaters? 

They were still stuck with mono optical 

sound, poor dynamic range, limited 

frequency range, and lots of distortion. 

Optical readers in the projectors were 

not “calibrated” with instruments. In fact, 

they weren’t calibrated at all. In some 

theaters you could hear the sound change 

during projector changeovers. Like the 

monophonic soundtracks themselves, 

the speakers and amplifiers found in 

most theaters also suffered from limited 

bandwidth and excessive distortion. 

If that weren’t enough, the speaker’s 

crossovers were a mess. No amount of 

soundtrack preparation technology could 

fix any of this. 

The first order of business would have 

to be improving the sound one could coax 

from theater speakers using something 

called one-third octave equalization. This 

had first been introduced by Don Davis at 

Altec Lansing and was intended as a means 

for controlling feedback in commercial 

sound systems. Using it for tuning a sound 

system to gain a smoother response and 

perhaps a wider bandwidth was not the 


119


original intent. But it was soon apparent 

that one-third octave equalization was 

a major advance in sound systems, if 

employed correctly. Unfortunately, it is 

still misused as often as not. 

In 1973 Dolby introduced Allen’s 

concept of a one-third octave equalizer 

for cinemas, the E2, including the CAT-64 

equalizer module. This was an ingenious 

and extremely compact design done 

by Dolby engineer Ken Gundry. Rather 

than taking up two or three units of 

space—per channel—in an equipment 

rack, the CAT-64 consisted of two circuit 

boards sandwiched together into a 

package that could slide into a cinema 

processor (see figure 1). To minimize 

concern for unwanted degradation from 

the additional circuitry, unused one-third 

octave controls were essentially out of 

the circuit. Also included were extremely 

useful wide-band bass and treble controls. 

This was a first for such equalizers and 

would reduce the need for using so many 

one-third controls. 

X Curve 

With the introduction of cinema soundsystem 

equalization, the parallel needs 

for a measurement system and, equally 

important, a target measured response 

also arose. The use of pink noise and 

real-time analyzers had become a popular 

measurement approach in the early 1970s. 

It was also more affordable, especially 

when compared to the time-delayed 

spectrometry systems that could cost two 

or three times as much. 

To test a loudspeaker with a flat 

frequency response in a room as large as a 

cinema, Allen went to the Elstree Studios 

outside London. In one of the large 

rerecording studios, he placed three large 

studio monitors in front of the mixing 

console that was some 40 feet from the 

speakers behind the screen. In such close 

proximity, the studio monitors delivered 

their flat sound directly to the ears of 

someone sitting a few feet away at the 

console. Then (most importantly), by ear, 

Allen, assisted by of group of engineers 

and mixers, adjusted the equalizers for 

the screen speakers so that their tone 

matched the near-field monitors. Trust me, 

this required talent and was not easy to 

do. With the distant screen speakers now 

delivering the same tone as the monitors, 

Allen played pink noise through the screen 

speakers and used a real-time analyzer to 

measure the result. 

Contrary to what one might expect, 

the measured frequency response did not 

appear to be flat, even though it was. A 

look at the chart in figure 2 shows why. The 

response of the direct first arrival sound 

shows a flat frequency response. It is also 

the flat response that would be measured 

if the speaker was in a small room such as 

a typical living room. Our ears and brains 

use the direct sound to determine the tone 

of the sound. A cinema is a much larger 

space. The additional volume of the room 

introduces acoustic differences, some of 

which our brains ignore. Nonetheless, the 

larger room’s acoustics, including greater 

reverberation, corrupts the measurements 

seen with pink noise and real-time 

analyzers by showing a pronounced 

high frequency roll-off. This finding also 

correlated with similar work done earlier 

by Boston pioneer acoustician Leo Beranek 

and became known as the X curve. 

The X curve was one of the most 

important introductions in cinema 

sound. But it has also been one of the 

most misunderstood. Since it looks almost 

identical to the playback part of the preemphasis/de-emphasis 

scheme, many 

technicians mistakenly assumed that it 

was. For that matter, many still do. But 

by looking at the chart in figure 2, we see 

that the X curve is nothing more than the 

result of the combined measured response 

of a flat loudspeaker playing pink noise 

in a large room, along with the added 

effects of the room’s acoustics thrown in to 

confuse us. In other words, we hear the flat 

direct sound, but we are forced to measure 

something else. The X curve, including 

its tolerances, attempts to provide a 

target response for such a challenging 

measurement approach. Because 

there is no system that measures what 

something sounds like, it is understood 

that, as with the use of any measurement 

system, trained ears must be the final 

Dolby tone 

Pink 

Figure 2. Reverberation build-up of Pink Noise Over Time 

Figure 3. Dolby CAT-69 test film 


judge. Or as Don Davis often said, “It’s the 

analyzer between the ears that’s the most 

important.” 

For the first time, the pink-noise/realtime 

analyzer alignment procedure, along 

with the X curve, provided a method of 

achieving a reasonably similar tone in 

cinema sound systems no matter which 

loudspeakers were installed. Unfortunately, 

this approach has often been poorly 

implemented in most cinemas, resulting 

in over-equalization that ignores the 

tolerances, distorting the tone, and 

diminishing dialogue intelligibility. 

That being said, it must also be 

recognized and appreciated that, unlike 

in cinemas, the X curve has been very 

carefully and intelligently implemented 

in the studios. This has created a 

worldwide uniformity from studio to 

studio that has given motion pictures a 

remarkable consistency in sound quality 

that no other part of the recording 

industry has ever achieved. 

Stereo Optical 

Next Allen would tackle changing the 

35 mm release print optical soundtrack 

from mono to stereo. Back in the 1930s, 

German engineers had developed a stereo 

optical recorder. Unfortunately, there was 

no reader that would fit in a projector. I 

happened to see this recorder sitting in a 

hallway at the famed Babelsberg Studio in 

Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany. 

In 1974, Dolby and Kodak 

commissioned a modern stereo optical 

recorder and installed it at Elstree Studios. 

To read a stereo variable area (SVA) 

soundtrack in a projector, Ioan Allen used 

the now-familiar split solar cell. Originally 

invented by Kodak’s Ron Uhlig for use 

with 16 mm films, this could not only read 

the stereo track, but it could fit in the 

projector’s sound head. 

At the November 1974 Toronto 

convention of the Society of Motion Picture 

and Television Engineers, Dolby presented 

a groundbreaking demonstration of the 

stereo optical soundtrack with a special 

remixed section of Stardust. One year 

later, Dolby’s first cinema sound processor 

was introduced, the CP-100, capable of 

playing both 70 mm magnetic and 35 mm 

stereo optical soundtracks. The first units 

were installed for the London premiere of 

Tommy in March 1975. Lisztomania was the 

Ioan Allen realized that 

conventional alignment 

methods for the soundheads 

in projectors were 

not only outdated, but, 

frankly, ridiculous. 

Figure 1. Dolby CAT-64 Equalizer 

first film released in three-channel (left, 

center, right) Dolby-encoded optical stereo 

later that year. 

The CP-100 was something new in 

audio. For the first time, noise reduction, 

equalization stereo decoding, changeover 

control, a six-channel ganged fader, and 

non-sync and microphone inputs, as 

well as eight channels of metering, were 

all available in a single unit. Today we 

remember the CP-100 as the prototype 

of a new generation of comprehensive 

sound-system design and management, the 

cinema sound processor. In the decades that 

followed the CP-100, Dolby’s analog cinema 

processors evolved with the CP-50, the 

remarkable CP-200, the CP-55, and the CP- 

65. Dolby’s digital processors have included 

the CP-500, CP-650, and CP-750. The Atmos 

processors, CP-850 and CP-950, came later. 

A-Chain Alignment 

Ioan Allen realized that conventional 

alignment methods for the sound-heads 

in projectors were not only outdated, but, 

frankly, ridiculous. To ensure an accurate 

A-chain alignment and calibration, 

Allen created a package of test films and 

procedures. The test films included signals 

for level calibration (see figure 3), slit lens 

loss correction, and minimizing crosstalk 

between the left and right channels. 

Beginning with the SMPTE Buzz Track film 


121


to align the film path, these Dolby test films 

standardized the calibration and operation 

of the optical sound readers throughout the 

world for the first time. 

In October 1976, after 11 years of 

painstaking and expensive research 

following the introduction of Dolby A-type 

noise reduction, A Star is Born was released 

with the first stereo optical soundtrack 

with an encoded surround track. Left, 

center, right, surround four-channel sound 

was now possible with 35 mm release prints 

without the need for the costly and timeconsuming 

magnetic striping. Theaters 

could now play four-channel stereo without 

the need for high-priced and maintenanceheavy 

magnetic sound readers. 

For the first time Dolby’s calibration 

tone was used to calibrate the optical 

A-chain, consisting of the soundtrack 

reader and the Dolby-encoded playback 

processing. The Dolby calibration level for 

For their historic 

contributions, both Ray 

Dolby and Ioan Allen were 

awarded well-deserved 

Oscar statuettes at the 1989 

Academy Awards. 

optical soundtracks was set at 50 percent 

modulation. This brought the newly 

optimized gain structure of the motion 

picture sound process into the theater and 

right into the cinema processor itself. 

Ray Dolby and Ioan Allen also insisted 

that each Dolby-encoded soundtrack 

was to be prepared with a Dolby staff 

member present to make sure that the 

studio engineers got the most out of 

this new technology. Throughout the 

world, this team of dedicated consultants 

worked, often with little sleep, to make 

sure that the Dolby equipment was always 

calibrated and working properly. They 

were also on hand for reviewing answer 

prints, checking release print quality, 

and checking playback quality for test 

screenings and premieres, as well as some 

first-run theaters. 

1977 saw the release of both Star Wars 

and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. 


With the release of these two monster 

hits coming so close together, the public 

became aware of Dolby Stereo. Nothing 

has been the same since. 

For the release of Superman in 1978, 

Allen teamed up with Dolby engineers 

Max Bell and David Watts. Together they 

developed a 70 mm soundtrack format 

with stereo surrounds. By necessity, this 

format had to be backward compatible 

with 70 mm six-track prints of the past as 

well as the majority of cinemas wired for 

mono surrounds. So only the left and right 

surround high frequencies were recorded 

and placed on the left-center and rightcenter 

tracks 2 and 4 that were now being 

used for the new low-frequency effects 

(LFE) or subwoofer track. These higher 

frequencies were then combined with 

the lower frequencies of the monophonic 

surround channel on track 6. I would later 

refine this format with Showscan, and 

totally discrete left and right surround 

tracks, into what is now known as 5.1. 

Ray Dolby introduced spectral 

recording, or Dolby SR, in 1986. It had 

been in development for more years 

than the A-type noise reduction system. 

This was a dramatic increase in noise 

reduction, up to 25 dB. But SR was much 

more than noise reduction. Multiple 

techniques like anti-saturation and 

spectral skewing were included to make 

Dolby SR a new low-distortion recording 

process as well. Dolby SR made it possible 

to fit the widest possible dynamic range 

into the more restricted range available 

with magnetic tape. 

Applying Dolby SR to release prints 

would have to wait a while. Once Dolby’s 

Douglas Greenfield was able to figure a way 

to squeeze all the parts into a module that 

would fit in the cinema processors, Dolby 

and film mixers needed to eliminate the 

possibility of any compatibility issues and 

optimize its use with optical soundtracks. 

Ray gave Allen a free hand in working 

with the worldwide organizations (ISO 

and SMPTE) responsible for creating and 

maintaining motion picture standards. 

Though not always related to Dolby 

technologies, many of the standards that 

have resulted from this work had not 

existed before and often helped to correct 

some oversights of the past. 

I will leave the story of the progression 

from analog motion picture sound to 

digital for another time. The purpose of 

this article has been to remember and 

pay tribute to the seminal work of Ray 

Dolby and Ioan Allen, who, along with 

a dedicated group of Dolby’s engineers, 

as well as countless mixers and studio 

engineers, helped to bring the sound 

quality of movies to where it is today. 

A few years ago, at the annual ICTA Los 

Angeles seminar, we took the opportunity 

to stand in extended applause to express to 

Ioan Allen our sincere and heartfelt thanks. 

It was a moving moment for all of us. 

It’s again worth noting that within the 

audio and recording industry, motion 

picture sound is by far the most consistent 

in its quality and beauty. For their historic 

contributions, both Ray Dolby and Ioan 

Allen were awarded well-deserved Oscar 

statuettes at the 1989 Academy Awards. 

Additional articles 

Ioan Allen’s paper on the X curve is available at: 

http://www.hps4000.com/pages/special/Dolby_ 

The_X-Curve.pdf. 

Additional articles about Dolby can be found at: 

http://www.hps4000.com/pages/dolby_.html. 

© Copyright 2021, John F. Allen. 

All Rights Reserved. 

All images provided by, and used with 

the permission of, Dolby Laboratories 

ABOUT THE 

AUTHOR 

A personal note: 2020 marks 

the 40th anniversary of my first 

article published in Boxoffice 

Pro in 1980. In the years that 

have followed, it has been 

my honor to work with five 

outstanding editors: Alexander 

Auerbach, Harley Lond, Ray 

Greene, Kim Williamson, 

and now Laura Silver. I also 

enjoyed getting to know Bob 

Dietmeier, the magazine’s 

owner for most of those years. 

I am grateful to Daniel Loria 

for this opportunity to bring 

this story to the readers of 

Boxoffice Pro. 

John F. Allen is the founder 

and president of High 

Performance Stereo (hps4000. 

com) in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

In addition, he has served 

as the sound director of the 

Boston Ballet and has mixed 

live concerts of the Boston 

Symphony, the Boston Pops 

orchestras, military bands, 

and jazz ensembles, as well 

as other orchestras. He is also 

the inventor of the HPS-4000 

motion picture sound system 

and in 1984 was the first to 

bring digital sound to the 

cinema. A frequent presenter 

at technical seminars, his indepth 

articles on the subject 

of sound have appeared in 

industry publications for the 

past 40 years. John Allen 

can be reached at 

johnfallen@hps4000.com. 


123

Theater BOXOFFICE BAROMETER 


Honoring Excellence in Theatrical Exhibition 

Boxoffice Pro is reviving its iconic Boxoffice Barometer readers’ poll, a popular 

annual feature of our magazine for decades, in which exhibitors vote on the best 

achievements in the industry. In this newly revamped edition of the Barometer, 

representatives from over 50 exhibition circuits around the world voted online 

to select the most important and influential contributions to the exhibition 

industry in 2020. Boxoffice Pro will be featuring profiles of each honoree in 

our print editions throughout 2021. 


Industry Figure of the Year: 

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION 

OF THEATRE OWNERS 

Cinema Trend of the Year: 

PRIVATE THEATER 

RENTALS 

Film of the Year: 

TENET 

(WARNER BROS.) 

Theatrical Distributor of the Year: 

WARNER BROS. 

Exhibitor Relations Department 

of the Year: 

WARNER BROS. 

Cinema Vendor of the Year: 

VISTA GROUP 

INTERNATIONAL 

Food & Beverage Vendor of the Year: 

VISTAR 

Technology Vendor of the Year: 

CINIONIC 


125


TECHNOLOGY VENDOR 

OF THE YEAR 

CINIONIC 

“We asked ourselves, what are 

the resources we have that 

we can bring to our customers 

during this time? We knew we 

had to come together and do 

something to help.” 

Interview with Wim Buyens, 

Chief Executive Officer, Cinionic 

The global pandemic was 

impossible to predict. Once you 

realized the severity of the situation, 

how did Cinionic first react? 

Very early on we realized that we had 

to find a way to help, even though, at 

that time, we had no idea how long this 

would take. We felt we needed to help 

the industry in order to make sure that 

together we would get through this. We 

started by thinking about what we could 

do from a mindset of “How can we help?” 

versus “How can we take advantage of 

things?” That was our opportunity—or 

responsibility, whatever you want to call 

it—to find out what we could do. 

We have a lot of salespeople who have 

close connections with our customers, 

and we were getting a lot of feedback 

from them about just how much of an 

impact [the pandemic] was having. We 

are talking about the total closure of your 

business, 100 percent of the time, directly 

bringing your cash flow to zero, and that 

triggers all these other problems that 

stem from those problems. 

I would say that customer intimacy 

has been one of our improvements as 

a company, a focus area for us to orient 

ourselves around. That’s how we came 

to this approach, making sure we kept 

in contact with our customers. We asked 

ourselves, what are the resources we have 

that we can bring to our customers during 

this time? We knew we had to come 

together and do something to help. 

We held training sessions via webinars. 

Those webinars allowed us to remain 

focused—in times like these you don’t 

want to lose focus—and we created 

several sessions on different topics. 

We provided our customers with the 

chance to enjoy an extended warranty— 

something that can be seen as a burden, 

cost-wise—at no additional cost, even 

though we already had signed contracts 

with them. That was a move that was very 


much appreciated, based on the calls 

we received from our customers. It was 

a small way for us to share that burden 

of the closures. We also got to work in 

figuring out how to help our customers 

get started up again. What we could 

put in place to make that restart easier. 

Because the technology being down was 

not something people were used to, and 

starting it back up again can lead to other 

issues. 

This crisis has lasted a lot longer than 

any of us would have liked. The false 

starts in several different markets 

were part of the struggle: reopening 

only to have to close again. At what 

point did you notice that the recovery 

had begun in earnest? 

Recovery, for me, is based on being able 

to reopen. I think the U.S. government 

did a very good job in focusing heavily on 

vaccination, speeding it up and making sure 

that as many people as possible could get 

vaccinated quickly. That caused people to 

feel safer and helped open cinemas earlier. 

With the U.S. market opening, especially 

after Los Angeles and New York were back, 

it allowed content to flow again. Because as 

we all know, a lot of the important content 

for the global market is produced locally 

in Los Angeles. Having that content is an 

important part of attracting audiences, and 

it is hard to get people to come out when 

the U.S market is closed. 

It was very difficult last year, when 

markets in Europe and countries like India 

were opening up, but new content wasn’t 

available. It was a bad recipe, reopening 

movie theaters without new movies to 

see. It was only this year, with the U.S. 

reopening, that I started feeling more 

secure about the recovery. 

How much of a challenge was it 

to support cinemas throughout 

repeated closures and reopenings? 

We learned to be prepared after several 

repetitions of openings followed by 

lockdowns. We created training materials 

and an online customer portal so we could 

educate our customers on questions like: 

What do you need to do when the machines 

are not used? How do you keep them in 

good [working order]? And, when you start 

up again, what are the first things you do to 

make sure you have the least hassle? 

“It was important for us to 

stay close to our customers, 

for them to know they could 

find us in order to keep the 

machines in good shape. ” 

People were nervous last summer. I’m 

talking about the first reopenings in July 

and August, when they were reopening 

for the first time before the latest round 

of lockdowns in Europe. This year, people 

have been much less nervous because 

they’ve done it before and know what 

they have to do. And a lot of people have 

been able to properly maintain their 

equipment; we offered them tips on 

what you had to do to make sure that the 

machine stays in good order while you’re 

not showing any content. There are a lot 

of aspects to it: the temperature, the dust, 

how you power on and off. We created a 

lot of materials, trainings, and webinars 

for our customers. They could also call us 

with questions—we set up a hotline that 

was staffed at all times. It was important 

for us to stay close to our customers, for 

them to know they could find us in order 

to keep the machines in good shape. 

Looking to what we all hope to be 

a brighter future for the industry, 

what will be the key elements that 

the cinema business must adopt 

in order to compete against a 

shorter exclusivity window—while 

still welcoming audiences back to 

theaters? 

It’s all about the experience. In its 

broadest sense, this is about a big 

screen and great sound and comfortable 

seating. Everything around that creates 

a unique and uninterrupted experience. 

That experience is a central piece of the 

messaging we need to make sure that 

audiences return. People will not come 

back when they don’t feel they’re going 

to have a good experience. If they feel the 

experience isn’t worth the effort, they can 

always watch something at home. 

That experience could be many things. 

It could be a bigger screen. It could be 

moving seats, panoramic screens, or VIP 

auditoriums. Premium offerings don’t 

always mean selling 200 to 300 tickets to a 

theater. A premium experience could very 

well be renting a private auditorium for 10 

to 15 people. 

All of us at Cinionic, as a technology 

company, have to try harder to make 

sure that investment levels are more 

acceptable, so exhibitors are comfortable 

investing in new technology and different 

business models. So, if you are looking to 

add laser projection or new equipment, 


127


even when cash flows can’t support doing 

the capex, you can explore it under a 

different business model. 

As a moviegoer, it is about great content 

and great stories. We want audiences 

asking themselves, am I experiencing this 

story in a cinematic way? 

Every challenge this industry has 

faced in the last century has been 

met through the advancement of 

cinema technology. Whether that’s 

sound, color, wide screen, or digital 

projection, innovation has helped 

movie theaters regain a competitive 

advantage. As the leader of one 

of the biggest cinema technology 

companies today, what is your 

perspective on Cinionic’s role in 

recovering from the current crisis? 

We are a technology company. Innovation 

is in our DNA. Being in the entertainment 

industry means we are also able to bring in 

a certain creativity around that technology 

and how it can best serve audiences, 

the presentation, and exhibitors alike, 

bringing operational costs down. 

At the same time, we need to let 

ourselves be inspired by and learn from 

other industries. We love our industry, it’s 

a great industry, but it’s relatively small. 

So we want to bring in ideas from bigger 

industries, see what we can learn from 

them so we can keep developing what 

comes next. That’s what is keeping us busy. 

We also know that investment levels 

are being scrutinized today. That’s why 

we need to come up with new business 

models that allow innovation with limited 

upfront costs. 

We don’t mind taking a leadership 

position in advancing these ideas. We 

believe very strongly in the long-term 

sustainability of the industry. Our 

shareholders are very much fostering this 

innovation with a long-term outlook. I 

think you have to give yourself three to 

five years to get a read on this, not six to 

12 months. If you do that, I think you get 

a different perspective. And that’s where 

we believe we can really help within the 

industry, in our humble way. 

But we will not stand on the sidelines; 

we are ready to take an active role and 

actively connect with our customers and 

come up with new ideas. What’s important 

to them? What gives them bigger returns? 

How can we help advance this industry? 

“I think the crisis created 

a more purposeful way of 

doing things and taught us 

the importance of staying 

connected.” 

The healthier the industry is, the more 

sustainability we have, the better it is for 

everybody in it. 

What have been the most important 

lessons you’ve learned from 

managing Cinionic through this crisis? 

That’s a tough one. I will make a couple of 

points, and you’d probably get different 

answers if you ask me again six months 

from now. First and foremost, this has 

been a profound human tragedy. Even 

as we enter the summer, we are still very 

early in the global vaccination effort. 

It was a time when we closely 

considered our corporate values. Over 

the last 12 months, we have done many 

things I would not have seen as part of the 

charter of Cinionic. Earlier this summer, 

we gave away 1,000 tickets to the less 

privileged in Belgium to go to the movies. 

That’s not something we typically would 

have done in a normal stage. I think the 

crisis created a more purposeful way of 

doing things and taught us the importance 

of staying connected. 

We never closed the company; we 

always made sure that we had our people 

available to our customers. We are 

probably coming out of this stronger as 

a company, just because of everything 

we’ve been through. Patience and 

time will be important in recovering. I 

wouldn’t rush things today. Money is 

limited, but not brain power—so we need 

to keep on thinking, connecting, and 

coming up with ideas that can help the 

industry through this crisis. I think there 

are going to be things born out of this 

crisis. They might not be visible today, 

but six to 12 months from now we could 

see things emerging that probably would 

not have been there if we had not gone 

through all of this. 


Celebrating 50 years 

of unwavering dedication, 

service, and excellence! 

In the face of unprecedented 

challenges for the cinema industry, 

Proctor Companies is proud to stand 

strong as your trusted, go-to partner. 

Considering a new project? 

Give us a call. 

www.proctorco.com | | sales@proctorco.com 


800-221-3699 

129

Theater ANNIVERSARY 

A GOLDEN 

ANNIVERSARY 

Proctor Companies Turns 50 

BY REBECCA PAHLE 

Many millions of moviegoers will 

say they “grew up” at the movies, 

their beloved childhood memories 

infused with the smell of popcorn and 

the flickering of projector lights. That’s 

particularly true within North America’s 

exhibition industry, which boasts a 

handful of multigenerational, familyowned 

companies among its roster of 

exhibitors and vendors. Yet perhaps the 

most authentic claim to having literally 

grown up at the movies belongs to Bruce 

Proctor, president and CEO of Proctor 

Companies, which in 2021 celebrates its 

50th anniversary. 

Proctor Companies enters its second 

half century as a company that—through 

its design and creation of concessions 

facilities and equipment—has had a 

substantial impact on the way the North 

American movie theater concession stand 

looks and feels. The company has its 

origins, unsurprisingly, in the exhibition 

world. Founder-to-be Bill Proctor had a 

high school job running the projector in 

a small theater in Griswold, Iowa. A stint 

in the Air Force didn’t shake his love of 

the industry, and when he got back, he 

and his wife, Zola, bought a tiny theater of 

their own—one that was equipped, as was 

common at the time, with a soundproof 

“crying room,” where mothers could bring 

their fussy children and still keep track of 

the on-screen action via a speaker and a 

glass window. It was in this crying room, 

which they closed off to the public, that 

the Proctors put a crib for little Bruce— 

who hasn’t left the industry since. 

Bill Proctor’s career continued to 

evolve, with Bruce following in his wake. 

Bill became the owner and manager of 

several theaters in Iowa throughout the 

’50s and ’60s; among these were drivein 

theaters, where Bruce—in second 

or third grade, he estimates—would 

help keep things clean by serving on 

litter patrol. Within a few years came 

a promotion to the concession stand, 

where he had to stand on a box to 

reach the popcorn kettle. In 1963, Bill 

sold his theaters, and, having become 

known for his expertise in concessions 

and operations, was recruited by Fox 

Theatres (later part of Mann Theatres) 

to be their director of concessions. 

The job was twofold. “In those 

days,” Bruce says, “there weren’t large 

companies that specialized in providing 

the consumables to movie theaters,” so 

part of his father’s job was overseeing the 

warehouse that served as a centralized 

distribution point for Fox concessions. 

(This included popcorn, which at that 

time not all theaters popped on-site; 

Bruce’s high school job was cleaning and 

restocking Fox’s popcorn facility, which 

he estimates popped approximately 

2,000 pounds of seed per day.) His 

father also worked on the theater side, 

CAREER 

IN NUMBERS 

50 

Years in business 

3,627 

Projects to date 

33 

Countries served 

3,961 

Popcorn machines sold 

Left. Bill Proctor, 

founder of Proctor 

Companies, circa 1945 

Right. One of 

Proctor Companies’ 

installations with 

Harkins Theatres 



131

Theater ANNIVERSARY 

“getting concession stands designed, 

built, equipped, and installed all over 

North America.” 

Fox wanted to promote Bill and move 

him to L.A. or New York. Not liking 

either option, he decided to strike out 

on his own and create a business that 

would merge knowledge gained from the 

concessions side of the business with 

what he’d learned as a theater owner and 

manager. In 1971, Proctor Companies was 

created with the goal of streamlining and 

improving the concessions side of the 

exhibition industry. 

“It was a classic desk-in-the-basement 

scenario” at first, says Bruce. During his 

time at Fox and those early years with his 

own company, Bill was a “road warrior,” 

his son recalls, someone who “got his 

United [Airlines] Million Miler plaque in 

the ’70s, I suppose. Way back. He was on 

the road constantly.” The miles traveled— 

and the connections made along the way— 

came to fruition when he got an invitation 

to pitch a concept to AMC. That concept 

would enable Proctor Companies to still 

be in operation 50 years later. 

The “Station Concept,” officially 

developed by Proctor Companies in 1975, 

seems obvious in retrospect. In 1966, 

AMC had opened its first multiplex; by 

the ’70s, the multiplex—and AMC, led by 

Stanley Durwood—was booming. “In the 

older days, [theaters] would trust maybe 

one or two cashiers,” says Bruce. That 

was no longer viable as theaters—and 

concessions queues—grew, a problem 

Proctor Companies tackled by introducing 

more transaction points between patrons 

and staff. The Station Concept, inspired by 

the fast-food industry, introduced to AMC 

a “work triangle,” the idea being that the 

employee wouldn’t have to take “more than 

two or three steps to get any item on the 

menu and come back to that patron quickly. 

The faster we can get the customers in 

and out, the shorter the queues, the more 

money to the bottom line.” 

The ’70s saw growth for AMC and 

Proctor both. “We kind of grew up together, 

with AMC,” says Bruce. “Wherever they 

went, we went.” Bill bought a building for 

the company and asked Bruce to help get 

things running. “I said, ‘OK, but just for a 

couple of weeks.’” Needless to say, it was 

not just a couple of weeks. 

Bill would make a deal with a cinema, 

and Bruce would set out on the road to 

install the equipment. “It was the best 

As patrons return to cinemas 

post-Covid, “they’re going 

to want to have a first-class 

experience with sight and 

sound in the auditorium. And 

they want food and beverage 

to be delivered on time and 

at least average in quality, if 

not better.” 

Bill Proctor 

Bruce Proctor 

job in the world,” he recalls. “In those 

days, at 20 years old, I had a credit card. 

I traveled the nation. Met a lot of great 

people in the industry. There was a lot of 

great satisfaction in meeting the trucks 

on the first day of the week, and by the 

end of the week—depending on what 

the job was—you could see what you’d 

put together. We were handing over the 

operating manuals and working with the 

manager to make sure they knew how to 

run all the various pieces of equipment.” 

When a job was done, Bruce would use 

the hands-on knowledge he’d acquired 

to suggest tweaks to improve the overall 

experience. Decades later, Bruce hasn’t 

lost that knack for attention to detail. “If 

we don’t improve from one job to the next, 

we’re not doing our job.” 

In 1988, Bill Proctor retired, and 

Bruce took over as Proctor Companies’ 

president and CEO. Bruce, like his father, 

took inspiration from the world of fast 

food for another concept, developed 

in 1997 for United Artists. Called “Pass 

Through,” it was—like the Station Concept 

that cemented Proctor’s relationship 

with AMC in the ’70s—a response to the 

continuing physical growth of movie 

theaters, which again would make wait 

times longer unless an increasing amount 

of real estate was given up to concessions 

operations. Pass Through streamlined 

matters by introducing to United Artists 

and subsequent cinema chains a back 

line (where food is prepared), a midline 

(where food is presented), and a front line, 

where customers could complete their 

transactions and make impulse purchases. 

During Bruce’s tenure as president and 

CEO of Proctor Companies, concessions 

have continued to evolve at a steady pace. 

AMC’s wide-scale introduction of recliner 

seating in the early aughts, he argues, “fed 

the whole momentum to have dine-in,” 

because the spacious seats made people 

want to settle in and eat and provided 

natural placement for small tables. In 

2012, Proctor Companies launched the 

ProctorID—for “indoor dining”—division, 

banking on the continued potential of a 

concessions setup that allows patrons to 

spend more time in the theater and more 

money per transaction. Other concepts 

over the years have included cafeteriastyle 

self-serve concessions (developed for 

Century Theatres in 2003) and Cinemark’s 

Grab-n-Go fixtures, introduced in 2015. 

“Pre-Covid there was a big push 


towards the retailing of our industry,” 

says Proctor, with chains including AMC 

offering a wider variety of items—food and 

otherwise—for purchase in the vicinity 

of the concession stand. And the past 

few years have seen a marked increase 

in self-serve, with Coca-Cola Freestyle 

machines a familiar example. “Pre-Covid, 

at least half of our clients were using selfservice 

soda,” says Proctor. “That would 

once again speed up the service at the 

transaction point. But now [with Covid], 

we can’t do that. It’s going back in the 

other direction, where there’s more service 

required from the staffer and less touch. 

People want contactless if possible.” 

The pandemic’s immediate impact on 

concessions has been clear: an increased 

interest in mobile ordering, a decline 

in self-serve, and (in the case of some 

theaters) a temporarily pared-down menu 

that avoids higher-labor, hands-on menu 

items in favor of standard classics like 

popcorn, soda, and candy. Proctor sees 

some longer-term changes in the cards: 

There will be “more mobile apps,” he 

says, a decrease in shared food items, and 

“more to draw the eye” in terms of lights 

and graphics, bringing North American 

operators that choose to go that route 

more in line with the lavish design to be 

found in select international markets. 

As to more sweeping changes in what 

and how patrons consume food at the 

theater—namely, if there will be a shift 

in the balance between dine-in and 

more “traditional” concessions—Proctor 

is rightfully hesitant to make a definitive 

prediction. “There’s a strong contingent 

of our industry that believes that most 

of the profits in food and beverage come 

from soda, popcorn, and now draft beer,” 

which require less labor and have higher 

profit margins than extended menu items. 

That said, dine-in “get[s] people off the 

couch.” As patrons return to cinemas 

post-Covid, “they’re going to want to 

have a first-class experience with sight 

and sound in the auditorium. And they 

want food and beverage to be delivered on 

time and at least average in quality, if not 

better.” Ultimately, he emphasizes, the 

ideal concession stand design depends on 

the chain—or even the individual theater. 

“I’ve had people ask me, ‘What’s the perfect 

concession stand?’ And I can tell you 

it doesn’t exist. … I’ve built concession 

stand designs that work really well for 

one company. Transferred over to another 

client, they didn’t operate quite the same. 

They didn’t have nearly the same results.” 

Regardless of which direction the 

concession stand goes, Proctor Companies 

is looking forward to another 50 years of 

providing for the needs of their clients— 

pulling from a well of experience that 

goes all the way back to Bill Proctor’s first 

movie theater job in Griswold, Iowa. “I 

think that a lot of the success that we 

enjoyed in this company came from 

[my father’s] previous experience,” says 

Proctor. “We were tuned into thinking like 

our client. It was easy for him because he 

used to be a movie theater owner. That’s 

how he got the idea for this company, what 

its platform would be—to provide a onestop-shop 

service for other movie theater 

owners. We try to keep that in mind and 

think not only as the theater owner. We try 

to think as the moviegoer, their patrons. 

The more we can tune into how the theater 

patron’s experience goes, that helps the 

theater owner, and it helps us. We all reap 

benefits from that.” 

Harkins Theatres’ 

Vérité Lounge 


133

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Coming Attractions 136 | The Many Saints of Newark 148 | Event Cinema 160 

ON SCREEN 

Watch trailer 

“We really wanted to tell a story about bringing some of the 

magic of the book into the real world, where you would feel like 

you could be in the real world with a fantastical creature.” 

Clifford the Big Red Dog, p. 154 


135

On Screen COMING ATTRACTIONS 

COMING 

ATTRACTIONS 

With Box Office Forecast by Shawn Robbins, 

Chief Analyst, Boxoffice Pro 


The remake of 

Clive Barker’s 1990s 

franchise has horror 

fans intrigued, even 

more so given the 

involvement of cowriter 

and producer 

Jordan Peele. 

CANDYMAN 

Universal Pictures | August 27 | WIDE 

Genre: Horror 

Director: Nia DaCosta 

Starring: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, 

Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, 

Colman Domingo 

For as long as residents can remember, 

the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini- 

Green neighborhood were terrorized 

by a word-of-mouth ghost story about 

a supernatural killer with a hook for a 

hand, easily summoned by those daring 

enough to repeat his name five times into 

a mirror. In the present day, a decade after 

the last of the Cabrini towers were torn 

down, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya 

Abdul-Mateen II, HBO’s “Watchmen,” 

Us) and his girlfriend, gallery director 

Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris, If 

Beale Street Could Talk, The Photograph), 

move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, 

now gentrified beyond recognition and 

inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials. 

With Anthony’s painting career on 

the brink of stalling, a chance encounter 

with a Cabrini-Green old-timer 

(Colman Domingo, HBO’s “Euphoria,” 

Assassination Nation) exposes Anthony 

to the tragically horrific nature of the 

true story behind Candyman. Anxious 

to maintain his status in the Chicago art 

world, Anthony begins to explore these 

macabre details in his studio as fresh grist 

for paintings, unknowingly opening a door 

to a complex past that unravels his own 

sanity and unleashes a terrifyingly wave 

of violence that puts him on a collision 

course with destiny. 

Box Office Forecast 

Pros: The remake of Clive Barker’s 1990s 

franchise has horror fans intrigued, even 

more so given the involvement of cowriter 

and producer Jordan Peele after his 

major successes with Get Out and Us. 

Appeal to young adults could be strong as 

the pandemic recovery continues through 

late summer. This film is slated to open. 

one week before the Labor Day frame—a 

corridor that has previously been good to 

films like Don’t Breathe and Scary Stories 

to Tell in the Dark. 

Cons: The glut of horror films releasing 

throughout summer could result in some 

overcrowding or genre fatigue. This is the 

fifth of six high-profile horror releases set 

to open during the third quarter of 2021 

Candyman is ultimately a cult-classic 

property that may need both strong 

marketing and reception to stand out with 

today’s younger audiences, especially 

when considering its proximity to Don’t 

Breathe 2, appearing sooner on August 13. 


137


SHANG-CHI AND THE 

LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS 

Walt Disney Pictures | September 3 | WIDE 

Genre: Action-Adventure 

Director: Destin Daniel Cretton 

Starring: Simu Liu, Tony Leung, Awkwafina, 

Fala Chen, Meng’er Zhang, Florian 

Munteanu, Ronny Chieng, Michelle Yeoh 

Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend 

of the Ten Rings stars Simu Liu as Shang- 

Chi, who must confront the past he 

thought he left behind when he is drawn 

into the web of the mysterious Ten Rings 

organization. 

Box Office Forecast 

Pros: The Marvel Cinematic Universe has 

a knack for turning generally unknown 

characters and source material into box 

office hits, thanks to the enormous level 

of fan and casual audience goodwill the 

franchise has amassed over more than 

a decade. As the first superhero film 

featuring a predominately Asian American 

cast, this film could represent a significant 

pop culture moment given the marketing 

and branding powerhouse of Disney and 

Marvel behind it. 

Currently, this is slated to be a 

theatrically exclusive release—Marvel 

Studios’ first in over two years. It also has 

several weekends of minimal competition 

in September, allowing for word of mouth 

to build around the unique and first-ever 

Labor Day tentpole release strategy. 

Cons: As noted, this is the first time a 

major Hollywood blockbuster will open 

over Labor Day weekend—a typically quiet 

frame in most years before the pandemic. 

Pent-up demand for event moviegoing 

and the Marvel brand should help set this 

film apart, but this is new territory and its 

potential performance should be assessed 

within that context. 

At the time of writing, Black Widow has 

not yet released, but its performance could 

be a way for Disney to gauge, between July 

and September, whether to keep Shang- 

Chi exclusive to theaters or convert it into 

another hybrid theatrical-PVOD release. 


STAND-ALONE SUPERHERO DEBUTS IN 

THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE 

BLACK PANTHER 

Disney | February 16, 2018 

Domestic Opening Weekend: 

$357,115,007 

$700.43M 

$1.35B 

global 

$647.17M 

CAPTAIN MARVEL 

Disney | March 8, 2019 


$153,433,423 

$426.83M 

$1.13B 

global 

$701.63M 

SPIDER-MAN: 

HOMECOMING 

Sony | July 7, 2017 


$117,027,503 

$334.2M 

$880M 

global 

$545.97M 

DOCTOR STRANGE 

Disney | November 4, 2016 


$85,058,311 

$232.64M 

$677M 

global 

$445.15M 

IRON MAN 

Paramount | May 2, 2008 


$98,618,668 

.03M 

$319 

$586M 

global 

$266.76M 

ANT-MAN 

Disney | July 17, 2015 


$57,225,526 

$180.2M 

$519M 

global 

$339.11M 

THOR 

Disney | May 6, 2011 


$65,723,338 

$181.03M 

$449M 

global 

$268.3M 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: 

THE FIRST AVENGER 

Disney | July 22, 2011 


$65,058,524 

$176.65M 

$371M 

global 

$193.92M 

Watch trailer 

THE INCREDIBLE 

HULK 

Universal | June 13, 2008 


$55,414,050 

$134.8M 

$265M 

global 

$129.9M 

As the first 

superhero film 

featuring a 

predominately 

Asian American 

cast, this film 

could represent 

a significant pop 

culture moment. 

Domestic 

Overseas 

Data Courtesy Boxoffice Pro 


139


CLIFFORD THE BIG 

RED DOG 

Paramount Pictures | September 17 | WIDE 

DEAR EVAN HANSEN 

Universal Pictures | September 24 | WIDE 

Genre: Musical 

Director: Stephen Chbosky 

Starring: Ben Platt, Kaitlyn Dever, 

Amandla Stenberg, Nik Dodani, Julianne 

Moore, Amy Adams 

The breathtaking, generation-defining 

Broadway phenomenon becomes a 

soaring cinematic

Boxoffice Pro - CinemaCon 2021

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