Boxoffice Pro - Nov/Dec 2023

$6.95 / November 2023 

SHOWEAST 

2023 

Happy Halloween: The Best Movie 

Theaters for Horror Fans 

The Official Magazine of the National Association of Theatre Owners

OCTOBER 23-26 2023 

LOEWS MIAMI BEACH HOTEL 

SHOWEAST.COM

November 2023 

CONTENTS 

80 

And God Created Woman 

Cinematographer Robbie 

Ryan Reunites with Yorgos 

Lanthimos on Poor Things 

36 

Horror Haunts 

The Best Movie Theaters for 

Fear Fans 

52 

Coca-Cola 

Empowerment Award 

Rebecca Stein, VP, Studio 

Relations & U.S. Marketing, 

National Amusements’ 

Showcase Cinemas 

60 

Bingham Ray Spirit Award 

Frank Rodriguez, Head of 

Distribution, Searchlight 

Pictures 

66 

Al Shapiro Distinguished 

Service Award 

Paul Dergarabedian, Senior 

Media Analyst, Comscore 


03

CONTENTS 

INDUSTRY THEATER SHOWEAST 

10 

12 

14 

22 

24 

A Fond Farewell 

Rolando Rodriguez Reflects on His 

Time as NATO’s Chairman 

In Memoriam 

Willis Johnson, Classic Cinemas 

Trade Talk 

Charity Spotlight 

A Recap of Industry-Wide Charity 

Initiatives 

Passing the Torch 

Interview with Canadian Picture 

Pioneers President Greg Mason 

30 

36 

Indie Focus 

What Lessons Can Indie Cinemas 

Take from Summer 2023? 

Horror Haunts 

The Best Movie Theaters for Fear Fans 

48 

52 

58 

60 

Salah M. Hassanein 

Humanitarian Award 

Ron Krueger II, Chief Operating 

Officer, Santikos Theaters Grand/ 

Amstar 

Coca-Cola Empowerment Award 

Rebecca Stein, VP, Studio Relations 

& U.S. Marketing, National 

Amusements’ Showcase Cinemas 

Enrique Ramirez LatAM Exhibitor 

of the Year Award 

National Amusements’ Showcase 

Cinemas Argentina 


Frank Rodriguez, Head of 

Distribution, Searchlight Pictures 

66 

Al Shapiro Distinguished 

Service Award 

Paul Dergarabedian, Senior Media 

Analyst, Comscore 

70 

International Career 

Achievement Award 

Steve Zuehlke, Executive Vice 

President of External Relations and 

Special Projects, Cinemark 

72 

NAC Icon Award 

Shelly Olesen, Vice President of Sales 

& Marketing, C. Cretors and Company 

74 

Technology Award 

Lumma 4D E-Motion 

76 

Erik Lomis Hall of Fame Inductees 

ON SCREEN 

80 

86 

88 

And God Created Woman 

Cinematographer Robbie Ryan 

Reunites with Yorgos Lanthimos on 

Poor Things 

Event Cinema Calendar 

A Sampling of Event Cinema 

Programming Hitting the Big 

Screen in 2023 

Booking Guide 

04 November 2023

CRETORS 

INVENTED THE 

POPCORN 

MACHINE 

THEN JUST KEPT GOING! 

When it comes to concessions, 

it comes from Cretors. 

SINCE 1885 

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

BOXOFFICE MEDIA 

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BOXOFFICE PRO 

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CHIEF ANALYST 

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ANALYSTS 

Chad Kennerk 

Jesse Rifkin 

DATABASE 

Diogo Hausen 

CONTRIBUTORS 

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Todd Halstead 

ADVERTISING 

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BOXOFFICE PRO 

2023 PUBLISHING 

SCHEDULE 

Winter 2023 

January–February 

Issue 

Giants of Exhibition 


March–April Issue 

CinemaCon 2023 

May–June Issue 

CineEurope 2023 

July Issue 

NAC Concessions 

Expo 2023 

August Issue 

CinéShow 2023 

September Issue 

Geneva Convention 


October Issue 

ShowEast 2023 

November– 

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EXECUTIVE LETTER 

OH, WHAT A YEAR 

IT’S BEEN 

But it feels safe to say that 

2023 will prove a milestone 

year in the regrowth of the 

cinema industry. 

For the cinema industry, 2023 has 

been one for the books: a year filled 

with some films that failed to meet box 

office expectations, others that (to use a 

phrase from an earlier Christopher Nolan 

movie) “blew the bloody doors off,” and, 

just in general, more movies! A mix of 

studio and independent films spanning 

genres, ratings, target demographics, and 

budgets came to cinemas this year in 

a way we haven’t seen since before the 

pandemic, helping to drive the domestic 

box office to a $4 billion summer for the 

first time since 2019. End-of-year figures 

obviously won’t be available until, well, 

after the end of the year (though for those 

who want more timely box office updates 

than long-lead print deadlines can accommodate, 

subscribing to the Boxoffice 

Podcast is a must). But it feels safe to say 

that 2023 will prove a milestone year in 

the regrowth of the cinema industry. 

But hold on–we’re not quite done 

with 2023 yet. You should be getting 

this issue right around Halloween, the 

culmination of “spooky season”—which 

Chad Kennerk celebrates with his deepdive 

into theaters that kill it (sorry) in 

catering to cinema-loving horror fans 

across the U.S. If you’re picking up 

this issue at Miami, ShowEast trade 

show, flip ahead for robust coverage of 

this year’s award winners, including 

in-depth interviews with executives 

from National Amusements’ Showcase 

Cinemas, Santikos Theaters, Searchlight 

Pictures, and Comscore. Editorial director 

Daniel Loria interviews cinematographer 

Robbie Ryan of Searchlight Pictures’ early 

December release Poor Things, directed 

by visionary Yorgos Lanthimos, in our 

On Screen section. Rich Daughtridge of 

Warehouse Cinemas gives an update on 

the Independent Cinema Alliance in our 

Indie Focus section, presented in collaboration 

with Spotlight Cinema Networks. 

And Team Boxoffice Pro closes out our 

2023 print roster with, as always, news 

and booking information uniquely tailored 

to the cinema industry. 

Finally, Team Boxoffice Pro also 

closes out the year with a new addition: 

little Elena Loria, born June 10. We 

wish Daniel the best as he embarks on 

his paternity leave, and we very much 

look forward to finding out which movie 

theater he’ll be taking Elena to first. 

Rebecca Pahle 

Deputy Editor, Boxoffice Pro 


07

NATO 10 | Trade Talk 14 | Charity Spotlight 18 | Canadian Picture Pioneers 24 

INDUSTRY 

“My dad was never just in the theater business; he was in the 

business of community building, and his commitment to giving 

back extended far beyond the walls of [his] theaters.” 

In Memoriam: Willis Johnson, Classic Cinemas, p. 12 


09

INDUSTRY NATO 

A FOND 

FAREWELL 

Rolando Rodriguez Reflects on 

His Time as NATO’s Chairman 

BY PHIL CONTRINO 

“The ultimate goal of NATO is 

to represent all its exhibitor 

members in the best interest 

of the entire industry.” 

This fall, Roland Rodriguez’s tenure 

as NATO’s chairman ends. Rolando 

was named chairman in 2018, and his 

time in the role was extended as the 

industry faced historic challenges beginning 

in March 2020. During his time as 

chairman, he has truly seen it all. 

I recently caught up with Rolando to 

reflect on lessons learned and to discuss 

the industry’s bright future. 

What did you enjoy the most about 

being the chairman of the Board of 

NATO? 

Representing the Marcus Corporation and 

exhibitors and getting to know the amazing 

leaders in this industry, nationally and 

worldwide. Working with the NATO team, 

the NATO Executive Board of Directors, 

The Cinema Foundation, exhibitors of all 

sizes and territories, film company leaders/ 

partners, the Global Cinema Federation, 

vendors, and many other industry leaders, 

like Bob and Andrew Sunshine [of the Film 

Expo Group]. It has been an honor and a 

pleasure representing our industry. 

Looking back at your time as NATO’s 

chairman, what is the accomplishment 

that you are most proud of? 

Personally, I can’t take credit for all of the 

accomplishments that have taken place 

over the past three years as chairman. It 

truly has been a collaborative leadership 

effort by the NATO team, the NATO 

Executive Board, exhibitors, film companies, 

industry leaders, and the vendor 

community. While there were numerous 

accomplishments, I believe our most 

significant was/is continuing to show 

the importance and relevance that our 

industry has to consumers past, present, 

and future in all the communities that we 

serve. Exhibitors have shown their incredible 

leadership and resilience during 

unparalleled and turbulent times. Our 

industry is important and necessary! 

Serving as NATO’s chairman during 

the pandemic wasn’t an easy task. 

What lessons did you learn from that 

experience? 

There is strength in numbers, collaboration, 

and inclusiveness—“diversity in new 

ideas, thinking, changes, and approaches” 

to solutions. Leadership principles of 

utilizing all available resources to achieve 

desired outcomes helped us come out of 

the pandemic. The work that was done by 

the NATO team, NATO Executive Board 

members, NATO working committees, the 

Global Cinema Foundation, film studios, 

vendors, government lobbying firms, 

regional associations, exhibitors at state/ 

local levels, etc., was instrumental in 

developing safe operating health guidelines 

for our guests and associates, achieving 

necessary governmental funding, and 

re-opening our industry. 

What advice would you give to the 

next NATO chairman? 

The ultimate goal of NATO is to represent 

all its exhibitor members in the best interest 

of the entire industry. It’s a challenging 

service goal with competing priorities at 

times, but a reasonable “give and take” in 

the best interest of the industry is a must 

to be successful. We are fortunate to have 

a very talented CEO, Michael O’Leary; an 


amazing NATO team; and a very experienced 

NATO Executive Board representing 

diverse points of view. Meaningful feedback, 

support, and recommended solutions 

to complex issues will be provided to 

the CEO and the new chairman. 

What are the most important 

things you would like to see NATO 

accomplish over the next two years? 

There are several: 

• Under the new leadership of Michael 

O’Leary, the incredible NATO team, 

the outstanding NATO and Cinema 

Foundation Board members, and the 

incoming chairman, I look forward to 

seeing the industry outperform all the 

forecasts! This is an “A Team” that will 

guide our industry to the next horizon. 

• Under the leadership of Elizabeth 

Frank, NATO’s Strategic Planning 

Committee developed meaningful and 

necessary strategies to support our 

industry that need to be implemented 

and executed. In particular, ongoing 

lobbying efforts with film companies 

and federal/state governments remain 

the top priorities and are essential to 

“Exhibitors have shown 

their incredible leadership 

and resilience during 

unparalleled and turbulent 

times. Our industry is 

important and necessary!” 

our industry. 

• With the expiration of VPF agreements, 

I would like to see a financial support 

mechanism through federal/local 

governments and the vendor community 

for the replacement of digital 

projectors reaching end of life. 

• Development of a more strategic, 

efficient, and collaborative structure 

[surrounding] NATO and its regional 

associations. 

• CinemaCon: a plug for Michael 

[O’Leary], Mitch [Neuhauser], Matt 

[Pollock], and the entire NATO/Cinema 

Foundation teams. Let’s make the 2024 

CinemaCon a huge success! 

As a final thought, I would like to personally 

thank the NATO team, the NATO 

Executive Board, Marcus Corporation, 

and Influx Worldwide for the opportunity 

to serve as the NATO chairman in support 

of all exhibition. It’s been an honor that 

my family and I will treasure for the rest 

of our lives. 

Phil Contrino is the Director of Media and 

Research, NATO 

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Visit us at the Sundial room at the Loews Hotel at ShowEast! 


11

Industry IN MEMORIAM 

IN MEMORIAM: 

WILLIS JOHNSON, 

CLASSIC CINEMAS 

BY TODD HALSTEAD 

Last month, the marquee at the 

Tivoli Theatre in Downers Grove, Ill., 

displayed a heartfelt tribute: “In loving 

memory of Willis Johnson. Thank you for 

the magic of movies.” Willis, who passed 

away at 86 in August, founded Classic 

Cinemas in 1978 with his wife, Shirley. 

He was a community leader, long-time 

NATO volunteer, and president of NATO 

of Illinois. 

Initially, becoming an exhibitor 

wasn’t part of Willis’s plan. The journey 

began when he and his brother Ross 

purchased the Tivoli building in 1976 as 

an investment. Located across the street 

from their printing company, the property 

included a hotel, a bowling alley, 

and a dilapidated movie palace that was 

called the “Wonder Theater of Suburban 

Chicago” when it first opened in 1928. 

Willis and Shirley soon found themselves 

transforming the Tivoli Theatre from 

a state of disrepair to its former glory, 

thus laying the foundation for Classic 

Cinemas. The chain, which celebrated 

its 45th anniversary this year, has since 

expanded to 16 locations and 137 screens 

across Illinois and Wisconsin. 

Committed to both his business and 

community, Willis invested everything 

into his movie theaters and the communities 

they serve. This unwavering commitment 

has been a guiding influence on his 

family, including his son Chris Johnson, 

CEO of Classic Cinemas, who reflects 

below on his father’s legacy of love for 

cinema and community. 

Your father transformed what was 

initially a real estate investment into 

Classic Cinemas. Could you tell us 

how he became an exhibitor? 

One night, the then-operator of the Tivoli 

Theatre skipped out on the lease, leaving 

Above: (l-r) Chris, Shirley, and Willis Johnson 

“His middle name, Gamble, 

couldn’t have been more 

fitting for what he and Shirley 

did. But it paid off through 

hard work and perseverance.” 

a “Closed for Remodeling” sign on the 

marquee. Faced with a vacant, dilapidated 

theater, my dad simply said to Shirley, “I 

guess we are going to run a movie theater.” 

It was a leap of faith. My dad was 41 at the 

time, and he devoted himself entirely to 

the industry, learning as he went along. 

His middle name, Gamble, couldn’t have 

been more fitting for what he and Shirley 

did. But it paid off through hard work and 

perseverance. 

Your parents became known for 

taking historic theaters in need of 

restoration and transforming them 

into thriving community centers. Can 

you walk us through how the growth 

of Classic Cinemas took shape? 

My dad always had an eye for things that 

had been pushed to the sidelines but held 

immense potential. After the experience 


“My dad was never just 

in the theater business; 

he was in the business of 

community building, and his 

commitment to giving back 

extended far beyond the 

walls of [his] theaters.” 

with the Tivoli Theatre, he realized he could 

apply the same dedication to other disregarded 

theaters. He saw the unseen value in 

these iconic buildings—not just as business 

ventures but as community revitalization 

projects at a time when downtown theaters 

were considered out of favor. 

Can you speak to your father’s deep 

commitment to community building? 

Absolutely. My dad was never just in the 

theater business; he was in the business 

of community building, and his 

commitment to giving back extended 

far beyond the walls of [his] theaters. 

He sat on numerous boards of business, 

civic, and historic organizations in every 

community where we had theaters. In 

towns like Oak Park [in Illinois], where 

we took over the Lake Theatre, our 

cinemas became the catalysts for downtown 

revitalization. My dad’s motto was, 

“It’s the details that matter.” And he 

gave that same level of attention to the 

communities we serve. 

I first met Willis through his role with 

NATO of Illinois. Could you elaborate 

on how your father contributed to the 

exhibition community? 

My father was deeply committed to 

both NATO and its regional associations, 

serving as the long-time president of 

NATO of Illinois. He worked with his 

fellow exhibitors in building a community 

within the Illinois exhibition industry 

and volunteered for NATO committees. 

He understood the power of grassroots 

[community-building] and made sure 

NATO of Illinois was an effective advocate 

for our members. 

The last film your father watched was 

History Happens Here. What is the 

significance of that film? 

The documentary was both a tribute to 

the Tivoli Theatre and a recognition of 

the contributions my parents made to the 

community. It was a labor of love for local 

filmmaker Jim Toth, and it highlighted 

my dad’s relationship with the community. 

We sold out a special screening 

of more than 1,000 seats, which was a 

full-circle moment for my dad and Shirley 

45 years after they opened the theater. My 

father always held a hopeful perspective 

on the industry, even during challenging 

times like the pandemic, and the documentary 

captures that optimism. 

What drove your father’s passion for 

the movie theater business? 

He was genuinely passionate about 

showmanship and creating an environment 

where people could come together 

and enjoy themselves. He loved seeing 

smiles on everyone’s faces and being a 

part of the fun. He always emphasized the 

importance of providing value and quality 

to our patrons, and that has been our 

guiding principle. 

Todd Halstead is the Director of 

Government Relations & Strategy 

Development, NATO 


13

INDUSTRY TRADE TALK 

TRADE TALK 

MIRAJ CINEMAS UNVEILS 

LAVISH MULTIPLEX AT R-MALL 

MULUND IN MUMBAI 

September saw the grand opening 

of the latest multiplex for Miraj 

Cinemas, India’s third-largest national 

multiplex chain. Situated on the third floor 

of R-Mall in Mulund West, Mumbai, the 

new location features four screens with a 

total seating capacity of 1,276, including 

48 plush recliners and 13 sofa seats. The 

inaugural day coincided with the release 

of SRK’s anticipated Jawan. 

Also available to guests at the newly 

opened multiplex is Miraj’s signature 

The Beanery Cafe. The Chef Corner 

offers patrons the opportunity to watch 

as made-to-order dishes are prepared by 

in-house chefs. Chef Corner emphasizes 

fresh, high-quality ingredients and offers 

a range of dishes to satisfy all palates. 

From local specialties to international 

flavors, including gluten-free options, 

there’s something for everyone to enjoy. 

For added convenience, customers can 

pay digitally and opt for cashless payment 

options to place their food orders at 

Pop Express kiosks within the property, 

streamlining the ordering process. 

Amit Sharma, the managing director 

of Miraj Entertainment, said in a press 

release: “The opening of Miraj Cinemas 

at R-Mall in Mulund marks our tenth 

multiplex in Mumbai, bringing our total 

screens in Mumbai, Maharashtra to 31. As 

we continue to make a substantial impact 

in key markets, our expansion momentum 

extends to vibrant cities like Jamshedpur, 

Pune, Chennai, Indore, Jodhpur, and 

more. Our goal of reaching 200 screens 

is on the horizon, and even in the face 

of Covid-19 challenges, we successfully 

added 60 screens, solidifying our position 

as a national player in the entertainment 

industry. Looking ahead, we are poised to 

achieve an impressive milestone of 300 

screens by the end of [fiscal year] 2024. At 

Miraj Entertainment Ltd., our unwavering 

dedication is to share the enchantment of 

cinema with an ever-expanding audience.” 

Bhuvnesh Mendiratta, the chief 

operating officer of Miraj Entertainment, 

added, “In a significant leap forward, 

Miraj Cinemas is thrilled to unveil an 

exclusive Jain gourmet menu at our newly 

inaugurated Mulund location. This landmark 

achievement solidifies our status as 

the first 100 percent vegetarian national 

cinema chain to offer this unique 

culinary experience. Our ‘Jain Corner’ 

presents an irresistible selection of Jainfriendly 

delicacies meticulously crafted 

to adhere to the most stringent dietary 

guidelines. This culinary innovation 

empowers our patrons to savour a superior 

cinematic and dining experience, 

all from the comfort of their seats. We 

extend a warm invitation to join us at 

Miraj Cinemas R-Mall in Mulund, where 

whether you’re a cinephile or a culinary 

enthusiast, our Jain Corner promises to 

enchant your senses.” 

“Our goal of reaching 200 

screens is on the horizon, and 

even in the face of Covid-19 

challenges, we successfully 

added 60 screens, solidifying 

our position as a national 

player in the entertainment 

industry.” 


IN BRIEF 

Marcus Theatres, the fourth 

largest cinema exhibitor 

in the U.S., has opened 

the first-ever ScreenX 

auditorium in the state of 

Wisconsin. 

The new immersive, 

270-degree panoramic 

ScreenX theater, located at 

the Marcus Ridge Cinema 

in New Berlin, Wisconsin, 

is the second CJ 4DPLEX 

location for Marcus 

Theatres, with the first 

being the multi-sensory 

4DX auditorium at Marcus 

Gurnee Mills Cinema in 

Gurnee, Illinois. Marcus 

Ridge Cinema’s ScreenX 

auditorium features 

108 recliners and four 

designated wheelchair 

spaces, along with a 

45-foot-wide screen. 

Exhibition veteran Ken 

Thewes has joined the 

executive team at Marcus 

Theatres. Thewes joins the 

chain as SVP and head 

of marketing, leading 

marketing efforts for the 

chain across various 

platforms. The role includes 

overseeing marketing for 

the chain’s loyalty and 

subscription programs, 

digital channels, branding, 

studio relations, promotions, 

and consumer insights. 

Prior to his current role at 

Marcus Theatres, Thewes 

served as the CMO and 

head of marketing for 

Regal, the second-largest 

cinema chain in North 

America, from 2012-2013. 

BLUE CINEMA OPENS THE 

FIRST PREMIUM ROOFTOP 

CINEMA IN SWITZERLAND 

Throughout the month of September, 

blue Cinema presented its Summer 

Rooftop Cinema Nights series in Chur, 

Switzerland, giving film fans a unique 

experience in the midst of a breathtaking 

mountain backdrop. The Rooftop Cinema 

Chur is located on the roof of the blue 

Cinema Chur and offers views of the 

surrounding Alpine panorama. The combination 

of the open-air cinema and the 

natural beauty of the mountains creates an 

ideal backdrop for cinema evenings. 

Throughout the series, blue Cinema 

showed current blockbusters such as 

Barbie and Retribution, but also film classics 

and past highlights such as The Super 

Mario Bros. Movie and Top Gun. Every 

evening around 100 guests had the opportunity 

to enjoy the ambience in lounge 

chairs with a free choice of seats. Even 

when it rains, the program goes on, thanks 

to the capes provided by blue Cinema. 

In addition to the snacks and drinks 

served at the rooftop bar, the burger restaurant 

Hans im Glück also offers burgers 

on the roof terrace. The cinema features 

laser projection from Barco and audio 

technology from JBL and was conceived by 

the German cinema integrator Cine Project. 

“I am very proud that we can further 

refine our blue Cinema Chur with the 

Rooftop Cinema Nights. The success 

that the cinema has had since opening 

last autumn proves that we have struck 

a chord in the region,” says Grégoire 

Schnegg, the chief product officer of blue 

Cinema. “blue Cinema stands for more 

than just going to the cinema. We offer 

unforgettable experiences for young and 

old. With the Rooftop Cinema Nights, we 

take our guests to exciting film worlds 

—surrounded by the majestic backdrop of 

the Bünder mountains.” 

Marcel Kober, the head of legal for 

the company, adds, “In addition to the 

location in Chur that opened last year, 

we are also happy to be part of the implementation 

of the rooftop cinema. This 

is a unique and innovative concept for 

Switzerland.” 


15


MJR ANNOUNCES IMAX 

PARTNERSHIP 

Michigan-based exhibitor MJR 

Theatres, the U.S. division of multinational 

cinema chain Kinepolius, has 

announced a partnership with the Imax 

Corporation that will see the creation 

of a new Imax auditorium at the MJR 

Southgate Cinema in Southgate, Michigan. 

The new Imax auditorium–the first in 

the Metro-Detroit area to feature premium 

reclining chairs—will be equipped with 

Imax 4K Laser projection. 

“Our partnership with Imax is the next 

step in our evolution to continuously 

providing our guests the ultimate movie 

experience,” said MJR Theatres’ VP of 

Operations Joel Kincaid. “While Imax 

has been expanding across the globe, it’s 

been well over a decade since an Imax has 

opened in Metro-Detroit. MJR is proud to 

bring Imax to our downriver communities 

and provide the only Imax fitted with 

recliners in Metro Detroit.” 

“The MJR Theater has been a valued 

member of our business community for 25 

years,” Mayor Joseph Kuspa of Southgate 

said in a statement. “This new experience 

will certainly enhance the entertainment 

offerings for our residents and those 

throughout our region. And, like so many 

other avid moviegoers, we’re looking 

forward to the Imax premiere.” 

"When you match the best 

projector with the right screen, 

the results are stunning.” 

Cinionic CEO Wim Buyens 

CINIONIC DEBUTS NEW 

CINEMA SCREEN DESIGNED 

FOR LASER-POWERED 

THEATERS 

Cinionic has announced the debut of 

its new cinema screen designed for 

laser-powered auditoriums. The Cinionic 

Laser Screen 2.4 amplifies the power of 

laser projection through optimized efficiency 

and enhanced on-screen presentation. 

Designed to be the ideal companion 

to Laser by Cinionic, the new screen is the 

first screen entry in Cinionic’s all-laser 

solution portfolio. 

Cinionic Laser Screen 2.4 is composed 

of a white-appearing silver material, so 

that when combined with laser projection, 

it excels in both 2D and 3D movie 

presentation. The purpose-built screen 

features a 2.4 gain that facilitates even 

light distribution for a sharp, unified 

image that delivers a consistent viewing 

experience. 

Paired with Laser by Cinionic, Cinionic 

Laser Screen 2.4 is part of an integrated 

laser solution that optimizes efficiency 

due to the lower energy consumption 

required for achieving the same, or better, 

image quality compared to a larger projector. 

This can allow for a smaller projector 

specification and lower power setting 

while extending the lifetime of the combined 

tech stack. 

Cinionic Laser Screen 2.4 is now available 

in the U.S. and Mexico, with a global 

rollout planned in the coming months. 

AMC Theatres is set to be the first exhibitor 

to receive the new screens, with nearly 

two dozen installs planned this year. 

“Laser is the standard for theatrical projection 

today,” said Wim Buyens, the chief 

executive officer of Cinionic. “Cinionic is 

dedicated to cinema and passionate about 

ensuring the highest quality presentation 

from booth to screen. With Barco Series 4, 

we have the leading family of laser projectors. 

Now, with the Cinionic Laser Screen 

2.4, we enable exhibitors to get even more 

from laser. When you match the best 

projector with the right screen, the results 

are stunning.” 


THE CINEMA FOUNDATION’S 

NATIONAL CINEMA DAY 

ATTRACTS 8.5 MILLION 

MOVIEGOERS AND $34M 

ON SUNDAY 

On Sunday, August 27, the second 

annual National Cinema Day delivered 

impressive results, attracting nearly 

8.5 million attendees, up 5 percent from 

last year. The box office also saw a 16 percent 

increase over the previous Sunday, 

August 20. According to Comscore, moviegoers 

aged 18-24 and 25-34 each made 

up 22 percent of the National Cinema Day 

audience, and the next largest age group 

was 13-17, with 16 percent. Women turned 

out in slightly higher numbers than men, 

making up 52 percent of the audience. 

In an increase from last year’s returns 

of over $24M and more than 8.1 million 

moviegoers, the second annual National 

Cinema Day brought $34M to the box 

office and 8.5 million attendees. More 

than 3,000 locations and more than 

30,000 screens across the U.S. and Canada 

participated in National Cinema Day, and 

theaters reported sold-out showtimes in 

all formats throughout the day. All movies 

in all formats at all participating theaters 

were no more than $4 per ticket. 

Building on the momentum of 

last year’s inaugural event, this year’s 

National Cinema Day was an all-industry 

effort taking place at a comprehensive 

range of theaters, from the largest theater 

chains to smaller independent venues. 

“National Cinema Day was a significant 

success in bringing together millions of 

film fans of all ages to enjoy movies on 

the big screen,” shared Bryan Braunlich, 

the executive director of The Cinema 

Foundation. “Movie theaters and all our 

partners helped maximize the impact 

of the day with creative marketing and 

special promotions that added to the 

overall excitement, while a diverse slate 

of exciting films provided something for 

everyone to see. Thank you to all those 

hard-working individuals who make the 

theatrical experience magical.” 

“The positive response to National 

Cinema Day is just another reminder of 

how much people love going to the movie 

theater,” said Michael O’Leary, NATO’s 

president and CEO. “In every corner, audiences 

came together in large numbers… to 

share in the experience of seeing great stories 

on the big screen. These numbers show 

us that the future of exhibition is strong and 

that consumer enthusiasm for the theatrical 

experience continues unabated.” 

“The positive response to 

National Cinema Day is just 

another reminder of how 

much people love going to 

the movie theater.” 


17


CINIONIC PARTNERS WITH 

MEXICAN EXHIBITOR 

CINEMEX FOR CONVERSION 

OF 500 SCREENS TO LASER 

PROJECTION 

Cinemex, which operates nearly 

3,000 screens across 104 cities 

in Mexico, has inked a deal with laser 

cinema technology provider Cinionic 

to convert 500 screens in the circuit’s 

highest-performing locations to Laser 

Projection by Cinionic. 

Cinionic worked with Cinemex to 

design a cinema solution that includes 

next-generation laser projection with 

screens matched to complement the new 

elevated presentation, Barco Alchemy 

media servers, and a 10-year extended 

warranty from Cinionic. 

The conversion to laser will apply 

to theaters in 10 states, covering major 

Mexican cities such as Guadalajara, 

Mexico City, Monterrey, Queretaro, and 

Tijuana. The deal centers on the circuit’s 

top 53 theaters, including its marquee 

Parque Delta, Antara, and Santa Fe 

locations. A rapid rollout of the new laser 

technology is expected over the next year, 

beginning as early as November 2023. 

“At Cinemex, we always seek to provide 

our guests with a great experience. 

Cinionic’s knowledge and its extensive 

portfolio of cinematographic technology 

allow us to offer the highest level of projection 

to the film lovers that we receive 

every day in our theaters,” commented 

Francisco Eguren, COO of Grupo Cinemex. 

“Our guests will now enjoy not only avantgarde 

facilities, highly comfortable rooms 

and a variety of flavors in candy stations 

but also The Magic of Cinema with the 

laser quality of Cinionic.” 

“Laser projection by Cinionic is the clear 

choice for the renewal wave in cinema 

today. For Cinemex we are leveraging 

our years of experience in laser, tens 

of thousands of laser installations, and 

expertise across the cinematic eco-system 

to offer a complete, laser-based solution,” 

added Wim Buyens, CEO of Cinionic. “We 

are proud to be trusted by partners like 

Cinemex to help realize the power of laser 

in their theaters. We started Cinionic to 

offer a wow factor with laser, peace of 

mind with exceptional service, and flexibility 

for exhibition with innovative solutions 

& new commercial models. Today’s 

announcement represents another significant 

milestone in our ongoing mission to 

elevate moviegoing everywhere.” 

“Our guests will now enjoy not 

only avant-garde facilities, 

highly comfortable rooms and 

a variety of flavors in candy 

stations but also The Magic of 

Cinema with the laser quality 

of Cinionic.” 


READING INTERNATIONAL 

OPENS ANGELIKA FILM 

CENTRE IN AUSTRALIA 

August 24 saw the multi-national 

chain Reading International, Inc. 

open its first Angelika Film Centre 

location outside of the United States 

since 1989. The new theater, located 

at the South/City/SQ complex in 

Woolloongabba—a suburb of Brisbane, 

Australia—screens foreign and specialty 

films, along with compelling films from 

major studios. 

The original Angelika Film Center & 

Café in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood 

has become one of the most successful 

arthouse cinemas in North America. A 

cultural institution in New York City, the 

Angelika is known for showcasing the best 

in independent, foreign, and specialty 

films. In the last decade, the Angelika has 

delivered the highest box office engagements 

of any North American cinema 

for films like Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird; 

Academy Award Winner for Best Picture 

Moonlight; and I, Tonya, starring Margot 

Robbie, as well as foreign language films 

like Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain & Glory 

and documentaries like Academy Award 

Winner for Best Documentary Free Solo. 

The Angelika Film Centre in Brisbane 

consists of eight screens, including 

three SoHo Lounge cinemas, with full 

recliner seating and laser projection in all 

auditoriums. The SoHo Lounge offers a 

first-class experience with plush reclining 

seating and friendly table service that 

brings dishes right to moviegoer’s seats. 

The SoHo Lounge Bar offers a curated 

selection of premium wines, signature 

cocktails, and a range of spirits. 

“We look forward to joining the 

Angelika family and being part of the 

exceptional reputation that comes with 

the Angelika name. Moreso, we are 

incredibly pleased that we get to open 

our doors in such an impressive and 

elegant complex as South/City/SQ. We 

are really looking forward to being part 

of the community,” said Mark Douglas, 

Reading International’s Australia and 

New Zealand managing director. 

“South/City/SQ’s intrinsic focus on 

delivering entertainment and hospitality 

has culminated in a popular precinct 

that consistently draws local, domestic, 

and international crowds,” says Nando 

Pellicano, the managing director of 

Pellicano, which developed the South/ 

City/SQ mixed-use complex along with 

Perri Projects. “The addition of Angelika 

Film Centre to the South/City/SQ precinct 

adds another drawcard for existing 

residents, as well as for domestic and 

international tourists. Our aim is to create 

a lifestyle-focused precinct that appeals 

to a diverse audience. The opening of the 

Angelika Film Centre will be a further 

boost to the already bustling entertainment 

scene of Woolloongabba—we are 

looking forward to watching the area 

continue to evolve as we approach the 

2032 Olympics.” 

“The Angelika Film Centre 

in Brisbane consists of eight 

screens, including three SoHo 

Lounge cinemas, with full 

recliner seating and laser 

projection in all auditoriums.” 

NATIONAL CINEMEDIA (NCM) 

TEAMS WITH RELIGION 

OF SPORTS FOR CONTENT 

PARTNERSHIP ON THE BIG 

SCREEN 

National CineMedia (NCM), the 

largest cinema advertising platform 

in the U.S., and Religion of Sports (ROS), 

the Emmy Award-winning sports media 

company, have announced a new content 

partnership bringing diverse, real-life stories 

of athletes and sports to the big screen. 

ROS was founded by seven-time Super 

Bowl champion Tom Brady, football Hall 

of Famer Michael Strahan, and filmmaker 

and producer Gotham Chopra. Each of 

Religion of Sports’ 60-second episodes 

will feature a human interest story of an 

instance where sports had an impact on an 

individual, team, or community. The sixpart 

content series launched in September 

as part of NCM’s “The Noovie Show,” which 

airs in 19,000+ theaters nationwide. 

“When we created Religion of Sports 

nearly a decade ago, it started with a 

single series with the intention to show 

why sports matter and how the mythos of 

sports and religion are intertwined,” ROS 

creator and co-founder Gotham Chopra 

said in a press release. “With hours upon 

hours of content, across numerous platforms 

and distribution channels, and five 

Sports Emmy Awards, we’re thrilled to be 

bringing ROS to NCM’s premiere cinema 

advertising platform, and [to] moviegoers 

nationwide, with one of the of the best 

representations of our work.” 

“We know moviegoers are passionate 

fans of great storytelling. The powerful 

narratives and stories Religion of Sports 

brings to NCM’s screens will be incredibly 

compelling for young Millennials and 

Gen Zs,” NCM’s Chief Marketing Officer 

Amy Tunick said in the same press release. 

“Brands will now have the opportunity to 

work with NCM and ROS, connecting with 

our leaned-in movie audiences via the 

most premiere short-form sports content.” 


19

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INDUSTRY CHARITY SPOTLIGHT 

CHARITY SPOTLIGHT 

CHARITY ROUNDUP 

Art from the Heart 

On Thursday, September 28, Variety of the 

Desert hosted Art from the Heart, pairing a 

showcase of artwork by children of Variety 

with a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception. 

Variety of the Desert Executive Director 

Heidi M. Muldoon said of the event, “At 

Variety, we are intentionally including children 

of all ability levels to be creative and 

express themselves through art. With the 

support of Patrick Sheehan of Coachellart 

serving as our resident artist guiding the 

Variety Art Program, we are glad to be 

offering a safe and inclusive space for all 

children to practice and enjoy art and 

self-expression.” 

VARIETY OF TEXAS RAISES 

$250K WITH 2023 ANNUAL 

TEXAN OF THE YEAR GALA 

On August 30, the final day of CinéShow, 

Variety of Texas held their 74th Annual 

Texan of the Year Gala, which was filled 

with Texas-sized fun and raised nearly 

$250K to provide much-needed services 

for children with special needs. The 

festivities included a live longhorn photo 

op, midway games, a mechanical bull, and 

“chicken poop” bingo. 

The evening’s contributions will 

further Variety’s mission to empower 

children with special needs and their 

families by providing resources and valuable 

experiences. The awards ceremony 

serves as a platform to recognize and 

honor the remarkable achievements and 

philanthropic endeavors of exceptional 

(and honorary) Texans who have made 

significant contributions to Variety and 

the individuals Variety serves. 

The evening’s events included a big 

Texas welcome from Stacy Bruce, the 

executive director and president of 

Variety of Texas, along with a reception 

and dinner, which honored Melissa 

Rafferty Van Soy as the 2023 Impact 

Award Recipient and Universal Pictures as 

the 2023 Texan of the Year. A huge supporter 

of the Variety mission, Universal 

Pictures has empowered Variety to raise 

over $5M with their Gold Heart Pins. 

Guests heard the incredible story of 

Addie King: (pictured above, with parents) 

who walked onto the stage–a remarkable 

feat given that Addie’s family at one time 

didn’t know if she would ever walk again. 

You can see Addie on the packaging for 

this year’s Gold Heart campaign. Next, a 

live auction was facilitated by Seth Hale, 

the Cowboy Auctioneer, and his team– 

with Addie’s little brother helping out! 

Items included trip packages to experience 

events such as Broadway, Kentucky 

distillery tours, and golfing in California. 

The following day, on Aug. 31, Variety 

of Texas held its inaugural Al Webster 

Memorial Golf Tournament, which celebrates 

the life of long-time board member 

and friend of Variety, Al Webster. 

2023 Pioneer of the Year Award 

On October 4, late MGM and United 

Artists Releasing Distribution Chief Erik 

Lomis was honored posthumously with 

the 2023 Pioneer of the Year Award at 

the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers 

Foundation’s annual gala, held at the 

Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, 

California. Said Chris Aronson, president 

of domestic theatrical distribution at 

Paramount Pictures and former president 

and chairman of WRMPPF: “We are honored 

to celebrate Erik’s life and recognize 

his achievements in the motion picture 

industry with the Pioneer of the Year 

Award. His distinguished leadership and 

contributions to the film business, along 

with his tremendous advocacy, generosity 

and support of humanitarian causes and 

philanthropic endeavors, made him a 

treasured pioneer to which we should all 

aspire to emulate. Erik’s spirit will continue 

to inspire many for years to come.” 


UPCOMING EVENTS 

“We are glad to be offering a 

safe and inclusive space for all 

children to practice and enjoy 

art and self-expression.” 

NOVEMBER 11-12 

The Variety Club Women of Buffalo are hosting 

a Holiday Vendor Show on Saturday, November 

11, from 10 am to 5 pm and Sunday, November 

12, from 10 am to 4 pm. The Holiday Vendor Show 

will take place at Variety Club, located at 6114 

Broadway in Lancaster. Admission and parking 

are free. Plus: Free gift wrapping with purchase. 

varietybuffalo.org 

NOVEMBER 17 

Save the date for Variety of Buffalo’s Meat Raffle: 

The Holiday Edition! More details to come. 


NOVEMBER 18 

On November 18, Variety’s St. Louis chapter will 

host its annual Bikes for Kids event at Parkway 

Central High School. Bikes give children the 

opportunity to explore the world, play with friends 

and family, and create lasting memories they will 

cherish forever! 

varietystl.org 

NOV 30 - DEC 2 

Join Variety – the Children’s Charity of the 

Delaware Valley for their annual Holiday Lane 

extravaganza! Enjoy Variety’s festively decorated 

campus at 2950 Potshop Road, Worcester, PA. 

An admission ticket includes walking the lane, 

a complimentary cup of hot chocolate, live 

entertainment, and a visit with Santa. Additional 

activities include hot food, cider, kids’ games, 

s’mores, amazing raffle baskets, and a holiday 

bazaar of handmade items by Variety kids. 

varietyphila.org 

DECEMBER 7 

The New York City-based Motion Picture Club 

will hold its annual holiday dinner on Thursday, 

December 7, at the Plataforma Churrascaria 

restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Proceeds 

from the event will go to a number of charities 

connected with the exhibition industry. . 

motionpictureclub.org 

DECEMBER 9 

Save the date for a fun, kid-friendly Holiday 

Fundraiser from Variety’s Buffalo chapter. 


DECEMBER 12-13 

Tune in to 92.5 KJJY in central Iowa and 104.5 

KDAT in eastern Iowa during Variety’s Two Days 

of Compassion! Caring for a critically ill child is 

difficult—mentally, emotionally, and financially. 

The Compassion Fund allows front-line social 

workers to identify needs and distribute funds 

immediately, providing much-needed relief for 

families. To donate to the Variety Compassion 

Fund, please visit apps.varietyiowa.com/ 

the-compassion-fund/ 

varietyiowa.com 

MAR 2, 2024 

Since 1975, Iowans have contributed their 

time, talent, and hearts to the annual Variety 

Telethon. It is the foundation Variety - the 

Children’s Charity of Iowa was built upon and 

is the highlight of each year. This year, the 50th 

for the Variety Telethon, all are encouraged to 

tune into “We are Iowa - Local 5” and support 

Variety’s efforts to improve the lives of children 

throughout Iowa. 


MAY 9, 2024 

Save the date! Variety the Children’s Charity 

Iowa chapter hosts their third annual Sporting 

Clay Classic on Thursday, May 9 at the New 

Pioneer Clay Target Center in Waukee, Iowa. 


JUNE 13, 2024 

Variety’s Greater Kansas City chapter will 

host their annual Hy-Vee Golf Tournament on 

Thursday, June 13, 2024. The event will take place 

at Raymore, Missouri’s Creekmoor Golf Course, 

with all proceeds going to Variety KC. 

varietykc.org 


23

Industry CANADIAN PICTURE PIONEERS 

PASSING 

THE TORCH 

Interview with Canadian Picture 

Pioneers President Greg Mason 

“How do we continue this 

great organization, and how 

do we ensure that the industry 

remains vibrant and exciting, 

bringing in great talent across 

the landscape of Canada?” 

BY CHAD KENNERK 

The longest-serving nonprofit 

within the Canadian movie industry, 

the Canadian Picture Pioneers (CPP), 

has supported exhibitors and industry 

professionals across Canada for over 80 

years, serving as the community support 

network of the Canadian film industry. 

Since its foundation in 1940, the CPP 

has provided financial assistance and 

educational support to industry members 

across Canada. Each year, the CPP hosts 

a series of fundraising events—including 

an annual golf tournament and 

November’s Canadian Picture Pioneers 

Awards Dinner—raising money for the 

CPP Trust Fund and Student Assistance 

Awards program. 

Appointed as the CPP’s new president 

in the summer of 2023, Greg Mason 

previously served on the CPP board of 

directors for 16 years, five of those as 

vice president. He brings a wealth of 

exhibition experience to the non-profit, 

having previously held the role of vice 

president of marketing for Walt Disney 

Studios Motion Pictures Canada, as 

well as marketing and sales roles within 

Cineplex, Coca-Cola, and The Walt Disney 

Company. Boxoffice Pro spoke with 

Mason about the 2023 Canadian Picture 

Pioneers Awards Dinner, taking place 

November 16, and CPP’s mission to provide 

assistance, build industry relationships, 

and cultivate the next generation 

of pioneers within the Canadian motion 

picture industry. 

Can you share a little about the 

history of the CPP? 

Canadian Picture Pioneers has been 

around for 80 years. When the Motion 

Picture Pioneers started in the U.S. [in 

1939], there were a few Canadian members 

in attendance. [Today, that group 

has evolved into the Will Rogers Motion 

Picture Pioneers Foundation.] A gentleman 

by the name of Oscar Hanson came 

back to Canada and said, “We absolutely 

need to do a Canadian equivalent of 

Motion Picture Pioneers.” The very first 

meeting happened on January 31, 1940 

at the King Edward Hotel—which is still 

around today—and the association was 

formed. It’s amazing to me that the priorities 

[CPP began with] back in 1940 really 

haven’t changed much today. With all the 

change that’s happened [in the industry]… 

it still really boils down to supporting the 

community, building those relationships, 

and passing the torch to the next generation. 

Much has changed, but the essence 

of that historical mandate still holds tight. 

How does the CPP provide financial 

assistance, foster relationships, and 

cultivate the passing of the torch to 

the next generation of pioneers? 

There are three ways that we look at 

things. One is [that] … we are the industry’s 

community support network. In its 

80 years of service to the Canadian industry, 

the CPP has provided over $4 million 

in charitable assistance. That can [include 

financial assistance to] members that 

have fallen under hard times. Recently, 

we had a hurricane hit out on the East 

Coastt, and some members needed help 

with homes that were swept away. We 

truly try to be there to support the industry 

in times of need. 

Secondly, one of the things that I think 

is incredibly special is building and fostering 

relationships and the community 

of the Canadian industry. The industry 

has gotten smaller and smaller, with fewer 

studios and the consolidation of the exhibition 

landscape, but it remains so important 

that we know one another, that we 

have people to call upon for like-for-like 

problems or support. Building those great 

relationships that will help career paths 

for so many young people. I was always 

amazed by that when I first landed in this 

industry, that competitors get together 

and bond for the good of the industry and 

for charitable work. I thought, “What a 

lovely sentiment. What a great approach 

for keeping this industry tight and for 

looking after one another.” 

The third is really about the future and 

the next generation of pioneers. I think, 

especially as some of us get older, we are 

always thinking about the next generation 

and what it’s going to look like. How 

do we continue this great organization, 

and how do we ensure that the industry 

remains vibrant and exciting, bringing 

in great talent across the landscape of 

Canada? We do that through our networking 

events, but we also do it through 

[our] Student Assistance Program, where 

we award 25 students annually a $5,000 

scholarship towards their studies. That 

has been incredibly successful. It’s judged 

blindly, and it’s amazing how beautifully 

it comes out, representing the entire 

country, [geographically and in its span 

of] ethnicities and preferences. It’s really 

special how that happens. 

This year we launched the Canadian 

Picture Pioneers Internship Program. We 

partnered with Universal Studios and 

hired an intern for the summer who was 

placed [there]. The intern worked in multiple 

departments and got to learn aspects 

of the industry: distribution, marketing, 

publicity, and promotions. The intern was 

then brought in to help out with Canadian 

Picture Pioneers events in the summer. 

We also introduced [them] to our friends at 

the Toronto International Film Festival, so 

they’re going to be involved in TIFF. This 


individual gets a really terrific taste of the 

industry, and people within the industry 

get to know them. We hope that will lead 

to employment, growth, and development. 

Ultimately, we love the way this program 

has played out. We’d like to broaden this 

in future years with other companies. We 

think there’s much more to come. 

What are some of CPP’s recent 

successes and achievements? 

One of the biggest things was getting 

through Covid. [Universal Studios executive] 

Jason Fulsom was our amazing 

president who successfully steered us 

through those times. There were a lot of 

industry members out of work, especially 

at the theater level. We were very quick to 

respond. We really wanted to not just wait 

for calls, but to reach out to those affected. 

Getting through that was certainly a big 

feather in the cap of Jason and the team 

at Canadian Picture Pioneers. 

We also just came off of our annual 

golf tournament, [held September 20 in 

Québec]. That went very, very well. Our 

annual awards dinner is in November, and 

this year we have three award honorees. 

And then, finally, the other piece that 

has changed, is we have a new executive 

director, Melissa Pressacco. [She’s] following 

in the footsteps of John Freeborn, 

our amazing past executive director, 

who has rightfully headed toward some 

retirement years and projects. She had 

previously been at Cineplex and has years 

of amazing experience, from a communications 

standpoint as well as in how to 

create events and bring people together. 

She’s such a warm personality and really 

embodies what it means to be a Canadian 

Picture Pioneers member, so we’re thrilled 

to have her on. She’s about eight months 

in, and we love the new insights and the 

direction that she’s bringing. 

Speaking of insights, you bring a 

wealth of exhibition experience to 

your role as president. How did you 

get started in the industry? 

I started in the industry with Disney 

back in 1994. I was with Disney on the 

cinema partnership side and looked after 

all the exhibitors. The Lion King, Angels 

in the Outfield, and I Love Trouble [came 

out in] my first summer. I was immediately 

very interested in the Canadian 

Picture Pioneers. I would go to all of the 

events. I remember going to my first golf 

“Secondly, one of the things 

that I think is incredibly 

special is building and 

fostering relationships 

and the community of the 

Canadian industry.” 

tournament and to the awards dinner. I 

was thrilled with the fact that you could 

meet other people within the industry 

and that this industry came together for a 

greater good. 

Within about five or six years, I went 

to Coca-Cola. I did traditional packaged 

goods marketing, as well as some sales, 

but I always had the entertainment 

accounts. I worked with AMC, Cineplex, 

and the Scotiabank Centre sports arena 

here in Toronto. The entertainment 

accounts were where I focused the most. 

In fact, if I remember correctly, that was 

when I became an official member of the 

Canadian Picture Pioneers, because at the 

time you had to have five years of experience 

before you could apply. 

I had worked with Cineplex while at 

Coca-Cola, and I was tasked to lead their 

marketing as they came out of bankruptcy 

back in 2002. Then I went on my 

own for a year, and I set up my company, 

Mason Marketing Solutions. We pitched 


25

Industry CANADIAN PICTURE PIONEERS 

Disney on improving their box office in 

Canada [by] hiring our little company. 

Unbeknownst to me, Disney was thinking 

of setting up a brand new team in Canada. 

In typical Disney fashion, they don’t like to 

share you with anybody else, so they asked 

me if I would come aboard and set up a 

whole new team. It was just too good of an 

opportunity. I had a great first year on my 

own, but to lead Disney from a marketing 

perspective in Canada was too enticing. 

I remained for 14 years and led the 

studio marketing team across three 

acquisitions: Fox, Lucasfilm, and Pixar. 

All the marketing integration and marketing 

campaigns across hundreds of titles. 

It was a terrific run, and I wrapped up 

in November of last year. I have a great 

relationship with Disney. I’m still very 

much in touch with them. 

I restarted my company, and now, 

with Mason Marketing Solutions, we 

have multiple clients, half of which are 

in the entertainment industry. I joined 

the Executive Board of the Pioneers and 

became a vice president five years ago 

when Jason Fulsom stepped in to be 

president. I then got much more involved 

on the executive side. When Jason felt his 

term was up, I stepped into the president 

role. That still seems crazy to me, because 

I have such respect for the past presidents 

that I know so well—Jason Fulsom, Cathy 

Watson, Phil May—all of whom have 

done amazing things and who are all very 

good friends in the industry. So it’s a real 

privilege to be in their seat. 

We talked a little bit about the 

foundational priorities of the CPP. 

What are some of your specific goals 

moving forward? 

[Supporting] the next generation is particularly 

important for a couple of reasons. 

One, it’s always important for continuity. 

With all the consolidation in the industry, 

we need to keep pushing for new members 

to join, to get involved, and to realize 

that the CPP is here for them in times of 

need. It’s getting people out that very first 

time and saying, “Come out to an event. 

Volunteer. What are your skill sets?” What 

I have to get better at is tapping people on 

the shoulder who have certain attributes. 

Somebody who’s an expert in digital, 

maybe they want to help us with our website. 

Or someone who’s really good on the 

event side, maybe they’ll help us with our 

awards dinner this year. I think people 

Above: Greg Mason (l) with Souheir Terrah, 

marketing manager for Cinémas Ciné 

Entreprise, and Raffaele Papalia, président, 

Cinémas Ciné Entreprise 

“With all the consolidation in 

the industry, we need to keep 

pushing for new members to 

join, to get involved, and to 

realize that the CPP is here for 

them in times of need.” 

are very willing to help once they realize 

they’re being asked for a skill set that they 

already have. 

CPP has a number of fundraising 

efforts throughout the year, including 

the annual Pioneer of the Year Award 

Dinner. Who are this year’s award 

winners? 

Jason Fulsom is our Canadian Picture 

Pioneer of the Year. He is our former 

president and the head of distribution 

for Universal Studios, Canada. He’s a 

brilliant leader who has done so much 

for the Pioneers. We had so much support 

pushing for him to get the award, so we’re 

really excited that he’s up for that top 

honor this year. Our 2023 Silver Spotlight 

award winners are Kylie Bechberger and 

Carrie Wolfe. Kylie Bechberger is the 

head of theatrical distribution for VVS 

Films and is the co-director of Pioneering 

Women in Canada. That’s an amazing 

group—all that they do to bring out their 

communities, support CPP events, as well 

as create their own [events] and encourage 

women to continue joining this industry 

and support one another has been 

incredible. Carrie Wolfe is a long-standing 

member of the industry. She worked 

at Alliance Atlantis and currently is a 

conference producer of the annual [trade 

show] ShowCanada, which is our version 

of CinemaCon. It’s a great year for people 

that we think very, very highly of. They’re 

all good friends and colleagues. 


THE 

COMPANY WEBEDIA GROUP 

Congratulations to 

ShowEast’s 2023 

award recipients. 

Rebecca Stein 

The Coca-Cola Empowerment Award 

National Amusements Argentina Team 

Oscar García Ortiz, Mariela Mosso, Ana Albertí, Alejandro Gonzalez Alzaga 

Enrique Ramirez LATAM Exhibitor of the Year Award 

– From your Boxoffice team! 


27

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Indie Focus 30 | Horror Haunts 36 

THEATER 

“For any horror fan out there that might not have the 

Mahoning on their radar, as soon as it comes on their 

radar it becomes that bucket list thing.” 

The Best Movie Theaters for Horror Fans, p. 36 


29

Theater INDIE FOCUS 

INDIE FOCUS 

Brought to you by 

Independent cinemas are entertainment hubs, community 

centers, and overall a vibrant and essential part of the wider 

cinema ecosystem. With Indie Focus, Boxoffice Pro partners 

with Spotlight Cinema Networks to focus on the people, 

organizations, theaters, and issues at the forefront of the 

independent cinema scene. 

LOOKING BACK 

ON 2023 

Interview with Rich Daughtridge 

President, Independent Cinema Alliance 

President and CEO, Warehouse Cinemas 

The label “independent cinema” 

covers a wide variety of theaters, 

from small and mid-size chains to 

single-screen arthouses. We know that, 

at the large chains, all sorts of box 

office records got broken this summer– 

how have the last few months been 

from the independent side? 

What we’re hearing from members of 

the ICA is it was an extremely strong 

summer. We’re definitely happy with the 

box office numbers. But I would say that 

I love the counter-programming aspect 

of the summer—if you can call it that on 

a larger timeframe. You have the obvious 

[example of] Barbie and Oppenheimer on 

the same weekend. And then you have 

Sound of Freedom. And then even the other 

VIPs, with The Flash and Indiana Jones, 

things like that. It made for an aggregate 

box office. The key takeaway is that [when 

we have] more films [geared towards 

different] audiences, that’s when we have 

big box office, not when we have just a 

big blockbuster every single week. It also 

highlights the importance, both on the 

small, independent side and even with the 

large circuits, that the small and midsize 

films are important to our industry. 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

It feels like there’s been a 

reawakening this year in terms of 

cinema marketing. Cinemas went 

all-out for Barbie, and the Pay-It- 

Forward campaign for The Sound of 

Freedom worked extremely well. What 

lessons can independents take from 

this year so far in terms of marketing? 

The ICA always talks about how going to 

the cinema needs to be an event. What 

Barbie taught us in spades is that the cinemas 

who leaned into eventizing–within 

the guidelines of Warner Bros., but [also 

cinemas that] made it into a party and rode 

the hype—those cinemas who created 

experiences, beyond just Barbie, are the 

ones that overperformed. I think that’s the 

big exclamation point on the summer. 

It’s a lesson learned. There are a lot of 

films throughout the year that we should 

be doing similar things with. It doesn’t 

have to be a big blockbuster like Barbie. 

Even with some of the small to mid-sized 

30 

November 2023


“Spotlight Cinema Networks 

has been a key partner and 

sponsor of the ICA this year, 

and we appreciate their 

support to help us ‘strengthen 

and grow’ independent 

cinemas in the United States.” 

– Joel Davis, ICA Board Member 

ICA Marketplace Team Lead 

films, we can add a food and beverage 

component, or add an event to it, and 

motivate people to get out of the house 

for entertainment, to have more than the 

movie experience. That’s the biggest marketing 

[lesson] I’ve seen across the board. 

If you look through the social media of 

ICA members, you’ll see that they leaned 

into to get the word out. 

What I talk about all the time is, I think 

the days of the studios doing most of the 

marketing–not saying all of the marketing–[should 

come to an end]. I think the 

exhibitors should take probably 20 to 30 

percent responsibility for getting people 

out, as well. 

Especially when you look at chase 

weeks–the studio marketing machine 

may have moved on to their next title, 

but cinemas still have an opportunity 

to remind people: “Even if you didn’t 

see a title you were looking forward to 

on opening weekend, it’s still here.” It 

doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to 

get the word out. 

Even the fundamentals–I don’t want to 

speak for all independents, but independents 

putting trailers up appropriately, the 

blocking and tackling of [in-theater] marketing, 

making sure that they have tickets 

on sale at the right time, making sure 

that they have the right programming 

and showtimes set up–[the importance 

of] all those things were highlighted this 

past summer. It seems basic, but I think 

if we do a better job of that, [we’ll see] an 

increase in box office [compared to if] we 

didn’t do those things effectively. 

What did Warehouse Cinemas do for 

Barbie in terms of custom drinks? You 

guys always come up with good stuff. 

For Barbie, we decorated the lobby and 

went all-pink, obviously. For the drink, 

it was an inflated little flamingo that sat 

around a pink slushy drink that we called 

the Malibu. We sold a ton of those things. 

I think the staff is tired of blowing up little 

inflatable flamingos. 

And now–though it will be out before 

this issue comes out–we have the 

Taylor Swift concert film. It definitely 

feels like there are opportunities there. 

[Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour] was certainly 

welcomed and appreciated. I think 

everyone’s grateful for it and the box 

office that’s going to bring. As exhibitors, 

we need to lean into the fact that she 

has a brand of all brands. Taylor Swift 

is a brand, Barbie is a brand. Within the 

constraints of [intellectual property], we 

have to find ways to drive people to come 

out for a night with friends. 

And your employees can evangelize 

as well. You probably have someone 

on your staff who’s a Swiftie and has 

ideas and wants to spread the word. 

We do, actually! Her name is Arianna 

Taylor, and she’s our community liaison 

“Spotlight is thrilled to partner 

with the ICA and further 

our support of independent 

cinema. Since many of the 

leading exhibitors in the indie 

cinema space are part of the 

Spotlight exhibitor partner 

network, it makes perfect 

sense that we are the exclusive 

cinema advertising partner of 

the ICA. ICA offers an incredible 

opportunity for exhibitors to 

ensure independent cinemas 

remain a vibrant part of the 

cinema industry.” 

– Bernadette McCabe, EVP, Event 

Cinema & Exhibitor Relations 

Spotlight Cinema Networks 

32 


manager at our Hagerstown location. We 

asked her, “Hey, can you write an event 

brief?” She did it within 24 hours. Next 

thing you know, we have an event scheduled 

across the circuit. 

Looking away from the programming 

and marketing angle–independent 

cinemas tend to run on much smaller 

margins than the big chains. Saving 

money where you can is hugely 

important, which is why the ICA 

Marketplace was created: as a bulk 

aggregator, it can help indies get 

better deals than if they were on their 

own. The Marketplace is still relatively 

new–what can you share about how 

it’s evolving? 

The ICA Marketplace is folded in with our 

purchasing organization, called Crescendo. 

Honestly, it’s a heavy lift, is the way that 

we describe it. At the end of the day, it 

needs to be a win-win with the vendor. We 

can’t just get a discount and slap it on the 

website. We’re trying to uncover opportunities 

through distributor models, when 

it comes to food and beverage specifically. 

There’s a heavy lift to unpacking that 

and putting it back together and getting 

commitments from exhibitors, but we’re 

making a lot of progress. 

We’re really focused on trying to find 

the things that move the needle on a 

[profit and loss] statement for both the 

small independents and the midsize, 

which are two different worlds. The midsize 

circuits probably already negotiated 

a pretty good price compared to the small 

independent cinema. Bringing those two 

worlds together has also been a challenge, 

but we’re pushing hard. The [group 

purchasing organization] Crescendo is 

working hard. Over the next couple of 

years, my hope is that we accelerate the 

effort that we spent the last two years 

on and it really starts to come together, 

because there’s been so much time and 

energy. It just takes a while to get those 

things across the finish line. It’s slightly 

frustrating for a career entrepreneur like 

me, but we just have to keep pushing. 

“We’re really focused on 

trying to find the things that 

move the needle on a [profit 

and loss] statement for both 

the small independents and 

the midsize, which are two 

different worlds.” 

when it comes to the small independents–the 

flexibility and availability of 

film. That’s still a challenge for small 

independents. But just studio relations as 

a whole. Let’s go out to LA and talk about 

some of the challenges independents 

have and strengthen that [relationship]. 

The second thing is the ICA 

Marketplace, [to] aggregate our buying 

power and save money across the board 

for members. And then [third] is the 

studio marketing partnerships, which 

is basically finding new and innovative 

ways to leverage the owned media of 

cinemas to try to get the word out on films 

and ultimately increase the box office for 

a given title. We’ve had success with our 

ICA marketing pilots in that regard. We’ve 

worked with Sony, Paramount, [Sound 

of Freedom distributor] Angel Studios. 

[We’re] talking with all the majors about 

this. Hopefully this is an opportunity to 

increase revenues for independents who 

may or may not be able, on an individual 

I know bulking up the Marketplace is 

one of the ICA’s key priorities for 2024– 

what else are the top items on the 

ICA’s list as we move into next year? 

The first one is studio relations. We really 

want to foster healthy relationships with 

Hollywood to talk about–specifically 


33


basis, to have those conversations [with 

studios]. So we’re trying to build that 

efficiency on the marketing side. 

On the subject of exhibitor-studio 

relations: Another big success story 

to come out of 2023 was the second 

edition of National Cinema Day, 

which independents participated in. 

A set, discounted price for all films 

for one day is not an easy thing to 

make happen in a way that satisfies 

both studios and exhibitors, but The 

Cinema Foundation made it happen. 

There have been discussions in the 

past about something similar geared 

towards independent or art-house 

cinemas. Is that something that has 

potential? 

Honestly, the ICA and NATO have a 

great relationship, and we complement 

each other’s missions. Obviously, we’re 

a subset of the bigger industry, and as a 

result, we have different needs. That’s 

why the ICA was developed. At a large 

level, we’re going to support NATO’s 

initiatives for now, at least. You’re right: 

The heavy lifts in [planning] National 

Cinema Day were massive. And, frankly, 

the ICA is mostly [made up of] volunteers 

at this point. So we don’t have the 

resources. And it’s a good opportunity 

for us to support NATO–both National 

Cinema Day and National Popcorn Day. 

We make sure to mention it on ICA Live. 

We put it in our email blasts. 

The framework of both of those 

national campaigns gives you the flexibility 

to make it your own. We encourage 

independents to [do that], to do your own 

specials, have your own way of messaging 

it. NATO’s really positioned well to 

execute [industry-wide initiatives] on a 

large scale. That’s the 20,000-foot view– 

and the role of NATO, anyways. But never 

say never. Maybe there’s some initiative, 

indie-wise, [that makes sense to pursue 

one day]. 

A rising tide lifts all boats; National 

Cinema Day brought people to the 

independents, as well. 

Exactly. And, honestly, it goes back to 

marketing. The [independents] that 

promoted it effectively and leaned into it 

and did special eventizing probably saw a 

greater bump. 

your complete cinema solution 

34 


Hey, if Google, 

TikTok, and IMDb 

can count on us, 

your theater can too. 

Scan the QR code 

to find out more.

THEATER HORROR HAUNTS 

HORROR 

HAUNTS 

The Best Movie Theaters for Fear Fans 

BY CHAD KENNERK 

Despite the genre’s guts and gore, 

you’d be hard-pressed to find a 

more welcoming, generous, and enthusiastic 

group than the horror community. 

The many horror conventions hosted 

around the country offer a place to feel 

seen and respected to those who may 

otherwise feel like outsiders. The love 

of horror movies runs very, very deep, 

creating a mutual camaraderie and a 

real sense of community built on shared 

experiences. The horror fan base is one 

that intrinsically understands the importance 

of the theatrical experience. When 

it comes to horror, there’s nothing quite 

like going through the wringer together– 

jumping, gasping, and laughing with a 

crowd of strangers. 

Plenty of cinemas screen the latest 

slashers and repertory horror programming 

of various levels of obscurity—but 

the exhibitors profiled here go above 

and beyond in creating unique experiences 

that speak directly to horror fans 

year-round. 

To learn more about how exhibitors 

are eventizing the horror experience, 

Boxoffice Pro spoke with just a few 

of the venues around the country that 

lean into the horror genre through more 

than just programming. From real horror 

movie filming locations to sites of immersive 

horror experiences, these exhibitors 

understand the power of the genre, 

creating spaces for the horror community 

to celebrate what they love. 

36 


ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE 

Location: Brooklyn, NY 

Alamo Drafthouse is a chain that’s 

always been heavy on repertory horror. 

Signature series like Terror Tuesday 

highlight eclectic gems of the genre, 

giving fans the opportunity to see 

films they might otherwise never get 

to experience on the big screen. At the 

Alamo Drafthouse’s downtown Brooklyn 

location, the first Alamo to open in the 

New York City metro area, the horror 

extends outside the auditoriums to the 

House of Wax bar, which serves cocktails 

alongside curiosities salvaged from a 

19th-century wax museum. 

The one-of-a-kind bar looks like 

something right out of the 1953 Vincent 

Price film of the same name. Those brave 

enough to imbibe there will have to pass 

through a corridor lined with death 

masks of historical figures like Napoleon, 

some supposedly made with real human 

teeth and hair. Among the interior’s 

Victorian décor are more than 100 anatomical 

wax models and replicas of macabre 

medical anomalies. The collection at 

House of Wax was assembled in the late 

1800s for Castan’s Panopticum, a Berlin 

exhibition hall that opened in 1869. 

Alamo Drafthouse saved the collection, 

which had previously been lent out to the 

now-closed Museum of Morbid Anatomy 

in Brooklyn, and now offers guests a 

glimpse of a form of entertainment that 

was an antecedent to the movies themselves. 

When the New York location first 

opened in late October of 2016, Alamo 

Drafthouse co-founder Tim League told 

The New York Times, “I was fascinated by 

the collection—I think there’s a narrative 

to be told there.” 

Those brave enough to 

imbibe there will have to pass 

through a corridor lined with 

death masks of historical 

figures like Napoleon, some 

supposedly made with real 

human teeth and hair. 


37


THE COLONIAL THEATRE 

Location: Phoenixville, PA 

The Colonial Theatre maintains a unique 

claim to horror fame. Jack Harris, the 

producer of the 1958 classic sci-fi/horror 

The Blob, rented the Colonial for a mere 

$75 in order to film a scene where the 

killer Blob seeps out of a projection 

booth into an auditorium, sending 

moviegoers (who were seeing a horror 

movie, naturally) screaming into the 

street. According to apocryphal legend, 

Harris told the cinema’s owner, “Don’t 

worry, I’ll make it immortal.” 

Located in the heart of downtown 

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the beloved 

venue attracts some 70,000 patrons 

each year to enjoy events such as July’s 

annual Blobfest, which celebrates the 

theater’s horror history. Bob Trate, The 

Colonial Theatre’s director of programming, 

says The Blob endures because 

“it’s about caring for the greater good, for 

your community.” In some ways, he adds, 

that’s “been a reflection of our town, how 

people have rallied behind individuals 

and organizations.” It was that kind of 

community support, both on a local level 

and in the greater horror community, 

that helped keep the historic theater 

going during the pandemic. Horror sites 

like Bloody Disgusting, Dread Central, 

and Rue Morgue trumpeted out the 

message that the theater from The Blob 

needed help, and the support came rolling 

in. Trate credits horror fans for helping 

the Colonial remain a vibrant fixture 

in the community, adding, “I wish more 

people would embrace [the horror genre]. 

It’s shocking to me. If you just look at the 

genre itself or you understand the fans… 

there isn’t a rom-com convention.” 

Each year at Blobfest, the Colonial 

recreates The Blob’s most famous scene. 

“At one point on Friday night, the Blob 

escapes. Then everybody comes running 

out of the theater and into the streets of 

Phoenixville. We have the whole street 

blocked off. It’s like Mardi Gras out 

there,” shares Trate. Blobfest wouldn’t be 

complete without the annual Blob Ball, 

a ‘50s-style dance that encourages retro 

clothing and comes complete with a live 

Rockabilly band. 

The Colonial also sells custom 

merch, opening their “Official Blobfest 

Merchandise Store” every year to coincide 

with the festival. “We try to do as 

“I wish more people would 

embrace [the horror genre]. 

It’s shocking to me. If you just 

look at thegenre itself or you 

understand the fans…there 

isn’t a rom-com convention.” 

38 


many event-style posters as we can. We 

do have a cache of local artists that we 

like to spotlight. They’ll craft an event 

poster with the date and the time. We try 

to create that experience for our patrons, 

[so] they have something special from 

that evening to mark the occasion. We’ve 

had numerous artists who have gone on 

to do fantastic work for Disney, Marvel, 

Mondo, and Gallery1988 already. It’s neat 

to see that the artwork those artists did 

for us helped them break through.” 

But Blobfest is more than just an 

opportunity to offer merch; it gives 

the Colonial a chance to partner with 

local businesses and engage with their 

community. “For Blobfest this year, we 

did a Blob stress ball that came in an 

ice-cream-style container cup. That was 

[by] a local toy maker, so we’re not going 

too far out and hiring someone to do 

this that’s outside of our norm. We work 

with a lot of local artists to embrace the 

community that we have right here.” 

At the Colonial, the frightful fun 

isn’t limited to July, with events like 

Splatterfest; horror programming block 

“A Night on Bridge Street,” screened 

every Halloween; various 24 Hour 

Horror-thons; and 35 mm 3D screenings 

presented in collaboration with partner 

organization Exhumed Films. 

Trate suggests that theaters try new 

things to see what sticks. Among the 

Colonial’s newer annual events is the 

Horror Bowl, first launched in 2020. “We 

realized that there was an audience of 

people who do not care about the Super 

Bowl. But there’s somehow that inherent 

need programmed in all of us, that we’re 

supposed to congregate on that day 

and enjoy food, fun, and watch something 

together.” The event programs 

three movies with a similar theme and 

incorporates sports-themed marketing, 

including posters with football helmet 

logos representing each film. The program 

even boasts its own halftime show. 

The results speak for themselves. “On a 

day where we were doing 15 patrons for 

the whole day, we’re [now] doing 200 for 

one triple feature.” Trate acknowledges 

that hosting an extensive array of horror-themed 

events can be difficult, but 

he urges exhibitors to try new things and 

make themselves unique in their community. 

“If you just roll over, then you 

can’t really be in this business. It’s still 

entertainment. In some [ways], it’s still 

the circus.” 

“On a day where we were 

doing 15 patrons for the whole 

day, we’re [now] doing 200 for 

one triple feature.” 


39


THE MAHONING 

DRIVE-IN THEATER 

Location: Lehighton, PA 

Another required Pennsylvania pilgrimage 

for horror aficionados is just a road 

trip away in Lehighton. The Mahoning 

Drive-In was built in 1948, opened the 

following year, and has been entertaining 

guests ever since. 

In 2014, against the urging of studios, 

Virgil Cardamone and Jeff Mattox 

(co-owner and projectionist) decided to 

stick to their guns and lean into 35 mm 

presentations, eventually turning the 

Mahoning into a schlock horror drive-in 

that exclusively offers retro 35 mm programs 

presented reel-to-reel on original 

1940s Simplex projectors. The venue 

rented prints from Exhumed Films’ Harry 

Guerro for its first horror show. Now, 

The Mahoning’s biggest annual events 

all revolve around horror, including 

series such as the “Universal Monster 

Mash,” “Camp Blood,” and “Zombie-Fest.” 

Cardamone, the Mahoning’s film booker, 

curator, and publicity director, says that, 

“There is nothing more passionate on this 

planet than a horror fan. I really do credit 

the horror fans with giving the Mahoning 

its name, giving the Mahoning its legend.” 

But it’s the venue’s unique approach to 

eventizing every program that attracts 

fans in the first place, with regular prize 

raffles, custom merch and concessions 

specials, as well as the opportunity to 

camp overnight after the show adding to 

the Mahoning mystique. 

Cardamone, whose background is in 

live music, says that “We really tried to 

adopt some of that rock concert mentality 

to what the Mahoning Drive-In was doing 

at the time. This is before, obviously, we 

brought any notoriety into the thing. We 

were pulling maybe 10 cars a night and 

getting really happy about it. Our whole 

thought was, ‘Let’s add an event poster. 

Let’s add the opportunity to stay overnight. 

Let’s add t-shirts, so it feels like a 

rock concert.’ That happened really early 

on, and since then, we’ve really leaned 

into horror programming. Not just on our 

own, but with Exhumed Films at least 

once a month.” The venue’s regular raffle 

prizes evolved from a few VHS tapes to 

prize packs valued up to several hundred 

dollars. “We work with a ton of major 

companies: [Horror apparel company] 

Fright-Rags and all the major DVD and 

Blu-ray release companies. They love 

donating stuff to these raffles. It’s a great 

way for them to align with our brand, and 

it’s a great way to get their new merchandise 

out there in front of a like-minded 

audience. The raffles have just blown up,” 

says Cardamone. “It’s just another element 

of what the Mahoning does that is 

unique [compared] to any other outfit.” 

Among the other unique offerings at 

the Mahoning are large-scale immersive 

installations that bring horror to life. 

When Bruce Campbell made a special 

appearance at the Mahoning during the 

pandemic, a screen-accurate cabin from 

Evil Dead was erected. Over the years the 

sets have grown in scale and ambition. 

The drive-in had previously recreated 

other houses of horror from films such as 

A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween. 

“Our carpenter, John Demmer, is going to 

be constructing a fully immersive, 10-foot 

structure for John Waters, when he comes 

in. So it goes well beyond the Barbie boxes 

that you saw in a lot of theaters this year,” 

explains Cardamone. In addition to providing 

photo-friendly spaces, the Mahoning 

will add immersive elements to screenings, 

forging an unforgettable fright fest for fans. 

That’s the case with their annual “Camp 

Blood” event, where “we’ll have Jason 

walking around, knocking on the car windows, 

things like that,” adds Cardamone. 

40 


“It really does create this type of fandom 

that you can’t get anywhere else.” 

Speaking of concessions, the 

Mahoning’s food and beverage creations 

are an essential part of the experience. 

In the beginning, the Mahoning’s culinary 

innovations were sourced from items 

they had on-hand. “The idea of a sweetand-salty 

burger was one of those concoctions 

that was born out of ease, but boy, 

oh boy, we created a culinary masterpiece–or 

nightmare, depending on how 

you look at it.” (If you’re looking for 

something adventurous to do with your 

leftover Halloween candy, Cardamone 

urges you to give this unique combination 

a try: “It’ll blow your mind how delicious 

a cheeseburger with a Reese’s Peanut 

Butter Cup on top of it tastes.”) 

Now, specialty ingredients are 

ordered by concessions manager Beth 

Muller (“Momma-Beth” or “Momma- 

Cheeseburger,” as the staff lovingly call 

her), the mad scientist behind the peanut 

butter cup burger. “She does an amazing 

job coming up with themed specials. [It’s] 

very much like when you go to a concert 

and grab your themed event tee. It adds 

another element to the show, to the 

immersive nature that the Mahoning has. 

If you can go to see your favorite zombie 

movies at Zombie-Fest, the only thing 

that will make it better is a ‘Zomburger’ to 

complete the package,” says Cardamone. 

The venue is well known for attracting 

actors, directors, and creatives. In 

September, the Mahoning launched 

Chiodo Con, bringing in special effects 

wizards the Chiodo brothers for an ode 

to their special effects and costume work 

from films such as Killer Klowns from 

Outer Space and Ernest Scared Stupid. 

Says Cardamone, “For any horror fan out 

there that might not have the Mahoning 

on their radar, as soon as it comes on their 

radar it becomes that bucket list thing.” 

“There is nothing more 

passionate on this planet 

than a horror fan. I really 

do credit the horror fans 

with giving the Mahoning its 

name, giving the Mahoning 

its legend.” 


41


MANN THEATRES’ 

EDINA 4 

Location: Edina, MN 

No horror lover’s bucket list would 

be complete without a visit to Mann 

Theatres’ Edina 4 in Edina, Minnesota. 

With average temperatures in the 20s 

during the winter months, it’s the perfect 

place to take in a viewing of director 

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The 

historic theater has weathered wintry 

conditions since first opening in 1934, and 

when it closed in 2020, there were fears it 

might never come back. Then the family-owned 

chain Mann Theatres, which 

previously owned the Edina Theatre in 

the late ‘70s and early ‘80s (and restored 

its original marquee to its former glory 

after a tornado destroyed it in 1981), resurrected 

the space, gutting the auditoriums 

and giving the historic venue a muchneeded 

remodel. 

When the opportunity came to buy 

back the venue, siblings Michelle and 

Michael Mann, who co-own Mann 

Theatres with father Stephen, decided 

to change things up a bit. In addition to 

adding heated recliners and updating the 

screens, sound, and lighting, the siblings 

wanted to restore some of the theater’s 

original Art Deco appeal. 

The architecture of the upstairs 

concession stand and lobby reminded 

Michael of the Overlook Hotel’s infamous 

Gold Room from The Shining. Michelle 

Mann, co-owner and operator of Mann 

Theatres, says “We started to look up 

really detailed photographs and videos 

of the film and just got inspired. It started 

a domino effect of all the ideas that we 

wanted to do. We wanted to make it a 

space where you literally felt like you were 

in the movie. We created installations of 

the famous scene with the Redrum door 

and the spot that Jack sits at in the lobby 

when he’s writing a story and losing his 

mind.” The result: The Gold Room Bar, 

an Insta-worthy space that meticulously 

recreates the Overlook Hotel’s Gold 

Room bar, down to the iconic red fixtures 

in the fictional bar’s iconic bathroom. 

“We wanted to create a space where you 

literally felt like you could come up and 

sit down next to Jack Nicholson at the 

bar,” explains Michelle. “We decided we 

really wanted to go all in. [We] thought, 

‘All right, [The Shining’s] bathrooms are 

epic. There’s no bathroom like this that 

we’ve ever seen.’ So we decided to literally 

copy the restrooms as well. We just went 

for it and thought, let’s make this space a 

destination. You’ve just got to come and 

see it in person for yourself.” And don’t 

forget to visit the family restroom, which 

is inspired by the unsettling green bathroom 

in The Shining’s notorious Room 237. 

Among the bar offerings are cocktails 

inspired by the Kubrick film, as well 

as specialty drinks created for current 

movies playing at the Edina. “We have 

your staples, [like] the Red Rum drink,” 

says Michelle. “There are a couple drinks 

that are absolutely, of course, our homage 

to the Gold Room.” For those wondering if 

there are any ghosts slinging back booze 

at the bar, Michelle says, “When we were 

doing the renovation, some of the construction 

workers said to us, ‘Everything 

was off. Turned off. And we’d hear these 

loud thumps all of a sudden.’ That’s been 

told to us a couple of times, so you might 

hear a little thump somewhere within the 

building. It was built in the ‘30s.” 

You know what they say about all work 

and no play, which is why the upstairs 

bar is also available to rent as a venue 

for corporate parties and private events. 

Says Michelle, “There are so many great 

cinemas around the country, but I do feel 

that we have something really unique 

and special. It leans heavily to something 

that’s classic, yet we’ve given it a nice 

fresh update while staying within the 

modern retro feel.” For fans that want 

the full experience, she adds, “We play 

The Shining for at least two weeks in 

September and October so that people 

can feel like they’re in The Shining. It’s 

something that’s really important to us.” 

“There are so many great 

cinemas around the country, 

but I do feel that we have 

something really unique 

and special. It leans heavily 

to something that’s classic, 

yet we’ve given it a nice fresh 

update while staying within 

the modern retro feel.” 

42 


THE TEXAS THEATRE 

Location: Dallas, TX 

Operated by Aviation Cinemas, Dallas’ 

Texas Theatre is another 1930s movie 

palace. Built in 1931, it was the first 

Dallas theater to boast air-conditioning. 

In 2021, Aviation Cinemas completed a 

$2 million dollar expansion of the theater, 

adding a second screen upstairs, a new 

seating area in the balcony, and a full 

upstairs bar. The Texas Theatre offers 

digital cinema projection and repertory 

horror programming—including 35 mm 

screenings—but, according to Aviation 

Cinemas President Barak Epstein, “We 

very rarely just have a movie that’s ‘press 

play and go away’. We wouldn’t consider 

that an event movie.” 

The Texas Theatre often integrates 

a live entertainment element to their 

screenings, such as a live score, a DJ 

set, or even a custom pre-show ballet. 

“We’ve done [ballet performances] with 

Suspiria, also Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 

Black Swan, and other films that have 

dancing in them. This year, we’re doing 

The Nightmare Before Christmas,” says 

Epstein. For the event, taking place this 

Halloween, Aviation Cinemas worked 

with Dallas’ Lightware Labs, a projection 

mapping company that “specializes in 

taking over a physical space and covering 

it with visuals. They’ve done this before 

for our David Lynch series earlier this 

year. They’re doing it again with The 

Nightmare Before Christmas, and I’m 

excited to see what they come up with.” 

Many of the Texas’ regular series—like 

Tuesday Night Trash, which screens B 

movies for free once a month, and the 

LGBTQ+ CinéWilde Presents—often pull 

from the horror genre. During September 

and October, the Texas hosts a horror 

drag series, which pairs a live drag show 

with a camp horror movie such as Texas 

Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation. 

Key to the Texas Theatre’s programming 

is their repertory film screenings 

accompanied by a live score, often led by 

the original composer. “This year we’ve 

got Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr with a live score 

by Mercury Rev, the classic psych band 

from the late 90s, early 2000s. Then we 

have [a live score from] The Invincible 

“We very rarely just have a 

movie that’s ‘press play 

and go away’. We wouldn’t 

consider that an event movie.” 


43


“This year, we’re actually going 

to be doing a live reading of 

certain scenes from the Warren 

Report that take place in or 

are a discussion about what 

happened in the Texas Theatre 

that day.” 

Czars, who are doing Nosferatu, which 

is a yearly program for us, and now they 

tour the country with it. They’ve basically 

made a career out of doing these kinds of 

programs all over the place. We just did 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari with them in 

August,” says Epstein. “Then, of course, 

we have Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, 

which are the guys who did all the scores 

for Dario Argento’s movies. They’ve been 

a couple of times. Last year they were 

here doing Suspiria. This fall, we’re doing 

Argento and Lamberto Bava’s Demons, 

which we’re really excited about. We’ve 

had Fulci’s Fabio Frizzi before, the composer 

of all the Fulci movies. He’s done 

The Beyond with a score.” 

When it comes to F&B and merch, 

the Texas Theatre goes all out. “We’ll 

do a run of custom t-shirts, maybe only 

50-75 of them, with a graphic of the event. 

Screen-printed posters by an artist that 

we find and commission. That’s a thing 

we did for the David Lynch series. We did 

erasers for Eraserhead. We had cherry 

pie. We had a local coffee company make 

a special ‘damn fine cup of coffee.’ We 

cranked food and beverage up, with 

custom cocktails for the whole series and 

chalkboard art that reflected the drinks. 

So, hopefully, it’s a whole experience as 

soon as you walk in the door. We bring 

in guests from the films, if possible. For 

that whole series, we brought in a lot of 

guests, people who have been in Lynch 

movies, so that was also value-added,” 

says Epstein. 

The Texas Theatre is also the site of 

a real-life American horror story. Lee 

Harvey Oswald was caught at the Texas 

Theatre on November 22, 1963 following 

the assassination of President John F. 

Kennedy earlier that day. “He snuck in 

after fleeing the grassy knoll, and he sat 

in a movie called War is Hell for about 15 

minutes before the Dallas police came in 

and arrested him. There are all sorts of 

theories about why he came to the Texas 

Theatre. Was he supposed to be there 

that day? Was that the rendezvous? Every 

year on 11/22 we actually do a program in 

recognition and commemoration of that 

day, and we show the original program,” 

Epstein says. If that wasn’t eerie enough, 

this year the theater has even more 

ambitious plans, including a particularly 

hair-raising event tied to the venue’s 

history. “This year, we’re actually going to 

be doing a live reading of certain scenes 

from the Warren Report that take place in 

or are a discussion about what happened 

in the Texas Theatre that day. The Warren 

Report kind of reads like a 1,300 page 

David Mamet play from the late ‘80s.” 

44 


DRIVE-IN TO 

HORROR 

DRIVE-INS TAKING 

PART IN HORRORFEST 

25 Drive-In Theatre 

Greenwood, SC 

Horror movies and drive-ins go 

together like slashers and summer 

camp. Throughout September and 

October, participating drive-in theaters 

across the country took part in the second 

annual Authentic Drive-Ins HorrorFest, 

playing double-features, triple-features, 

or dusk-to-dawn marathons of classic 

horror films. The event was co-sponsored 

by UDITOA (The United Drive-In Theatre 

Owners Association) and the website 

www.authenticdriveins.com, which 

helps moviegoers find drive-in theaters 

near them. 

Continuing the drive-in tradition of 

showmanship, select locations featured 

spooky activities, including haunted 

decorations, costume contests, roaming 

“monsters” for photo ops, and flea markets 

selling horror-themed memorabilia. Many 

drive-ins also hosted community “Trunk 

or Treat” events for children along with 

screenings of family-friendly, Halloweenthemed 

films. 

99W Drive-In 

Newberg, OR 

Admiral Twin Drive-In 

Tulsa, OK 

Aut-O-Rama Drive-In Theatre 

North Ridgeville, OH 

Bengies Drive-In Theatre 

Middle River, MD 

Black River Drive-In 

Watertown, NY 13601 

Circle Drive-In Theatre 

Scranton, PA 

Harvest Moon Twin Drive-In 

Gibson City, IL 

Hi-Way 18 Outdoor Theatre 

Jefferson, WI 

Mahoning Drive-In Theatre 

Lehighton, PA 

Midway Drive-In 

Dixon, IL 

MoonLite Drive-In 

Terre Haute, IN 

Pike Drive-In 

Montgomery, PA 

Quasar Drive-In 

Valley, NE 

Raleigh Road Outdoor Theatre 

Henderson, NC 

Riverside Drive-In 

Vandergrift, PA 

Sauerbeck Family Drive-In 

LaGrange, KY 

Skyview Drive-In 

Belleville, IL 

Skyway Drive-In 

Warren, Ohio 

Starlite Drive-In 

Wichita, KS 

West Wind Drive-In 

Las Vegas, NV 

Winchester Drive-In 

Oklahoma City, OK 


45

Digital Marketing 

E-commerce 

Analytics 

Cinema solutions evolving with you, for you. 

Scan the QR code to find out more.

Ron Krueger II 48 | Rebecca Stein 52 | Frank Rodriguez 60 | Paul Dergarabedian 66 

SHOWEAST 

“It’s not just the cinema industry; doing business in Argentina is unique. 

It is a very challenging country to do business in.” 

National Amusements’ Showcase Cinemas Argentina, p. 58 


47

ShowEast 2023 RON KRUEGER II 

SALAH M. HASSANEIN 

HUMANITARIAN AWARD 

Ron Krueger II, Chief Operating Officer, 

Santikos Theaters Grand/Amstar 

BY REBECCA PAHLE 

A veteran and highly respected 

member of the cinema industry, 

fourth-generation movie theater executive 

Ron Krueger II began his career at 

Wehrenberg Theatres, founded by his 

great-grandfather Fred Wehrenberg in 

1906. After nearly ten years of serving as 

Wehrenberg Theatres’ president, Krueger 

moved on to VSS - Southern Theatres, 

spending four years as COO before adding 

“president” to his job description. With 

this year’s acquisition of VSS - Southern’s 

AmStar Cinemas and The Grand Theatres 

brands by Santikos Theaters, Krueger 

becomes the COO of the combined chain, 

now one of the top ten largest in North 

America by screen count. 

Over the decades, Krueger has augmented 

his cinema work with several 

philanthropy roles, both inside and outside 

the industry, including a turn on the 

Board of Governors at St. Louis, Missouri’s 

Shriners Hospital for Children and eight 

years in leadership roles with the U.S. arm 

of Variety - the Children’s Charity, where 

he served as president from 2016 to 2018; 

he currently sits on the Board of Directors 

of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers 

Foundation. Krueger has also been heavily 

involved in shaping the future of the 

cinema industry through his work with 

a variety of trade associations, including 

Theatre Owners of Mid America’s (TOMA) 

Regional Unit, the National Association 

of Concessionaires (president from 2009- 

2011), and NATO, where he has been a 

board member since 1994. 

In recognition of decades of service, 

Krueger is this year’s winner of ShowEast’s 

Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award, 

named after the late cinema executive and 

philanthropist. Says Andrew Sunshine, 

president of the Film Expo Group, “Ron 

defines what it means to be the Hassanein 

Award winner. His commitment to our 

industry and its charities is second to 

none. We are honored to recognize his 

achievements.” In advance of ShowEast, 

Kruger spoke with Boxoffice Pro about 

his storied career. 

Did you ever get a chance to meet 

Salah Hassanein? 

Sadly, I didn’t have the chance to meet 

Salah. However, my good friend and [VSS 

- Southern Theatres’] longtime film buyer 

Doug Whitford worked for Salah, back in 

his United Artists days. He shared [with 

me] some of the warmhearted stories 

about Salah, as well as some stories that 

demonstrated how shrewd of a businessman 

he was. Charity was always, obviously, 

a big part of his mantra. 

Non-profits like Variety and Will 

Rogers are so entwined with the 

cinema industry. You can’t really 

imagine one without the other. 

Exactly. It’s great that this industry is 

so focused on charity, whether it’s Will 

Rogers or Variety. The folks at St. Jude 

[Children’s Research Hospital, out of 

Memphis, Tennessee] are trying to make 

some inroads as well, with some onscreen 

promotional activities. 

On the subject of charity: Santikos 

Theatres is a chain that’s highly 

involved in their communities. When 

I spoke to their CEO, Tim Handren, he 

cited cultural similarities between 

Santikos and Southern as one of the 

driving forces behind the acquisition. 

Both organizations focus on taking care 

of guests and taking care of employees. 

Those are some definite commonalities. 

[At the] Grand and AmStar locations, we 

have some really amazing teams led by 

management, many of whom have been 

in the industry as long as I have. In our 

theaters, we continue to serve our guests 

well. I think we’re industry-leading, with 

90 percent of our locations [equipped] 

with recliners and expanded food and beverage. 

And, of course, it takes a little liquor 

sometimes to [enjoy a night out], so 100 

percent of our locations have some level of 

bar service. Given our Southern footprint, 

[our customers] love their daiquiris. 

We’re excited about the acquisition by 

Santikos, which can help elevate those 

standards even further. The charity 

focus that we’ve been able to have in 

the Southern universe gets to continue 

under Santikos. We’re working with them 

on a food drive right now, and we’ll do 

a toy drive later this year. They’ve been 

partners with Variety on their Gold Heart 

program as well. So [you can] look forward 

to some bigger and better things for the 

combined organization. 

As you’re merging the two chains, you 

really have to nail the fundamentals 

of customer service. 

Right. If you have a greeter at the front 

door who doesn’t make eye contact with 

you and say, “Hi,” or has a little snarl on 

their face because they’re having a bad 

day—that’s not the best way [to do business]. 

Because guests are coming to the 

theater to escape, and they want a good 

experience all the way around. It starts 

with the employees. 

Southern and Santikos have both 

been forward-thinking chains in terms 

of extra amenities; Southern got into 

dine-in early, and the same with 

Santikos and cinema entertainment 

centers (CECs). How do you, as a COO, 

approach risk management when it 

comes to new concepts? 

It’s really about networking and staying 

aware of what opportunities are out there. 


“Being part of these trade 

groups is a way to not only 

give back, but to keep a finger 

on the pulse of the industry, 

to drive initiatives that help 

the industry, and of course, to 

create relationships with some 

pretty amazing people across 

exhibition and the concession 

side of things.” 

In terms of the risk assessment process, 

we model our projects in a number of 

different ways with high, immediate, 

intermediate, and low-risk assumptions. 

[You have to] get comfortable with 

assumptions and double-check them with 

peers, if you will. If it takes visiting a site 

that has something deployed, we’ll do 

that and talk with that operator. Then, if 

it fits our investment criteria, [we] decide 

to move forward or not. Thankfully, with 

the acquisition by Santikos, versus the 

private equity ownership Southern had 

before, we feel we can take a longer-term 

approach to our investment horizon. That 

helps the opportunities that exist for the 

Grand and AmStar locations. 

It makes sense. There’s a familiarity 

with the business that probably 

isn’t there with outsiders. If you tell 

someone not in the cinema industry 

that bowling is having a comeback, 

they might just discount it. But people 

in the industry know that bowling, as 

part of the CEC complex, has been in 

the wings for a while now. 

Right. In the case of a couple of markets, 

or at least a couple of theaters, it would 

take some major renovation, demolition, 

and rebuilding of a complex [to add 

bowling]–and that’s a sizable investment. 

The private equity folks have a shorter 

time horizon on return. We’re going to be 

fortunate with the Santikos folks. 

And the Grand and AmStar theaters 

are keeping their own branding. 

These locations have been in existence 

[for] 20-plus years in a lot of these markets. 

There’s brand equity with those 

names. “Hey, we’re going to go to the 

AmStar or the Grand tonight to go catch 

a movie.” Why make a sign manufacturer—though 

we have lots of friends in 

that industry—why make them any richer 

when it’s really about the brand equity 

that’s already there? 

Can you walk me through how your 

work with Variety got started? 

Really, it started at one of my first 

ShoWests, 29 years ago, where I met Stan 

and Jody Reynolds. They were our insurance 

brokers at Wehrenberg at the time, but 

they talked about their excitement for what 

we were doing with Variety. There was a 

Variety tent in St. Louis, so I was able to get 

on that board and expand Wehrenberg’s 

involvement with Gold Heart activities as 

well as... they were running telethons at the 

time, supporting those sorts of things. So it 

goes back 20-plus years. 

Then, maybe 15 years ago, when 

I moved over to Southern, Stan W. 

Reynolds, their son, and Jody approached 

me, as there were some openings on U.S. 

Variety’s board. I had a chance to step up 

and help them out, to kind of work my 

way through the chairs there and start 

some initiatives with U.S. Variety. We’ve 

had a couple of presidents since my term 

there, but we continue to be relevant with 

the Gold Heart program and [with] sharing 

best practices, working with Variety 

International, helping out the tents in 

North America for the activities and 

initiatives that they have in place. 

You’ve also been heavily involved 

with groups like NAC and NATO. If 

someone’s newer to the industry, 

what’s your pitch for participating in 

industry associations? 

Simply put, if you’re in this industry 

for the long term, it’s the right thing to 

do, in my mind, to give back and be part 

of it. This industry gave my family its 

livelihood for over 100 years. Being part 

of these trade groups is a way to not only 

give back, but to keep a finger on the 

pulse of the industry, to drive initiatives 

that help the industry, and of course, to 

create relationships with some pretty 

amazing people across exhibition and 

the concession side of things. After 30 

years, some of my closest friends are in 

this industry. Without those relationships 

and involvement, just in recent terms, I 

don’t know if we could have weathered 

the pandemic as well as we did. Sharing 

best practices and advocating for government 

relief the way we did, to help keep 

the lights on, in order to take care of our 

employees and guests. 

My great-grandfather Fred Wehrenberg, 

who started Wehrenberg Theatres, was 

in a predecessor organization to TOMA. I 

found a photo of him in one of our family 

scrapbooks, of him on the cover of a magazine. 

It’s been in the family—it’s part of the 

expectation of giving back. I wouldn’t have 

it any other way. 


49

Screenvision Media 

Proudly Congratulates 

Our Very Own 

John Marmo 

ShowEast Class of 2023 

Hall of Fame Inductee


Congratulates All 

2023 ShowEast Honorees 

Hall of Fame Inductees: 

John Marmo, Heather Blair, Joel Davis 

Willis (posthumous), Shirley, & Chris Johnson 

Bill Campbell, Paul Serwitz 

Ron Krueger II 

Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award 

Frank Rodriguez 


Steve Zuehlke 

International Career Achievement Award 

Paul Degarabedian 

Al Shapiro Distinguished Service Award 

Shelly Olesen 

NAC ICON Award

SHOWEAST REBECCA STEIN 

COCA-COLA 

EMPOWERMENT 

AWARD 

Rebecca Stein, VP, Studio Relations & U.S. Marketing, 

National Amusements’ Showcase Cinemas 


Nurturing and empowering the 

cinema leaders of tomorrow is a key 

part of this year’s ShowEast programming 

slate, with The Coca-Cola Company’s 

Mayson Spellman (national account 

director, AMC Theatres) hosting the 

Wednesday afternoon panel discussion 

“Today’s Industry Executives Leading 

Tomorrow’s.” 

Adding her voice to the panel, alongside 

other executives from the studio and 

cinema communities, will be Rebecca 

Stein, VP of studio relations and U.S. 

marketing at Showcase Cinemas, part of 

the multinational cinema and media megapower 

National Amusements. Stein, who 

in 2024 embarks on her 25th year with 

National Amusements, will also be receiving 

this year’s Coca-Cola Empowerment 

Award—an honor reflective of her 

commitment to supporting the next 

generation of cinema leadership, as she 

herself was supported and mentored in 

her early years at National Amusements. 

In advance of this year’s show, Boxoffice 

Pro spoke with Stein about her career, her 

mentors, and the changing tenor of movie 

marketing. 

Next year you’ll have been at 

Showcase Cinemas for 25 years. How 

did you come to start your career 

there? 

The long-story-short [version] is that I 

worked in a couple of different PR firms 

in Boston. I was young and really had 

to improve my writing skills, so I did a 

course at Emerson College in writing for 

press releases. In that class, there was a 


group of four or five people from National 

Amusements who were sent from the publicity 

department to work on their writing 

skills. When I learned that they were 

doing, essentially, PR and marketing— 

which we really didn’t call it in those days; 

it was more “publicity”—for the movies, I 

knew I had to connect and stay in touch. 

And I did. I became friendly with them 

and wanted to know whenever there was 

a job opening. Lo and behold, probably 

a few months later, they were looking 

for an additional entry-level publicity 

person. While the interview process took 

a lengthy period, it all worked out. 

1999—that was a good year for movies. 

A good year to be in movie marketing! 

At the time, when I first started, we had 

an in-house agency as well as doing our 

own corporate programs and marketing. 

I was doing some field publicity for 

New Line Cinema and for Paramount at 

the time, a “four walls” kind of thing. I 

don’t remember exactly the name, but it 

had a “running with brides” scene with 

Chris O’Donnell… [The movie was 1999’s 

The Bachelor, from New Line.] We were 

charged with hunting down as many 

cheap wedding dresses as we could and 

getting brides to run through the streets 

of Boston. At the time, I was also working 

on Flint, Michigan field publicity. We 

had to execute these really grand stunts, 

which were part of how movies were 

marketed on a regular basis at that point. 

I think, during our discussion, we’ll come 

full circle on that, because it’s certainly 

something that we’re trying to do more 

these days on our own. 

What changed, to make that sort of 

splashy marketing less viable? Most 

movie marketing these days takes 

place from behind a desk. Was it just 

the rise of the Internet? 

[There’s] a choice of marketing dollars, 

right? You could do a big stunt that cost a 

lot of money at the end of the day, or you 

could target [more] people in a digital way 

and spend there. We’ve seen that change 

with all marketing, across all platforms 

and all industries. The thing about our 

industry is that, as that changed, we lost a 

little bit of that magic. There’s always the 

magic of the movies, but … 

Some of the showmanship is gone. 

At National Amusements, Showcase 

Cinemas, that was always a part of our 

DNA: the showmanship. For a theater 

opening, we would have celebrities and 

exciting things happening for a couple of 

weeks. Creating experiences beyond the 

screen, so that the theater is way more 

than the screen. 

How were those early days? You came 

into the industry from the PR side, not 

the cinema side; did you have any 

mentors to help you become familiar 

with the industry? 

Absolutely. It was Elaine Purdy who hired 

me. [Purdy is now National Amusement’s 

VP of U.S. marketing.] She grew up in the 

business. Her parents met in the business. 

She had worked for General Cinemas, and 

she had worked for studios. [The fact that] 

she hired me was the most fortunate thing 

in so many ways. I almost get emotional, 

just thinking about how fortuitous it was 

to connect with Elaine. [She] certainly has 

become one of my best friends, but also 

one of the strongest mentors that I’ve had. 

She’s just such a caring person. She 

really took me under her wing very early 

on. She pushed me and gave me confidence 

and didn’t make me feel like an 

outsider—which did happen a little bit 

within the department, to some extent. 

“You could do a big stunt 

that cost a lot of money at 

the end of the day, or you 

could target [more] people 

in a digital way and spend 

there. We’ve seen that change 

with all marketing, across all 

platforms and all industries.” 


53


Everyone seemed to [have been in the 

industry] for so long. Even the young 

people had already been in it for so long. 

I came in feeling a little cocky out of 

these PR firms. But I was a kid, you know? 

She would call me out on some of that 

behavior, which I needed. But she also put 

a lot of trust in me and let me soar. She 

made sure that if it was something I was 

doing, I got the recognition for it. She’d let 

me shine. I definitely have taken so many 

pages out of her book as I lead a team now. 

Elaine has, in general, taught me to be 

more creative, to push myself. She taught 

me true kindness. 

Are there any marketing initiatives 

that stand out for you from those early 

days, when you were still learning 

the ropes? Aside from wrangling old 

wedding dresses, I mean. 

Pretty early on, shortly after joining the 

publicity team, I became a young mom 

and was really in the kid’s space. I learned 

very quickly the importance of moms and 

kids in moviegoing. We were starting to 

do stuff then with loyalty [rewards], and 

our Starpass loyalty program was growing, 

but it seemed that there was this other 

market. It made a lot of sense to get kids 

and families in—and in young. 

At that time, I had brought to [Elaine] 

the idea of a kids’ movie club and a kids’ 

loyalty program, called the Popcorn 

Club. It was quickly embraced. I had to 

learn a lot fast. It was the first program 

where I was kind of on my own and had 

to work with all these new teams within 

the company. Fast forward: 20 years later, 

and the Popcorn Club is going strong, 

which is something I’m very proud of. It’s 

a program that’s very effective. Our studio 

partners have come to count on us to 

reach a young family audience. 

Now it’s in the great hands of my team. 

I have Rachel Lulay [Senior Director of 

Marketing & Partnerships], who works 

with me and who really makes all these 

things keep going and come to life. 

I am very fortunate to have a great 

partner in crime, and that’s Mark 

Malinowski, who heads up our global 

marketing. Together, we [develop] joint 

initiatives that will work across the board. 

Whether it’s something that worked great 

in the U.K. that we’re going to bring to the 

U.S., or it’s something coming out of [our 

cinemas in] Argentina—Mark and I work 

really closely together. He’s one of the 

“I learned very quickly the 

importance of moms and kids 

in moviegoing ... It made a 

lot of sense to get kids and 

families in—and in young.” 

best parts of working at National for me, 

and we definitely collaborate across the 

board to make the best things happen for 

all markets. 

You also helped launch Showcase’s 

sensory-friendly screening series, right? 

Yes. In addition to sensory-friendly 

movies—which we are rebooting now, 

because we kind of stalled during the pandemic—our 

other really family-focused 

program that goes back about 20 years 

is our Bookworm Wednesdays program, 

which is a summer reading program that 

we offer. It brings in kids, and their only 

price of admission over the summer—for 

select movies, of course—is a book report. 

The [community-focused] things that 

we do, they always have a “doing good” 

angle. You asked me about mentors, and 

I’ve had the real privilege of working for 

Shari Redstone [president of National 

Amusements] for all these 25 years. What 

Shari taught me and has shown me is [the 

importance of] giving back. There are a 

ton of [things] that Shari has shown me 

by example. 

Something I have had the privilege of 

working on with her is our community 

efforts, [through which] I was able to start 

our Showcase for Good programming. 

Early on, when we talked about a kids’ 

program, it made sense to have reading 

attached to it. We partner with libraries 

and can say to our communities that we 

are not only offering kids this fun movie 

experience, but [we are encouraging] 

summer reading. 

From the book perspective, it’s wonderful 

that we have a lot of books that come 

to the big screen. It’s been fun to work 

with different book titles. We’ve done a 

lot of “read it before you see it” programs 

and giveaways. We happen to be pretty 

passionate on books in our department, 

too! Right now, we’re working with Sony 

to show early screenings of Dumb Money. 

We are fortunate to have Ben Mezrich, who 

wrote the book Dumb Money [is based 

on] working with us on a couple of events 

where he’ll be doing Q&As. 

[We also have a series called] Holiday 

Classics, where the price of admission 

during the holiday months is a canned 

good for a local food pantry. We’ve built 

from there. Under Showcase for Good, we 

partner with local nonprofit organizations 

in our communities. It’s some of the best 

work that I get to do these days. 


Are you from Boston originally? What 

was your childhood theater? 

I have to admit, I have not gone far 

from home! I grew up in Newton, 

Massachusetts, [and now] I’m probably 

six minutes down the road from Newton. 

My two local movie theaters—and it was 

two because they were close together and 

they didn’t play day-and-date, so [where 

I went] depended on who was playing 

what—[were the] General Cinema in 

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where now 

we proudly have a Showcase SuperLux 

theater, and a National Amusements 

[location] in Cleveland Circle, which is 

[in the vicinity of] Boston/Brookline, 

Massachusetts. 

My earliest movie memory is seeing 

Pete’s Dragon. It was at the Chestnut 

Hill General Cinema. That was 1977, so 

I was about four years old. I remember 

feeling small but just being in awe of 

that big screen. I loved that movie. The 

other [early moviegoing experience] that 

pops into my mind, also at that General 

Cinema, was [seeing] Annie. When the 

movie opened, they had a “Sandy.” I don’t 

know if it was actually Sandy the dog, but 

they had a Sandy the dog! I remember 

waiting in line. That’s an early childhood 

movie memory that is pretty cool. 

“We’re giving people reasons 

to dress up for the movies. It’s 

a big part of our strategy.” 

screening, and where it used to be 

press, it’s influencers. It’s something 

that those in the cinema business 

have been a bit slow to pick up on. 

When the “GentleMinions” thing 

happened, with all these teens on 

TikTok organizing group outings to 

see Minions: The Rise of Gru dressed 

in suits, no one saw that coming. 

That was a pivotal moment. After that 

happened, we knew that we had to be on 

TikTok. We’re having great success [there]. 

We now generate content every week. 

We’ve set aside time. We have people who 

are on it. Obviously, all social media is 

key right now. It gives each theater circuit 

a voice that is differentiated from the 

others, which is nice, too. 

But, back to influencers: [Working with 

them] is a key part of our strategy. We are 

definitely spending marketing dollars 

on influencers. We have been doing a 

Those are the sorts of things you 

remember when you grow up, that 

make you love going to the movies. 

Here’s the thing: that’s what we are 

working to do with the Popcorn Club. We 

have members who are two years old. We 

encourage parents to sign their kids up 

early. We’re working with Paramount now 

on some early screenings of Paw Patrol, 

and we’re inviting Popcorn Club members 

to see it early. But it’s not just going to be 

the movie. Beforehand, in the lobby, we’re 

bringing in some children’s music makers, 

doing some crafts, and we’ll have some 

fun food, so that it really touches those 

sweet points for kids and it sticks. 

No real-life dogs? I guess that’d be 

tough to do. 

We are not doing dogs for Paw Patrol, but 

we are doing some fun giveaways. Though 

that’s more for some lucky influencers 

and their kids. 

So much of movie marketing is 

centered on social media influencers 

nowadays. You go to an advance 


55


program of influencer screenings, and 

each one has to be curated [to match] 

the right influencers. We are creating 

atmospheres that give that full picture. 

With our Barbie influencer event, there 

was no stone unturned. If we’re seeing a 

movie early and loving it, as a team, we 

want to get behind it. That happened 

recently with Gran Turismo. I reached 

out to Ann-Elizabeth [Crotty, who leads 

exhibitor marketing] at Sony and said, 

“We want to get behind this. We want to get 

influencers in.” There were custom drink 

menus. Everything had black and white 

checkered flags. We had a tire-changing 

station where they picked up their drinks. 

We are really into party planning, [thinking 

through] all the details to make sure 

that they leave with a full experience of 

what it means to go out to the movies. 

It was a black-and-white party. We saw 

everybody come out in pink for Barbie. 

We’re giving people reasons to dress up for 

the movies. It’s a big part of our strategy. 

Now people are asking us, “How do we get 

on your list?” What we’re building with 

our influencers, in all different markets 

and all kinds of different lanes and genres, 

is fantastic. 

If you’re not already plugged in, 

venturing into that world can be a 

daunting prospect. Who are you 

working with? Is it hyper-local people 

who live near the theater in question? 

Yeah, people in the local area. A lot of our 

influencers cover bigger markets. We have 

a couple of national influencers who are 

Showcase moviegoers and are happy to 

help us. We’re having a good time with 

influencers, and they love what we’re 

providing. It’s been a good two-way street. 

GentleMinions felt like chapter one, 

where people got a glimpse of the 

organizing power of this whole world 

they didn’t know about. The Barbie 

release, with cinemas working closely 

with Warner Bros. and going all-out 

on promotion and marketing, felt like 

chapter two. What’s chapter three? 

Can you re-capture some of that 

Barbie energy? With Taylor Swift: The 

Eras Tour, maybe? 

I think that we have to, collectively, as 

an industry, look at Barbie as a guide. 

Granted, it had everything [going for it]. 

I’ll tell you, there’s something about the 

color pink that really gets people excited. 

As soon as we knew that this Taylor Swift 

[concert film] was coming—which was 

a wild day, since we found out in the 

morning and wanted to get tickets on 

sale by that afternoon—I said to my team, 

“Look, this is a gift. We’ve got to squeeze 

everything out of it that we can, just like 

we have been doing with Barbie.” We 

immediately got on the phone to get DJs 

into our lobbies, so that when people 

are walking in, the party starts there. We 

are making friendship bracelet stations 

within the lobbies. And photo backdrops; 

we’ll have big images of Taylor Swift 

where people can take their picture, and 

our branding is there. 

I think everybody, as an industry, 

needs to look at what happened with 

Barbie and try to replicate it as best we 

can. I mean, [with] a movie like Barbie, 

not only do you have a superpower like 

Warner Bros. behind it, but Mattel was 

behind it too. I’ve never seen anything 

like it from a marketing perspective. 

There was no company that didn’t want 

to attach to it. And when you have 

someone like Margot Robbie—she was 

everywhere and did an amazing job 

[promoting] that movie. We saw it with 

Tom Cruise for Top Gun: Maverick. He 

was key. I do hope that, from a studio 

perspective, that is being recognized as 

really important. As people look at how 

these movies are being marketed, we need 

to make sure that the talent is part of the 

strategy in a big way. It’s beyond just the 

star power. It’s that these people’s passion 

for their project comes out. And I think 

that’s important. 

We see it at CinemaCon every year– 

studios know that bringing out the 

stars is going to get the industry 

pumped. 

We all feel it, right? We go to CinemaCon, 

and we’re recharged. We feel we’re part 

of something so much bigger. Every 

filmmaker says, “I’m making this for the 

big screen.” That’s another important 

thing: We need to be thanking our audience. 

I encourage adding that message 

to every movie: thanking the moviegoers. 

Whether [it comes from] the talent or the 

filmmaker, we need to appreciate the 

moviegoer and understand that they’re 

not [getting] the Kool-Aid that we’re 

drinking ourselves. All of it is part of the 

magic. The recipe is there, but we need to 

pay attention to it. 

“I think everybody, as an 

industry, needs to look at what 

happened with Barbie and try 

to replicate it as best we can.” 


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57

ShowEast 2023 NATIONAL AMUSEMENTS’ SHOWCASE CINEMAS ARGENTINA 

ENRIQUE RAMIREZ 

LATAM EXHIBITOR OF 

THE YEAR AWARD 

National Amusements’ Showcase Cinemas Argentina 

BY DANIEL LORIA 

The team behind one of Argentina’s 

three top circuits will be awarded 

the Enrique Ramirez LatAm Exhibitor 

of the Year Award at ShowEast this year, 

celebrating nearly three decades of 

operating the circuit in one of the region’s 

most important territories. 

Team members Oscar García Ortiz 

(managing director), Mariela Mosso 

(director, Argentina film booking), Ana 

Albertí (director, Argentine marketing 

and distributor partnerships), and 

Alejandro Gonzalez Alzaga (director of 

operations and concessions) will accept 

the award on behalf of the circuit. 

“Our colleagues in Argentina have 

been leaders in global exhibition for 

decades. Their dedication and expertise 

within the industry is unparalleled,” said 

Mark Walukevich, senior vice president of 

international film, National Amusements, 

in a press release announcing the honor. 

“I am delighted that their many accomplishments 

will be recognized with this 

very well-deserved award.” 

Boxoffice Pro spoke with managing 

director Oscar García Ortiz, who has been 

with the company for nearly three decades, 

about the team’s achievements. 

Congratulations on the award. Can you 

give us some background on your team 

at National Amusement’s Showcase 

Cinemas division in Argentina? 

National Amusements first came to 

Argentina 27 years ago with its first 

theater in the west suburbs of Buenos 

Aires. Today, we have seven complexes in 

the country, making us the third-largest 

cinema chain in Argentina. We compete 

with companies with larger screens count 

than us, Hoyts Cinemark and Cinépolis, 

so we’ve had to fight hard to acquire and 

maintain our market share in the country. 

Our presence in Argentina dates back 

to 1997, and I’ve been with the company 

throughout that span. We’re very proud of 

everything we’ve accomplished together. 

I am doing the interview, but it’s important 

to emphasize that this is a team honor. 

We have a senior management team, most 

of whom have been with us for 26 years. 

Most of us started as cinema managers 

and moved up within the company to our 


current roles. It’s a group of people who 

genuinely love what they do and have a 

wealth of experience doing it. Thanks to 

the team, we’ve achieved the market share 

we currently have in Argentina. 

What makes the theatrical market in 

Argentina unique? 

It’s not just the cinema industry; doing 

business in Argentina is unique. It is a 

very challenging country to do business 

in. We’ve had so many disruptions 

throughout our time here, the worst 

being the collapse of the economy in 

2001. Inflation, for example, might go 

over 150 percent this year. Budgeting, 

meeting targets, and setting prices… It’s 

a massive challenge for us. We must be 

very proactive and informed about factors 

that most markets don’t even consider. In 

stable economies, you have less than 10 

percent inflation a year. In Argentina, you 

can see 10 percent inflation happen in two 

weeks. Our biggest challenge is to be on 

top of all our costs—operations, payroll, 

food, and concessions containers—[and] 

maintaining our margins while dealing 

with incredibly high inflation. 

How much of an impact did pandemicera 

restrictions have on your business? 

Operating restrictions on cinemas in 

Argentina were among the most strict in 

the world. We had to work closely with 

colleagues from our competitors to make 

the government understand the measures 

we were taking to make our cinemas safe. 

It took a lot of work to convince the health 

authorities in Argentina that transmission 

was lower in cinemas than in other public 

places because of all the precautionary 

measures we put in place. It took time, but 

we eventually returned to operating at our 

needed capacity. 

reopening. Maybe in terms of the volume 

of releases, it isn’t far from a recovery—but 

we haven’t had the same scale of domestic 

hits at the box office that we used to enjoy. 

We had gotten used to having three or four 

domestic titles per year that we could rely 

on to complement the Hollywood grosses. 

We haven’t seen that yet. It may be an 

issue stemming from the pandemic’s economic 

crisis. That economic crisis resulted 

in reduced investment in new domestic 

films. We are anxious to see the impact of 

domestic films return to the box office. 

What role do premium formats play in 

your market? 

Premium formats haven’t taken off in 

Argentina like they’ve taken off in other 

markets. We have very few screens with 

recliners. We operate the only Imax in 

Buenos Aires, and it has done phenomenal 

business this year. Every time we’ve 

had a blockbuster this year, the Imax 

has sold out. Oppenheimer gave us four 

consecutive weeks of sellouts. We never 

imagined it would do so well, even considering 

factors outside the [subject of the] 

film, like its running time. 

How is the moviegoer of 2023 in 

Argentina different from that of 2019? 

The one thing we notice about today’s 

moviegoers is that they are spending 

more money on concessions. We’re seeing 

increased sales of bigger popcorn tubs. 

People are okay with spending more 

money on their visit. They’re looking to 

have a better experience. I hope it lasts! 

“It’s not just the cinema 

industry; doing business in 

Argentina is unique. It is a 

very challenging country to 

do business in.” 

When did audiences begin to return 

to cinemas after you reopened? 

Top Gun: Maverick was the first real sign 

of people returning without fear. 

Teenagers returned for Spider-Man: No 

Way Home, but it took longer to get older 

adults back in theaters. 

Have domestic films been able to 

return to the same prominence they 

enjoyed at the box office before the 

pandemic? 

Domestic films haven’t enjoyed the same 

recovery as Hollywood imports since the 


59

SHOWEAST FRANK RODRIGUEZ 

BINGHAM RAY 

SPIRIT AWARD 

Frank Rodriguez, Head of Distribution, Searchlight Pictures 


It’s been full circle for Frank Rodriguez of 

Searchlight Pictures. As a recent graduate 

from the University of California Santa 

Barbara, where he got a degree in Film 

Studies, Rodriguez kicked off his cinema 

career in 1982 at 20th Century Fox. A 

series of jobs at the storied studio took 

him from Los Angeles to New York, where 

in 1994, he was tapped to join Fox’s brand 

new specialty division, Fox Searchlight. 

Rodriguez remained at Searchlight for 

only a short while–two years–before 

moving to the newly formed DreamWorks; 

when DreamWorks was acquired by 

Paramount, Rodriguez went with it, eventually 

becoming Paramount’s senior vice 

president of Eastern sales. In 2012, nearly 

a decade and a half after leaving Fox 

Searchlight, Rodriguez returned–staying 

on board through 20th Century Fox’s 

purchase by Disney, Fox Searchlight’s 

subsequent name change to Searchlight 

Pictures, and his own promotion to the 

position of head of distribution. 

Throughout his career, Rodriguez 

has remained a staunch supporter of the 

theatrical experience, in particular for 

specialty films. While recent years have 

seen other studios carve away at the 

theatrical exclusivity window, Searchlight 

has expanded it, going day-and-date with 

only two pandemic-era releases, both of 

which–Nomadland and Summer of Soul 

(...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be 

Televised)—still got substantial (for 2021) 

theatrical footprints, and both of which 

won big at the Oscars. For his work in the 

independent space, championing the 

importance of specialty films in the theatrical 

marketplace, Rodriguez receives the 

Bingham Ray Spirit Award at this year’s 

ShowEast. 

Searchlight Pictures is an iconic 

brand in the independent/art 

house space. You were there at the 

very beginning–can you talk a bit 

about those early years? 

I was there the first two years, basically 

at the inception. [20th Century Fox 

executive] Tom Rothman was given the 

task of putting together a team to start to 

release specialty films, which were going 

to be a big part of 20th Century Fox. I 

was with 20th Century Fox in New York, 

handling the New York territory, and they 

asked me to move over to Searchlight at 

its very, very beginning because I had a 

background in film criticism. I’d always 

been into film studies in college, and I 

really loved [independent] film. Obviously, 

with 20th Century Fox, I’d worked with 

the big films: Die Hard, Big, Speed, things 

like that. 

During the late ‘80s, there was a small 

segment of 20 Century Fox called TLC: 

Tender Loving Care. It was a division 

that concentrated on art films. We had 

a number of films, one of which was an 

incredible film called The Gods Must Be 

Crazy. I was given an opportunity to work 

on those types of films. I only mention 

that because it’s the prelude to [20th 

Century Fox leadership] saying: “We want 

you to move over to [Searchlight], and you 

can handle the East Coast.” It worked well, 

because our first film, [Edward Burns’ 

1995 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner] 

The Brothers McMullen, was a very, very 

East Coast-centric film. I needed to work 

on dates in Long Island, the Hamptons, 

Nassau County, Connecticut, Jersey— 

because that’s where that film took place. 

Even in those days, with those early 

films, we concentrated on what we still 


concentrate on today: dealing with the 

very best filmmakers that we can. In 

recent history, we’ve gotten Guillermo 

del Toro, Wes Anderson, and Yorgos 

Lanthimos. In the early days, we did films 

by Spike Lee, Bernardo Bertolucci, Ang 

Lee. I want to say it was tougher, but it 

really wasn’t, in a way. Because now the 

specialty market seems to be so challenged 

[compared to] what it used to be. If 

you don’t mind me asking, where are you 

located right now? 

I’m in Queens. 

You still have theaters like the Jacob 

Burns [Film Center] in Pleasantville, [New 

York]. You have Cinema Arts [Centre] 

in Huntington, Long Island, and of 

course the Avon [Theatre Film Center 

in] Stamford, [Connecticut]. But we lost 

a whole bunch of great, great arthouses 

over the past three or four years. Maybe 

30 percent. Some might even say 40 

percent. There were a number in Jersey 

and Connecticut. When you open a film 

now in Queens, if you have an art film, 

you used to go to Kew Gardens [Cinemas]. 

You still might. But right now, we depend 

on a theater like the [Regal UA] Kaufman 

Astoria to really be the one that’s going 

to carry an art film. If I have a film that I 

really want to open, Queens is obviously 

an important part of any kind of break 

you have in New York. 

Things have changed and evolved so 

much. Back in the mid-’90s, when we 

started, it might have even been easier 

to get that audience out to see your films. 

Nowadays, it’s just so difficult. There are 

so many different ways to release [art 

films]. Now it’s, “Well, maybe we’ll just 

go all at once, instead of doing the triedand-true 

platform [release].” Platforming 

is what we excelled at over the past 10, 15 

years. But now, there are any number of 

ways to do it. You can succeed platforming. 

You can succeed in a limited run. You 

can succeed in a moderate run. You can 

also succeed if you just decide: “Well, I’m 

going to go 1,500 runs all at once.” Now 

it’s all about marketing and targeting the 

right audience. 

But there’s no question, and there’s no 

way around it, that the specialty market 

has been challenged. Hopefully, we’ll get 

people back into theaters. We’ll get people 

to say: “Well, I’m going to get up, and I’m 

gonna go to this theater in Bronxville or 

in Huntington, New York.” What’s really 

“It’s kind of a self-fulfilling 

prophecy when distributors 

decide: ‘You know what? 

They’re not going to come 

anyway, so let’s just put it on 

the streaming platform.”’ 

POOR THINGS 

great about today is that Regal, AMC, 

Cinemark: they all have decided to carve 

out a piece of their auditoriums to have 

films like ours, to have films from A24 and 

Neon and Sony Classics and Focus. It’s 

interesting when you try to compare what 

it was like back then to what it is now. 

Like any other business, it evolves. 

The more mature cinephile audience, I 

think what’s happened is that they found 

themselves being able to sit in their homes 

and find these films. It’s kind of a self-fulfilling 

prophecy when distributors decide: 

“You know what? They’re not going to come 

anyway, so let’s just put it on the streaming 

platform.” And that’s okay, because the 

platforms need to survive as well, and 

there’s a business there. My friends at 

Amazon and Netflix and Apple and all 

these companies–I can understand where 

they’re coming from. But, listen, my love 

has always been cinema in the theaters. I 

don’t mean this in a derogatory way, but 

if you sit in your home and watch a film, 

it’s great, but it’s not cinema. With cinema, 

you need to go into a building where 

there’s a lot of other people there, most of 

them strangers, [and there’s a communal] 

atmosphere. That’s cinema. 


61


How difficult is it nowadays to release 

a specialty film–something like last 

year’s The Menu–and have it catch on 

and find its audience? 

With something like The Menu, it was a 

little bit different, because we went out 

all at once. The Menu was [Searchlight’s] 

widest release. We opened in 3,100 rooms. 

It’s the biggest release we’ve ever had of a 

film. We screened it at ShowEast, and the 

response was so great, from so many different 

avenues–from some of the more specialty 

houses, from AMC, Cinemark, and 

Regal, from people like Malco, or people 

from the South and the Midwest, and the 

East and the West and the Northeast and 

the Northwest–they all loved it! 

That one, we did go out all at once. We 

have another film coming in November 

that’s really the same kind of release: all 

at once. It’s a comedy from Taika Waititi 

called Next Goal Wins. We’ll be showing 

that one at ShowEast as well. I think it’s a 

little… I shouldn’t say easy, but it is easier 

THE MENU 

THE MENU 

“We at Searchlight a long time 

ago made a decision to let our 

films stay in theaters as long as 

we can.” 

just to go all out at once. You’re giving 

everybody an opportunity to play the picture, 

because you have that belief [in it]. 

But then, of course, you have to market 

it differently than you would with [something 

rolling out more gradually]. We have 

an upcoming film called Poor Things, by 

Yorgos Lanthimos. 

We have an interview with the 

cinematographer in this issue, 

actually. Knowing Lanthimos’ movies, 

I imagine it’s a trickier one to market 

than The Menu. 

With that one, we’re going to go [with a] 

platform [release]. New York, LA, San 

Francisco. Then the next week we’ll add 

a bunch of runs, and on the third week 

we’ll probably go wide. It’s never going to 

be 3,000 runs. It’s probably going to be 10 

runs, then maybe 250, then maybe somewhere 

between 800 and 1,200 for the third 

week. It is a specialty film; it’s a bit narrower 

than something like The Menu and 

certainly more narrow than a film like Next 

Goal Wins–or really any other commercial 

film. While we hope that [Poor Things] is a 

commercial film, in the sense that it makes 

money, it’s really like a fine, fine wine. It’s 

something to be appreciated, but it’s not 

going to be for everybody. 

Emma Stone is tremendous in the film. 

She does a great job. My colleagues would 

tell me, “Frank, don’t say this,” but I really 

do think that she could get a Best Actress 

nomination. You’re going to see Emma 

Stone like you have never seen her before, 

let’s put it that way. It’s beautiful to look 

at it, and it belongs on the big screen 

because it’s so visual. 

Well, Olivia Colman got the Oscar 

for Lanthimos’s The Favourite. The 

important thing is not to put it in 

theaters and then have it pop up on 

streaming two weeks later. You look 

at a film like Parasite, and it wouldn’t 

have had the Oscar success that it did 

had Neon not given it time to find its 

audience. 

You’re exactly right. And I will tell you 

this: We at Searchlight a long time ago 

made a decision to let our films stay in 

theaters as long as we can. We were at 45 

days throughout much of the later part 

of the pandemic. We had a film recently 

called Theater Camp, such a great little 

movie, and we’ve done $4 million. At 

$4 million, you’ve still reached a lot of 


NEXT GOAL WINS 

people. And it was 62 days, in theaters 

only! That’s kind of late [compared to 

the current typical theatrical exclusivity 

window]. We’re going the other way on a 

lot of our films, [lenghtening the exclusivity 

window rather than shrinking it]. 

And, listen, Searchlight also makes 

films that go directly to Disney and to 

Hulu. We made a wonderful film called 

Flamin’ Hot that went directly to Hulu 

and Disney Plus. It was really great. We’ve 

done [2022 Hulu release] Fresh. But when 

we decide to go theatrical, we go. We go 

into theaters because we love going into 

theaters. I’m honestly of the belief that 

if an audience sees that a film is being 

held out, away from streaming services, 

that they believe, “Wow, the studios must 

really believe in this film.” And that’s true. 

That’s how we feel about our films. Poor 

Things– I’m really, really happy about that 

film. We’re really proud of that film. It’s a 

unique and [laughs] brave story. 

That chuckle just made me more 

curious about it. 

Well, it’s kind of a strange take on the 

Frankenstein story. Willem Dafoe is 

just incredible in it. So is Mark Ruffalo. 

You’d better have a liberal view of things 

because there are a lot of liberties taken 

in the film! He’s a filmmaker with a vision. 

This is how he wants to make the film, and 

far be it from us–you didn’t tell Picasso, 

when he started with his Cubist art, “Oh, 

you can’t do that! You have to make circles 

when you paint pictures of people.” 

“You want to make a movie with sad 

sack Colin Farrell where people turn 

into animals?” 

Exactly. By the way, this film is closer to 

The Lobster than [his] other films. The 

Favourite seems like a g-rated nursery 

rhyme compared to this. 

I can’t wait! At Boxoffice Pro, we 

always like to ask people: What was 

your hometown theater growing up? 

I grew up in a little town in California 

called Santa Maria. And there was one 

first-run screen, called the Santa Maria 

Theatre. There was another theater, 

called the Studio [Theatre], that was the 

move-over house. I typically went to the 

move-over house, because they would 

have crazy films. The first film I remember 

seeing–boy, this is going to date me–is 

The Raven with Vincent Price. It was really 

crazy. I remember being scared. 

“I’m honestly of the belief that 

if an audience sees that a film 

is being held out, away from 

streaming services, that they 

believe, ‘Wow, the studios must 

really believe in this film.’ And 

that’s true.” 


63


“You know, it’s funny, because 

there was a distinct difference 

between what you were going 

to look at on television, at 

home, and what was going to 

happen at the cinema.” 

My mom always took me to the classic 

films [they’d screen] after school, like Salt 

of the Earth and Gulliver’s Travels and A 

Tale of Two Cities. They would show these 

black-and-white films right after school. 

At two in the afternoon, my mother would 

pick me up from school and we’d walk 

right to the theater. I saw these really 

great stories. Of course, all those epic 

Biblical features: The Greatest Story Ever 

Told and stuff like that. I can remember 

seeing those and being impressed. But the 

one film that changed my view of films 

and what they could really do–when I was 

a very young age, I saw In Cold Blood. I 

don’t know how I happened to get in there. 

I snuck into some matinee, and I said, “Oh 

my God, look at this stuff!” It was creepy 

and effective. You lose yourself in movies, 

especially at that younger age. And then 

there were two drive-ins in our hometown 

that were very active and played a lot of 

first-runs. My parents would always take 

us to the drive-ins, as well. 

It was your film school before film 

school. 

Exactly. You know, it’s funny, because 

there was a distinct difference between 

what you were going to look at on television, 

at home, and what was going to 

happen at the cinema. Nowadays, my kids, 

they love going to the movies, but things 

[like] ”Grey’s Anatomy” or “The Gilmore 

Girls”—they’ll sit and binge. I don’t think 

they see the delineation, like I used to, 

between cinema and home. Everything is 

so available now. It used to take a year or 

so before you would ever see [a film] on 

television, or even longer. Now, you could 

do a day-and-date [release]. You can see a 

film immediately, pretty much. Or at least 

after 50 or 60 days. 

And the streamers also recognize that 

theatrical is important. They have all 

this original content, but with the toptier 

stuff–like Netflix and The Irishman– 

they want it on the big screen. 

Netflix did it with Roma the year before. 

People who went and saw that on the big 

screen had to be impressed. And although 

that story–it was a black and white film 

about a family, and you could understand 

everything you had to understand if you 

watched it on a TV screen. But the fact 

that [it screened in theaters] made it a 

bigger thing. They’ve done a very good 

job with their prestige films. They’ve 

gotten them out. They’ve shown audiences 

that these belong on the big screen. 

But their bread and butter is home viewing, 

so they’re also going to lean into that. 

It’s an interesting time when you think 

of all the different companies and what 

they’re doing. Some have a 14-day window, 

or a 17-day window. I’m proud that we 

decide to go, at minimum, 45 [days before 

hitting streaming]. 

We did do two films day-and-date. 

[2021’s] Summer of Soul, which won 

a documentary Oscar for us. We had 

NOMADLAND 


it in theaters and on the small screen, 

and it was very successful for us. And 

Nomadland a few years ago. Nomadland 

won the Academy Award [for Best Picture] 

at the end of the day. Chloe Zhao, the 

director, won. Frances McDormand won 

Best Actress. You know how we opened 

that film? We opened it in seven Imax 

auditoriums in late January 2021. There 

were two reasons: We decided we wanted 

the cinematographer nominated, so we 

figured we’d better put it on the biggest 

screen [possible]. And the other part of 

it was, we knew that press and Academy 

members would want to see it on a bigger 

screen–but, more importantly, in those 

giant auditoriums. Audience members 

decided to come–in smaller numbers– 

because they could sit far away from 

each other. It really served to bring in a 

few of those people. Now, we didn’t have 

a huge financial success on that. We did 

OK internationally, but I think we only 

grossed $3.8 million. 

THEATER CAMP 

Clearly it worked to amp up the 

prestige factor, though. 

We got six nominations and we won the 

three biggest: Director, Actress, and Best 

Picture. That’s the thing that Searchlight 

has always been most successful at. We 

have a credo over here: We want to make 

as much money as we can, and we’re very 

happy with our films’ [financial performance]. 

We have a few $100 million films 

in our vault. But the truth is, our business 

is winning awards. Over the past 12 years, 

business has been very, very good for us. I 

believe it’s 18 out of the last 20 years that 

we’ve had a Best Picture nomination, and 

we’ve won five times in the last 13 years: 

Slumdog Millionaire, 12 Years a Slave, 

Birdman, The Shape of Water, and then 

Nomadland. 

That’s the main crux of our company, 

to work with the very best filmmakers we 

can, tell the best stories we can, and really 

lean into awards, which we do. And that 

starts with festivals and really, really good 

marketing and publicity teams. People 

say, “Frank, how do you get this done? 

How do you get [influential venues like 

Lincoln Square in New York] to commit to 

you?” I say, “It’s not me. There’s no magic 

formula.” Theaters look to us to have 

something that’s going to bring audiences 

in and win awards. It really is a combination 

of things, and they certainly help to 

make my job a lot easier. 

THEATER CAMP 

“We want to make as much 

money as we can, and we’re 

very happy with our films’ 

[financial performance]. We 

have a few $100 million films in 

our vault. But the truth is, our 

business is winning awards.” 

Next Goal Wins and Poor Things 

look very different, to put it lightly. 

But whatever the content of a film, 

the Searchlight name being on it 

indicates to people that it’ll reach a 

certain level of quality. 

We believe that. And I’m glad that people 

do recognize it. It’s like when they see 

an A24 logo, they know it’s going to be 

something interesting and quirky and hip. 

When they see Searchlight, they know, 

“There’s going to be a measure of quality 

here in the written word and the picture 

and the direction and everything else.” 

We do have a face. We have a brand that’s 

out there that people recognize. 

When I go home for the holidays, I 

tend to catch up on the year’s movies 

with my parents, and we’ll usually 

watch a Searchlight movie. Maybe not 

Poor Things this year. That might be a 

weird one to watch with your folks. 

But you can always try Theater Camp! 


65

SHOWEAST 2023 PAUL DERGARABEDIAN 

AL SHAPIRO 

DISTINGUISHED 

SERVICE AWARD 

Paul Dergarabedian, Senior 

Media Analyst, Comscore 


“Movie theaters are my 

favorite place in the world. 

Receiving the Al Shapiro 

Distinguished Service Award 

at ShowEast is a total honor.” 

With over 30 years of experience 

as a box office analyst, including 

10 in his current role at Comscore, Paul 

Dergarabedian has established himself as 

one of the nation’s foremost experts on 

the business of movies. Considered one of 

the industry’s most accomplished experts, 

Dergarabedian started his career in the 

film industry in 1993 at Exhibitor Relations 

Co. before founding Media by Numbers in 

2006. That company later became a division 

of Hollywood.com, where he served 

as president of the box office division until 

he joined Rentrak (now Comscore) in 

October 2013. Boxoffice Pro caught up 

with Dergarabedian ahead of this year’s 

ShowEast to reflect on his pioneering role 

in bringing box office analysis to the public. 

You are a familiar name in this 

industry and a box office analysis and 

reporting pioneer. How did you get 

into this line of work? 

I didn’t start in the film industry until 1993 

at the age of 30. I got into it because I loved 

numbers. My father was a rocket scientist 

and mathematician, but I was terrible at 

math. It was the love of movies that drew 

me in. I remember watching 2001: A Space 

Odyssey at the Cinerama Dome when 

I was about seven. Everybody has that 

moment when movies somehow affected 

their life; that one’s mine. I fell in love with 

the cinema experience there and then. I 

developed an interest in box office numbers 

by seeing the charts in the Los Angeles 

Times. I got a job back in March of 1993 at 

Exhibitor Relations Co. I’ve been doing 

[this] ever since. I was part of Hollywood. 

com before starting my own company, 

Media by Numbers. I moved to Rentrack 

ten years ago; [it’s] now part of Comscore. 

Movie theaters are my favorite place 

in the world. Receiving the Al Shapiro 

Distinguished Service Award at ShowEast 

is a total honor. It’s not an honor I’d be 

receiving if it wasn’t for everything that 

the theater owners and studios are doing. 

Box office reporting went from being 

an industry-specific conversation 

among film professionals to being 

part of popular culture since you 

started working. Out of all the 

conversations to have about movies, 

I’m still surprised people outside the 

industry would choose to talk about 

their earnings. When did this shift 

come about? 

I’m old enough to remember when the trade 

press reported box office numbers by region. 

It was very much an “inside baseball” type 

of thing. It wasn’t until the early-to-mid ‘80s 

that I remember seeing a national box office 

chart in the Los Angeles Times. 

The reason people outside of the 

industry are so in love with this space is 

because they can participate. If I go out to 

see a movie, my dollars are part of what 

is being reported. If it were tracking sales 

about some widget—say, a paperweight— 

that’s not as exciting as talking about 

movies. It’s fun to talk about movies and 

their impact on audiences. “How did that 

movie do? How did it do critically? How 

did it do financially?” 

There remains a lingering misconception 

outside the industry that if a movie 

“doesn’t do well at the box office,” it’s not 

a good movie. Nothing could be further 

from the truth. I remember meeting 

Sydney Pollack, the great director, years 

ago at an industry event. I went up to 

him and apologized for putting a number 

on his art—and most filmmakers know 

that it’s not about that. Most filmmakers 

working today have a great understanding 

of the business and box office; they get it. 

Today, it’s not just box office analysts 

like yourself talking about the top ten— 

there are additional voices in social 

media and the internet contributing to 

the national conversation. 

What makes today so different than 15 

or 20 years ago is that with social media, 

there are people who do not work in the 

industry talking constantly about the 

box office. I watch a lot of YouTube, and 

there are now political commentators, 

stock analysts, music critics—you name 

it—from all walks of life. Some are professionally 

affiliated. Others are just really 

smart people who are passionate about 

what they are talking about. 

The beauty of what we do in providing 

box office analysis is that you erase the 

chalkboard every weekend and start over. 

It’s never boring, and every weekend has 

a new trajectory. There are things you 

can’t predict; look at the Barbenheimer 

phenomenon this summer. It was something 

that had never happened before. 

There was no way anyone could have 

predicted that level of success. It was a 

unique situation. Whenever going to the 

movies becomes a news story, that’s a sign 

that everyone in this industry executed 


“There remains a lingering 

misconception outside the 

industry that if a movie 

‘doesn’t do well at the box 

office,’ it’s not a good movie. 

Nothing could be further 

from the truth.” 

their assignments perfectly well. Now you 

have some folks wanting to recreate the 

phenomenon, looking at the release dates 

of Saw X and Paw Patrol and asking for a 

Saw Patrol viral phenomenon—I’m not 

sure that one will sell quite as well. 

Some people online have huge followings 

and are not necessarily considered 

professionals in the industry. I don’t look 

at it like an elitist thing, saying I’m better 

than anybody else. I never went into this 

profession as something I thought I’d 

make a career out of. I never went into it 

with that intent. It was simply something 

I was interested in and passionate about. I 

wound up with a mentor, way back in the 

day, who helped me get my footing—and 

had a lot of help along the way. If it weren’t 

for the movie theaters and studios, I 

wouldn’t have anything to discuss and 

nothing to be honored for. I’m so thankful 

to this community. 

I’ve been tenacious at this since I 

started in 1993. I started reporting box 

office numbers on Sunday mornings in 

1995 and have only missed two Sundays 

since then, excluding the pandemic. 

Holidays are the busiest period; those 

last two weeks of the year are the heaviest 

two weeks for theaters. It’s hard to have 

balance in a role like this. You need to 

have a tenacity to do it right. 

If you think about how many wide 

releases we have in a given year, there 

might be 110—putting aside the indie 

films, which are wildly important but 

[which] we consider separately from those 

that go out wide. It’s a constantly changing, 

evolving, and dynamic ecosystem. 

A misconception that can arise when 

talking about the box office is that 

we’re saying or implying something 

about a film’s quality as part of our 

analysis, which is not the case. 

Some of my favorite movies were considered 

bombs when they first came out. 

2001: A Space Odyssey—people walked out 

of that movie. It was not a huge box office 

hit when it came out. It took years for that 

movie to be appreciated. 

The movies I tend to like the most 

are movies that challenge audience 

expectations—movies that provoke 

and go out of their way to break 

away from conventions. Those movies, 

by design, can’t be judged on their 

financial performance. 

It’s a different equation for those films, 

where the higher currency is critical 

acclaim and the buzz coming out of 

festivals. Financial success in the indie 

film world isn’t about making oodles of 

cash. It’s about profitability. We have great 

specialty distributors that go out on a limb 

for these films, even when sending them 

to streaming would be significantly less 


67

SHOWEAST 2023 PAUL DERGARABEDIAN 

expensive. They go for it and put these 

films in theaters. During the pandemic, we 

kept hearing about how all arthouse titles 

would skip theaters and go directly to 

streaming. As we’ve seen, that’s not happening. 

Indie film isn’t leaving theaters. 

We have filmmakers who perform at great 

levels in that sector, like Wes Anderson 

and Alexander Payne, whose films draw 

big audiences for arthouse theaters. We 

can’t judge these films on their box office 

performance alone. Many of them will 

open on the number 18 spot because of the 

scale of their theater counts. 

Apart from understanding that the 

specialty market should be considered 

under separate terms, how has box 

office reporting changed over the last 

thirty years? 

Back in the ‘90s, it was all about opening 

weekend. That’s all anybody cared about: 

There was a fixation on opening weekend, 

no matter how much we all, as an industry, 

stressed that this is a business built 

around long-term playability. 

Look at a movie like Elemental, which 

was written off on opening weekend 

but has managed to stick around as an 

important earner for theaters. Globally, 

it’s performing great. Because all of 

the marketing eggs are generally put in 

that opening weekend basket, we focus 

too much on opening weekend without 

the context of how a film can perform 

through its theatrical run. 

When Barbie and Oppenheimer 

opened over the same weekend, some 

outlets were positioning Oppenheimer 

as the loser because it came in second to 

Barbie. That was a completely misguided 

way to characterize the performance of 

both films. It was never a head-to-head 

battle. Obviously only one of them would 

come out in first place, but they both won 

the weekend. 

You can’t judge a movie in the first 

three days. You have to judge after the 

first three weeks. Some movies have no 

way of coming back after a bad opening 

weekend. But most movies will surprise 

you with how they perform over those 

first three weeks. 

After three decades of working every 

Sunday and reporting on the box office, 

what are your plans for the future? 

It’s been a great ride, and I never plan to 

retire. Receiving the Al Shapiro Award 

is an honor, but I will continue until 

they give me the “Paul, Get Out of Town 

Award” after being in this business for 50 

years. I’m so grateful to Bob and Andrew 

Sunshine for giving me this honor at 

ShowEast. It was totally unexpected, and 

I look forward to seeing everyone at the 

event. I’ve been going to ShowEast since 

the early ‘90s, and it’s always one of my 

favorite stops on the calendar. 

“You can’t judge a movie in 

the first three days. You have 

to judge after the first three 

weeks.” 

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Congratulations 

Ron Krueger (Santikos Theatres) 

Salah M. Hassanein 

Humanitarian Award 

Steve Zuehlke (Cinemark) 

International Career 

achievement award 

Joel Davis (Premiere Cinemas) 

Class of 2023 

Hall Of Fame inductee

ShowEast 2023 STEVE ZUEHLKE 

INTERNATIONAL CAREER 

ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 

Steve Zuehlke, Executive Vice President of External Relations 

and Special Projects, Cinemark 

Steve Zuehlke, executive vice 

president of external relations and 

special projects at Cinemark Holdings, 

Inc., receives the International Career 

Achievement Award at this year’s 

ShowEast. He will be presented with this 

special honor as part of the International 

Awards Luncheon on Monday, October 23, 

at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. 

“We are very excited to be able to honor 

Steve for all that he has done throughout 

his career,” stated Film Expo Group 

President Andrew Sunshine. “Steve has 

earned the respect and appreciation of his 

fellow colleagues and is well-deserving of 

this honor.” 

A 50-year motion picture theater 

industry veteran, Zuehlke began his 

illustrious career in the late spring of 

1973, working for an independent theater 

owner in his hometown of Grand Island, 

Nebraska. He continued to pursue his 

career in cinema exhibition through 

college, working for Mann Theatres in 

Fort Collins, Colorado before moving 

to Kansas and Nebraska, working for 

Commonwealth Theatres, and Texas, 

working for Santikos Theaters. In 1988, 

Zuehlke joined the team at Cinemark, 

where he was tapped to lead international 

expansion operations in 1992—starting 

in Chile. He assisted in the opening of 

each of Cinemark’s offices and initial 

theaters throughout Latin America, from 

Mexico to Argentina, as well as in Japan, 

Taiwan, England, and Canada. He was the 

initial country general manager for both 

Cinemark Chile and Cinemark Colombia. 

At the beginning of 2007, after spending 

15 years focused on international 

markets, Zuehlke returned to head up 

operations in the U.S., becoming EVP of 

global operations in 2010. His current role 

with Cinemark is EVP of external relations 

and special projects—focusing on Variety 

- the Children’s Charity, the Will Rogers 

Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, 

and the National Association of Theatre 

Owners (NATO), among other industry-related 

organizations. 

Zuehlke is also a member of multiple 

NATO committees, including the Advisory 

Board, the Conventions Committee (which 

he chairs), and the Government Relations 

and Operations Committees. During the 

pandemic, he was a member of the NATO 

Cinema Reopening Task Force, which 

created the industry-wide CinemaSafe 

protocol. In the past years, he has been 

active in NATO advocacy, traveling to 

Washington, D.C. frequently, as well as to 

state legislative offices. 

Steve has worked with many charities 

in varying capacities over the years, 

including the North Texas chapter of 

the American Diabetes Association and 

the American Cancer Society’s North 

Texas chapter of “CEOs Against Cancer.” 

Zuehlke was named Texan of the Year by 

Variety - the Children’s Charity of Texas 

Zuehlke with Variety of Texas President 

and Executive Director Stacy Bruce at 

the 2023 Texan of the Year Gala 

in 2016; that year, during the gala celebration, 

$460,000 was raised to help children 

with special needs and their families. He 

has served on Variety - the Children’s 

Charity of Texas’s Board for six years and 

as Board chairman from the fall of 2019 

through May of 2023. Zuehlke was elected 

to the Variety - the Children’s Charity’s 

International Board of Directors in July 

2020, to the position of vice president in 

2022, and president in May 2023. 

Zuehlke holds political science and 

economics degrees from Colorado State 

University, has been a cohort advisor for 

varying MBA teams from the University 

of Chicago–Booth and the University of 

Pennsylvania–Wharton, and has guest lectured 

at the University of Denver–Daniels 

Schools of Business. He is a multiple-time 

Ironman Triathlon finisher. 

Zuehlke, with his wife Sue, has three 

adult children and three grandchildren– 

and feels unimaginably fortunate for all 

the blessings a lifelong career in cinema 

has given him. 

“Steve has earned the respect 

and appreciation of his fellow 

colleagues and is welldeserving 

of this honor.” 


Cretors would like to congratulate 

our very own Shelly Olesen 

and all the ShowEast honorees. 


SALAH M. HASSANEIN HUMANITARIAN AWARD 


BINGHAM RAY SPIRIT AWARD 

Steve Zuehlke 

INTERNATIONAL CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 


AL SHAPIRO DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD 

Shelly Olesen 

NAC ICON Award 

Lumma – 4D E-Motion 

TECHNOLOGY AWARD

ShowEast 2023 SHELLY OLESEN 

NAC ICON 

AWARD 

Shelly Olesen, Vice President 

of Sales & Marketing, 

C. Cretors and Company 

Shelly Olesen, the vice president 

of sales & marketing at C. Cretors 

and Company, receives the NAC Icon 

Award at this year’s ShowEast. She will 

be presented with this special honor as 

part of the final night awards ceremony 

sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company on 

Thursday, October 26 at the Loews Miami 

Beach Hotel. 

Before entering the concessions 

industry, Olesen received her Bachelor 

of Science in Elementary Education/ 

Science from the University of Illinois. 

Student teaching abroad in Bath, England 

opened her eyes to the world of travel. To 

date, Shelly and Martin, her Danish-born 

husband of 26 years, have shared their 

passion for travel by visiting all seven 

continents and more than 80 countries. 

Olesen continued to utilize her teaching 

and mentoring skills through her 32 years 

at Cretors, working her way up through the 

ranks from western regional sales representative 

to senior sales manager, senior 

market manager, director of sales and 

marketing, and finally to her current position 

as Cretors’s first female executive vice 

president, directing the company’s overall 

domestic and international commercial 

sales and marketing efforts. 

Olesen has been a member of the 

National Association of Concessionaires 

(NAC) for 32 years and currently sits on 

its executive board. In addition, she is a 

member of the non-profit group Women 

in Exhibition and has received various 

industry honors, including: Friends of 

Exhibition, Person of the Industry, Bert 

Nathan Memorial Award, Key Women 

in Exhibition and Distribution, and Top 

Women in Global Cinema. 

For Shelly Olesen, support and success 

go hand in hand. “As you work to build 

your support foundation in your career…. 

family support is equally if not more 

important.” Olesen believes that the best 

is yet to come; it is her chief aim to share 

the lessons learned through professional 

and personal travel and pay it forward to 

future generations. 

Shelly is married to industry veteran 

Martin Olesen, global sales manager 

for Great Western Products/Mountain 

Manufacturing, a division of PFG. 

“We are very excited to be able to honor 

Shelly for her outstanding contributions 

to the concession and cinema industries,” 

stated Andrew Sunshine, the president of 

the Film Expo Group. “Her dedication and 

hard work in the concessions industry is 

to be commended and celebrated.” 

“Shelly Olesen is a tireless advocate of 

the industry and an exemplary member 

of our Association,” said Rob Novak, 

president of the NAC. “I can think of no 

better description than ICON to capture 

what she has meant both personally and 

professionally to those of us in the world 

of entertainment food and beverage.” 

“We are very excited to be 

able to honor Shelly for her 

outstanding contributions 

to the concession and 

cinema industries.” 


CONGRATS 

TO OUR 

MEMBERS 

RECIEVING 

AWARDS AT 

SHOWEAST 

Rebecca Martin 

VP, Studio Relations & U.S. 

Marketing, Showcase Cinemas 

Coca Cola Empowered Award 

WOMENINEXHIBITION.COM 

@ExhibitionWomen 

@women.in.exhibition 

Women In Exhibition 

Women In Exhibition 

Heather Blair 

Senior Account Manager, Esports & 

Cinema Solutions, LG Electronics 

President & Co-Founder of 

Women in Exhibition 

Erik Lomis Class of 

2023 Hall of Fame 

John Marmo 

VP of Training & Compliance, 


Erik Lomis Class of 2023 

Hall of Fame 

Shelly Olesen 

VP of Sales & Marketing, 

C. Creators & Company 

NAC Icon Award 

Premiere Cinemas Congratulates 

One of Our Own! 

JOEL DAVIS 

Exec. VP of Operations 

Congrats on your induction into 

the 2023 Hall of Fame! 

Congrats also to the fellow inductees: 

Heather Blair, Bill Campbell, Willis, 

Shirley & Chris Johson and John Marmo 


73

SHOWEAST LUMMA 4D E-MOTION 

TECHNOLOGY 

AWARD 

Lumma 4D E-Motion 

Cinema technology provider 

Lumma receives the inaugural 

ShowEast Technology Award for its 

immersive seating concept, 4D E-Motion. 

The technology offers moviegoers motion 

seating with sensory effects like wind, 

water, vibration, scents, and air shots, 

among other effects, synchronized with 

the on-screen action. 

Lumma Audiovisual Engineering 

was founded in 2014 by Marcos Franco, 

Antonela Salvador, Gabriel Castarés, and 

Sebastián Franco. The company began 

as an engineering firm for theme park 

attractions before moving on to develop 

its immersive seating technology for 

cinemas. 4D E-Motion was developed by 

its founders and its interdisciplinary team 

in Argentina and Canada. 

The first 4D E-Motion theaters were 

installed in Argentina in 2016. Since then, 

Lumma has introduced its technology in 

14 different countries in diverse regions, 

such as Latin America, the Middle East, 

Europe, and Africa. 4D E-Motion continues 

to expand into new markets. 

Lumma has partnered with companies 

such as Cinépolis, Cinemark, Multicines, 

Caribbean Cinemas, and Megarama. 

Lumma offers turnkey project installations 

of their immersive technology, 

including feasibility studies, theater 

adaptation, development, production, 

installation, and technical support worldwide. 

On the film side, Lumma’s 4D sync 

department in North Hollywood has a 

team of skilled artists and technicians 

specialized in 4D technology providing 

a seamless integration of a movie’s 4D 

narrative elements. Since 2016, Lumma 

has released over 300 titles using its 4D 

E-Motion technology. 


ShowEast 2023 ERIK LOMIS HALL OF FAME 

ERIK LOMIS 

HALL OF FAME 

INDUCTEES 

This year, ShowEast renames its Hall of Fame in 

honor of the late MGM and United Artists Releasing 

Distribution Chief Erik Lomis, who passed away 

in March of this year. Lomis and the late Classic 

Cinemas founder Willis Johnson posthumously 

join the Hall of Fame, alongside other representatives 

from the exhibition, distribution, and vendor 

communities. 

Erik Lomis ShowEast Hall of Fame Class of 2023 

Heather Blair 

Senior Account Manager, Esports & Cinema Solutions 

LG Electronics 

Erik Lomis (posthumous) 

Executive 

MGM and United Artists 

Bill Campbell 

President 

Orpheum Theatres, Inc. 

John Marmo 

Vice President, Training and Compliance 


Joel Davis, Premiere Cinemas 

COO / VP of Operations 

Premiere Cinema Corp. 

Paul Serwitz 

Veteran Cinema Exeutive 

Willis (posthumous), Shirley, and Chris Johnson 

Classic Cinemas 


THE 

COMPANY WEBEDIA GROUP 

Congratulations to 

ShowEast’s 2023 

award recipients. 

Ernesto Espinosa 

LATAM Distributor of the Year 


Salah M. Hassanein Humanitarian Award 



Steve Zuehlke 

Interantional Career Achievment Award 


Al Shapiro Distinguished Service Award 

Shelly Olesen 

NAC ICON Award 

Rebecca Stein 

The Coca-Cola Empowerment Award 

Lumma | 4D E-Motion 

Technology Award 

Heather Blair 

2023 Hall of Fame Inductee 

John Marmo 


Joel Davis 


Bill Campbell 


Willis, Shirley & Chris Johnson 


Paul Serwitz 


National Amusements Argentina Team 

Enrique Ramirez LATAM Exhibitor of the Year Award

St. Jude patient 

Luna 

Big Screen. Bigger Cause. 

This holiday season, movie theaters around the country and St. Jude are teaming up with some 

of your favorite entertainers and celebrities to help those facing childhood cancer and other lifethreatening 

diseases. When you donate advertising screen time to our St. Jude PSA, you’re letting 

your patrons know you’re committed to fighting childhood cancer. 

St. Jude believes that every child deserves a chance to live their best life and celebrate every 

moment. When you support St. Jude, you help make cures possible for kids with cancer around 

the world that chance. But we can’t do it without your powerful partnership. 

For more information, please visit stjude.org/theaters 

or email chance.weaver@alsac.stjude.org 

©2023 ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (MCC-13795)

Poor Things 80 | Event Cinema Calendar 86 | Booking Guide 88 

ON SCREEN 

“Shooting a film in those sets, the fact that the entire film was shot in 

a studio-built set, was the biggest challenge for me personally, as I had 

never done a film of this scale before.” 

Poor Things, p. 80 


79

ON SCREEN POOR THINGS 

AND 

GOD 

CREATED 

WOMAN 

Cinematographer Robbie Ryan Reunites with 

Yorgos Lanthimos on Poor Things 




81


Yorgos Lanthimos’s films have a 

reputation that precedes them. 

The Greek filmmaker rose to 

prominence on the festival 

circuit with off-beat and fascinating 

films like Dogtooth (2009) and Alps 

(2011) more than a decade ago. His was 

an exciting new voice, a rare filmmaking 

talent who could push and challenge an 

audience without alienating them. His 

transition to Hollywood proved no less 

interesting, with titles like The Lobster 

(2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer 

(2017). Lanthimos achieved breakthrough 

success with mainstream audiences in 

2018 with The Favourite, a film that delivered 

an Academy Award for Best Actress 

to Olivia Colman, while garnering Oscar 

nominations for Best Picture, Director, 

and Supporting Actress (Emma Stone), 

among a slew of others. 

The Favourite also marked the first 

collaboration between Lanthimos and 

cinematographer Robbie Ryan, who 

received his first Academy Award nomination 

for his work on that film. The 

pair is back together for Lanthimos’s 

latest film, Poor Things, which also 

reunites the Greek filmmaker with The 

Favourite co-star Emma Stone in a film 

no less daring. Stone plays Bella, a young 

woman who is brought back to life by 

the eccentric surgeon Dr. Baxter (Willem 

Dafoe). Having no memory of her prior 

life, Bella begins her new existence with a 

blank slate—yearning to ditch the confines 

of her home and discover the world. 

Ryan worked closely with Lanthimos 

to develop the film’s unforgettable, 

dreamlike landscapes. Ryan spoke with 

Boxoffice Pro about bringing those 

vistas to life, and why the film’s unique 

look proved to be one of the biggest 

technical challenges of his career. 

“Working with him is 

like working with a 

cinematographer, because 

he knows so much about film 

and its different formats and 

lenses. I am always learning 

on a daily basis when we 

work together.” 


YORGOS 

LANTHIMOS 

AT THE BOX 

OFFICE 

Numbers reflect 

domestic grosses 

1. 

The Favourite (2019) 

$34.3M 

2. 

The Lobster (2015) 

$9.1M 

3. 

The Killing of a 

Sacred Deer (2017) 

$2.2M 

4. 

Dogtooth (2009) 

$110.2K 

5. 

Alps (2012) 

$16K 

This must have been a fascinating 

challenge for a cinematographer. 

How did you collaborate with Yorgos 

Lanthimos to determine the very 

particular look and feel of this film? 

Poor Things was my second film with 

Yorgos Lanthimos. Working with him 

is like working with a cinematographer, 

because he knows so much about film 

and its different formats and lenses. I am 

always learning on a daily basis when 

we work together. This was a big change 

from our prior film, The Favourite, as the 

approach there was to use only natural 

light in real locations. On Poor Things, 

our entire process was flipped, where we 

ended up using a lot of lights in a set that 

was built in a studio. This film was done 

on a level I had not experienced before. 

Were there any films or other works 

that influenced certain shots or 

sequences? What inspirations did you 

draw from in determining the film’s 

eclectic visual style? 

Well, it’s a film based on a book about a 

Frankenstein-type surgeon, so we did 

look at the scenes of reanimation in 

movies like James Whale’s [The] Bride 

of Frankenstein (1935)—a movie that, I 

must say, is wonderfully shot … James 

Whale was a cinematic genius. Because a 

large segment of Poor Things is set on a 

cruise ship, Yorgos was keen for us to look 

at Federico Fellini’s And the Ship Sails 

On (1983) as a visual reference. We also 

employed many zoom shots throughout 

the film and went back to watch a lot of 

movies by R.W. Fassbinder, who always 

used the zoom to great effect in his films. 

In the black-and-white scenes, I 

was struck by the use of wide-angle 

lenses and iris shots. These distort our 

sense of space as viewers. Can you 

describe how you and the director 

worked to integrate those shots into 

the narrative? 

Yorgos loves to use all types of lenses to 

tell a story. The wide lens, in particular, 

is the type of lens that he tends to lean 

toward. In Poor Things we tested using a 

16 mm 4 mm lens on the 35 mm camera we 

used to shoot. Because the back element 

does not cover the full size of the negative, 

you get this vignette perspective—we 

really liked that look and began to use it 

more and more throughout the shoot. 

Speaking of black-and-white, this 

was your first time shooting in it since 

C’mon C’mon (2021). What lessons did 

you bring from that experience? 

It’s not often that you get to shoot on 

films in black-and-white, so the fact that I 

got the chance to do two in a row was very 

nice. The biggest difference between the 

black-and-white we used for C’mon C’mon 

and Poor Things, is that we shot the latter 

on black-and-white negative—there’s a 

marked difference between the celluloid 

black-and-white we used in Poor Things 

and digital black-and-white we have in 

C’mon C’mon. In my opinion, there is no 


83


competition between the two, as the monochrome 

celluloid is always so beautiful 

to see in the dailies. 

And the color sections have a 

Technicolor-like dreaminess to 

them—a hyperreality that naturally 

brings to mind a movie like The 

Wizard of Oz. What impression were 

you seeking to make with these 

sudden changes in look during these 

different parts of the movie? 

Yorgos was really keen to try out different 

film stocks and negatives, as well as 

reversal [“positive” or slide] stocks. Kodak 

rereleased their Ektachrome reversal 

stock in 16 mm a few years ago, and the 

HBO show “Euphoria,” shot by Marcel Rév, 

had used the stock cut to 35 mm. That’s 

how we were able to get our hands on 

some of this newly cut 35 mm Ektachrome 

from Kodak. As we were shooting in 

Budapest, we were close to the only lab in 

Europe that processed reversal 35 mm, a 

place called Andec in Berlin. This particular 

film stock is quite slow, so we had 

to rent more lights than we had originally 

anticipated in order to get the film 

exposed correctly. It was quite a challenge, 

but the results are really beautiful—it was 

definitely worth the effort! 

You’ve worked with a lot of filmmakers 

who prefer location shooting—how 

much of this film was shot on a 

set, and how did that change your 

approach to shooting? 

All of Poor Things is a set construction. 

The entire feel of the film is meant to 

transport the viewer to an entirely different 

world that feels like it’s part of a 

fantasy. The sets in the film are amazing 

and were a joy to behold. Shona Heath 

and James Price, the designers, made 

stunning sets that brought the film to 

another level. 

Shooting a film in those sets, the fact 

that the entire film was shot in a studio-built 

set, was the biggest challenge 

for me personally, as I had never done 

a film of this scale before. And the techniques 

we were using and applying, as 

I described with our process using the 

Ektachrome film, also contributed to the 

technical and logistical challenges of the 

production. I don’t want to make it seem 

like a complaint—shooting on celluloid 

is my favorite thing in the world, so these 

weren’t really challenges as much as they 

were presents. 

“Shooting a film in those 

sets, the fact that the entire 

film was shot in a studio-built 

set, was the biggest challenge 

for me personally, as I had 

never done a film of this 

scale before.” 


AT THE MOVIES 

WITH ROBBIE 

RYAN 

What is your favorite 

moviegoing memory? 

I’m Irish, so growing up I 

was always excited to go 

to the Savoy 1 on O’Connell 

Street in Dublin. It was a 

huge 2,900-seat purposebuilt 

cinema in the heart of 

Dublin, inaugurated in 1929. 

One of my lasting memories 

of that cinema was that my 

mom’s friend used to work 

in PR for the studio films, 

including all the James Bond 

movies, and she would get 

me tickets to attend press 

screenings for these films. 

This meant going to the 

cinema with a handful of 

journalists at around 9:30 on 

a Tuesday morning, sitting 

in an enormous, empty 

cinema, and getting to 

see a film before anyone 

else did. They would even 

hand out these promotional 

black-and-white production 

stills from the film. It was so 

overwhelming to me growing 

up! The sad thing is they 

have now halved the Savoy 

1 into two cinemas—a big 

mistake, in my opinion. 


85

ON SCREEN EVENT CINEMA CALENDER 

EVENT CINEMA 

CALENDAR 

Updated through September 8, 2023 

Contact distributors for latest listings 

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN 

exhibitiononscreen.com 

VERMEER - THE GREATEST 

EXHIBITION 

Available Now 

Genre: Art 

TOKYO STORIES 

Available Now 

Genre: Art 

FATHOM EVENTS 

fathomevents.com 

855-473-4612 

SPIRITED AWAY – STUDIO GHIBLI 

FEST 2023 

Oct. 28-31, Nov. 1 

Genre: Anime 

GODZILLA 2000 (2023) 

Nov. 1 

Genre: Cult Classics 

FREE (2023) 


Genre: Faith/Inspirational 

THE LAST WALTZ 45TH 

ANNIVERSARY 


Genre: Classics 

K-LOVE LIVE AT RED ROCKS 

Nov. 6, Nov. 7 

Genre: Faith/Inspirational 

AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE TO LEE 

GREENWOOD 


Genre: Music 

SCARFACE 40TH ANNIVERSARY 

(FATHOM’S BIG SCREEN 

CLASSICS) 



MEDICINE MAN: THE STAN BROCK 

STORY 


Genre: Documentary 

The Last Waltz 45th Anniversary 

THE MET LIVE IN HD: X: THE LIFE 

AND TIMES OF MALCOLM X 


Genre: Performing Arts 

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN 25TH 

ANNIVERSARY 



THE METROPOLITAN OPERA: THE 

MAGIC FLUTE HOLIDAY ENCORE 

(2023) 

Dec. 2 


DR. SEUSS’S HOW THE GRINCH 

STOLE CHRISTMAS (2023 RE- 

RELEASE) 

Dec. 3, Dec. 6 


THE MET LIVE IN HD: FLORENCIA 

EN EL AMAZONAS 



A CHRISTMAS STORY 40TH 

ANNIVERSARY (FATHOM’S BIG 

SCREEN CLASSICS) 



THE MET LIVE IN HD: NABUCCO 

Jan. 1, Jan. 10 


THE MET LIVE IN HD: CARMEN 

Jan. 27, Jan. 31 


THE MET LIVE IN HD: LA FORZA 

DEL DESTINO 

Mar. 9, Mar. 13 


THE MET LIVE IN HD: ROMÉO ET 

JULIETTE ENCORE 

Mar. 23, Mar. 27 


THE MET LIVE IN HD: LA RONDINE 

ENCORE 

Apr. 20, Apr. 24 


THE MET LIVE IN HD: MADAMA 

BUTTERFLY ENCORE 

May 11, May 15 


ICONIC EVENTS 

iconicreleasing.com 

GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH 


Genre: Faith/Religion 

AXCN: GHOST IN THE SHELL 

Nov. 8-11 

Genre: Anime 

UFC 295: JONES VS. MIOCIC 


Genre: Live Sports 


MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY 

GRAIL 48 ½ ANNIVERSARY 


Genre: Comedy 

ACXN: TOKYO GODFATHERS 

20TH ANNIVERSARY - SATOSHI 

KON FEST 

Dec. 11-13 

Genre: Anime 

UFC 296 


Genre: Live Sports 

UNTITLED NICOLE RICHIE FILM 

Jan. 19 

Genre: Remake 

AXCN: COWBOY BEBOP: THE 

MOVIE 

Jan. 21-23 

Genre: Anime 

AXCN: PAPRIKA SATOSHI KON 

FEST 

Feb. 7-11 

Genre: Anime 

TRAFALGAR RELEASING 

trafalgar-releasing.com 

THE ROYAL BALLET 2023-24: DON 

QUIXOTE (U.K./INT’L) 



THE MET: LIVE IN HD 2023-24 

SEASON: X: THE LIFE AND TIMES 

OF MALCOLM X (U.K.) 




SEASON: FLORENCIA EN EL 

AMAZONAS (U.K.) 



THE ROYAL BALLET 2023-24: THE 

NUTCRACKER (U.K./INT’L) 




SEASON: NABUCCO (U.K.) 

Jan. 6 


THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE 2023- 

24: RUSALKA (U.K.) 

Jan. 24 


THE ROYAL BALLET 2023-24: 

MANON (U.K./INT’L) 

Feb. 7 



SEASON: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO 

(U.K.) 

Mar. 9 



SEASON: ROMÉO ET JULIETTE 

(U.K.) 

Mar. 23 


THE ROYAL OPERA 2023-24: 

MADAMA BUTTERFLY (U.K./INT’L) 

Mar. 26 


THE ROYAL BALLET 2023-24: 

MACMILLAN CELEBRATED (U.K.) 

Apr. 9 



SEASON: LA RONDINE (U.K.) 

Apr. 20 



CARMEN 

May 1 



SEASON: MADAMA BUTTERFLY 

(U.K.) 

May 11 


THE ROYAL BALLET 2023-24: THE 

WINTER’S TALE (U.K.) 

May 22 


SADLER’S WELLS AND UNIVERSAL 

MUSIC UK: MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE 

(U.K.) 

May 30 



ANDREA CHÉNIER (U.K./INT’L) 

Jun. 11 


The Met: Live In HD 2023-24 Season: Carmen 

The Met: Live In HD 2023-24 Season: Nabucco 

The Met: Live In HD 2023-24 Season: Florencia En El Amazonas 


SEASON: CARMEN (U.K./INT’L) 

Jan. 27 


The Royal Opera 2023-24: Madama Butterfly 


87

ON SCREEN BOOKING GUIDE 

BOOKING 

GUIDE 

Release calendar for theatrical 

distribution in North America 

Release dates are updated through September 27, 2023. 

Please consult distributors to confirm latest listings. 

20TH CENTURY STUDIOS 

310-369-1000 

212-556-2400 

THE BIKERIDERS 

Fri, 12/1/23 WIDE 

Stars: Boyd Holbrook, Tom Hardy 

Director: Jeff Nichols 

Rating: R 

Genre: Dra 

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF 

THE APES 

Fri, 5/24/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: SF 

UNTITLED ALIEN EVENT MOVIE 

Fri, 8/16/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: SF 

THE AMATEUR 

Fri, 11/8/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

AVATAR 3 

Fri, 12/19/25 WIDE 

Director: James Cameron 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Fan/SF 

AVATAR 4 

Fri, 12/21/29 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Adv/SF 

AVATAR 5 

Fri, 12/19/31 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Fan/SF 

A24 

646-568-6015 

DREAM SCENARIO 

Fri, 11/10/23 LTD 

Stars: Nicolas Cage, 

Julianne Nicholson 

Director: Kristoffer Borgli 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com 

THE ZONE OF INTEREST 

Fri, 12/8/23 LTD 

Stars: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller 

Director: Jonathan Glazer 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra/War 

THE IRON CLAW 

Fri, 12/22/23 WIDE 

Stars: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White 

Director: Sean Durkin 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra/Bio 

OCCUPIED CITY 

Fri, 12/25/23 LTD 

Director: Steve McQueen 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Doc 

AMAZON STUDIOS 

SALTBURN 

Fri, 11/24/23 LTD 

Stars: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi 

Director: Emerald Fennell 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra 

Specs: Dolby Atmos 

THE BIKERIDERS 

Fri, 12/1/23 WIDE 


BLEECKER STREET 

WHAT HAPPENS LATER 

Fri, 11/3/23 LTD 

Stars: Meg Ryan, David Duchovny 

Director: Meg Ryan 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Rom/Com 

DISNEY 

818-560-1000 

Ask for Distribution 

THE MARVELS 

Fri, 11/10/23 WIDE 

Stars: Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris 

Director: Nia DaCosta 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/SF/Fan 

Specs: Imax/Dolby Vis/Atmos 

WISH 

Wed, 11/22/23 WIDE 

Stars: Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine 

Director: Chris Buck 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

UNTITLED DISNEY 2024 1 

Wed, 2/14/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

WISH 

Wed, 11/22/23 WIDE 

ELIO 

Fri, 3/1/24 WIDE 

Stars: America Ferrera, 

Jameela Jamil 

Director: Adrian Molina 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE 

Fri, 3/22/24 WIDE 

Stars: Rachel Zegler, Gal Gadot 

Director: Marc Webb 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Fan 

UNTITLED DEADPOOL MOVIE 


Stars: Ryan Reynolds, 

Hugh Jackman 

Director: Shawn Levy 

Rating: NR 


INSIDE OUT 2 

Fri, 6/14/24 WIDE 

Director: Kelsey Mann 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

MUFASA: THE LION KING 


Director: Barry Jenkins 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW 

WORLD 

Fri, 7/26/24 WIDE 

Stars: Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford 

Director: Julius Onah 

Rating: NR 




Rating: NR 

UNTITLED DISNEY ANIMATION 

2024 

Wed, 11/27/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

THUNDERBOLTS 

Fri, 12/20/24 WIDE 

Stars: David Harbour, 

Hannah John-Kamen 

Director: Jake Schreier 

Rating: NR 


BLADE 

Fri, 2/14/25 WIDE 

Stars: Mahershala Ali 

Rating: NR 




Rating: NR 


Fri, 3/21/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

FANTASTIC FOUR 


Director: Matt Shakman 

Rating: NR 



Fri, 5/23/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

UNITTLED PIXAR 

Fri, 6/13/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

MOANA 

Fri, 6/27/25 WIDE 

Stars: Dwayne Johnson 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Adv/Mus 


Fri, 7/25/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 




Rating: NR 


Fri, 11/7/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2025 

Wed, 11/26/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 


Fri, 1/16/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

UNTITLED MARVEL 2026 1 

Fri, 2/13/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


UNITTLED PIXAR 2026 1 


Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 


Fri, 3/27/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


Fri, 4/17/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

AVENGERS: THE KANG DYNASTY 


Director: Destin Daniel Cretton 

Rating: NR 


UNTITLED STAR WARS 2026 1 

Fri, 5/22/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 



89


MGM 

310-724-5678 

Ask for Distribution 

AMERICAN FICTION 

Fri, 11/3/23 LTD 

Director: Cord Jefferson 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com/Dra 

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT 

Mon, 12/25/23 WIDE 

Stars: Joel Edgerton, 

Chris Diamantopoulos 

Director: George Clooney 

Rating: PG-13 

Genre: Dra 

THE BEEKEEPER 

Fri, 1/12/24 WIDE 

Stars: Jason Statham, Jeremy Irons 

Director: David Ayer 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Thr 


THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD 

OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES 

Fri, 11/17/23 WIDE 

THE UNDERDOGGS 

Fri, 1/26/24 WIDE 

Stars: Snoop Dogg 

Director: Charles Stone III 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com 

UNITTLED PIXAR 2026 2 

Fri, 6/19/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 


Fri, 7/10/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


Fri, 7/24/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 



Fri, 8/14/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


Fri, 9/18/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


Fri, 11/6/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 



2026 

Fri, 11/25/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

UNTITLED STAR WARS 2026 2 

Fri, 12/18/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


AVENGERS: SECRET WARS 


Rating: NR 


UNTITLED STAR WARS 2027 

Fri, 12/17/27 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: SF/Fan 

FOCUS FEATURES 

THE HOLDOVERS 

Fri, 10/27/23 LTD 

Stars: Paul Giamatti, 

Da’Vine Joy Randolph 

Director: Alexander Payne 

Rating: R 

Genre: Com 

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS 

Fri, 2/23/24 WIDE 

Stars: Margaret Qualley, 

Geraldine Viswanathan 

Director: Ethan Coen 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com 

GKIDS 

THE BOY AND THE HERON 

Fri, 12/8/23 LTD 

Director: Hayao Miyazaki 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

LIONSGATE 

310-309-8400 

THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD 

OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES 

Fri, 11/17/23 WIDE 

Stars: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler 

Director: Francis Lawrence 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 

IMAGINARY 


Director: Jeff Wadlow 

Rating: NR 

UNSUNG HERO 

Fri, 4/26/24 WIDE 

Stars: Joel Smallbone, Daisy Betts 

Director: Richard Ramsey, 

Joel Smallbone 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra 

BALLERINA 


Stars: Ana de Armas, 

Anjelica Huston 

Director: Len Wiseman 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 

BORDERLANDS 


Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart 

Director: Eli Roth 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/SF 

CHALLENGERS 

Fri, 4/26/24 WIDE 

Stars: Zendaya, Josh O’Connor 

Director: Luca Guadagnino 

Rating: R 

Genre: Dra 


FLINT STRONG 


Stars: Ryan Destiny, 

Brian Tyree Henry 

Director: Rachel Morrison 

Rating: PG-13 

Genre: Dra 

PARAMOUNT 

323-956-5000 

MEAN GIRLS 

Fri, 1/12/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com 

BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE 

Weds, 2/14/24 WIDE 

Stars: Kingsley Ben-Adir, 

Lashana Lynch 

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Bio 

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE 


Director: Michael Sarnoski 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 


IF 

Fri, 5/24/24 WIDE 

Stars: John Krasinski, Ryan Reynolds 

Director: John Krasinski 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com/Fan 

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 8 

Fri, 6/28/24 WIDE 

Stars: Tom Cruise 

Director: Christopher McQuarrie 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 

UNTITLED SMILE SEQUEL 

Fri, 10/18/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 

Fri, 12/20/24 WIDE 

Stars: Jeff Fowler 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 

THE SMURFS MOVIE 

Fri, 2/14/24 WIDE 

Stars: Rihanna 

Director: Chris Miller 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani/Mus 

THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: 

SEARCH FOR SQUAREPANTS 

Fri, 5/23/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES 

212-556-2400 

NEXT GOAL WINS 

Fri, 11/17/23 WIDE 

Stars: Elisabeth Moss, 

Michael Fassbender 

Director: Taika Waititi 

Rating: PG-13 

Genre: Com 

MAGAZINE DREAMS 

Fri, 12/8/23 LTD 

Stars: Jonathan Majors, 

Haley Bennett 

Director: Elijah Bynum 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra 

SONY 

212-833-8500 

JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM 

Fri, 11/10/23 WIDE 

Stars: Fiona Palomo, 

Antonio Banderas 

Director: Adam Anders 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Mus 


THANKSGIVING 

Fri, 11/17/23 WIDE 

Stars: Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque 

Director: Eli Roth 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

TRANSFORMERS ONE 

Fri, 9/13/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

UNTITLED GLADIATOR SEQUEL 

Fri, 11/22/24 WIDE 

Stars: Paul Mescal 

Director: Ridley Scott 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Dra 

UNTITLED AANG AVATAR FILM 

Fri, 10/10/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS 

323-882-8490 

THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER 

Fri, 11/3/23 LTD 

POOR THINGS 

Fri, 12/8/23 LTD 

Stars: Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe 

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos 

Rating: R 

Genre: Rom/SF 

ALL OF US STRANGERS 

Fri, 12/22/23 LTD 

Stars: Jamie Bell, Paul Mescal 

Director: Andrew Haigh 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra/Fan 

NAPOLEON 

Wed, 11/22/23 LTD 

Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, 

Vanessa Kirby 

Director: Ridley Scott 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra/His 

Specs: Imax / Dolby Atmos 

ANYONE BUT YOU 

Fri, 12/15/23 WIDE 

Stars: Sydney Sweeney, Glen Powell 

Director: Will Gluck 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Rom/Com 

NAPOLEON 

Wed, 11/22/23 LTD 


91


THE BOOK OF CLARENCE 

Fri, 1/12/24 WIDE 

Stars: LaKeith Stanfiel, Omar Sy 

Director: Jeymes Samuel 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Adv/Dra 

UNTITLED CRUNCHYROLL/SONY 

Fri, 1/26/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

COLEEN HOOVER’S IT ENDS WITH 

US 


Stars: Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni 

Director: Justin Baldon 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Rom/Dra 

MADAME WEB 

Wed, 2/14/24 WIDE 

Stars: Dakota Johnson 

Director: S.J. Clarkson 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Adv/Fan 

Specs: Imax, Dolby Atmos 

GHOSTBUSTERS SEQUEL 

Fri, 3/29/24 WIDE 

Director: Gil Kenan 

Rating: NR 

Specs: Dolby Vis/Atmos 

HAROLD AND THE PURPLE 

CRAYON 


Stars: Zachary Levi, 

Zooey Deschanel 

Director: Carlos Saldanha 

Rating: PG 

Genre: Fam 

UNTITLED KENDRICK BROTHERS 

FILM 

Fri, 8/23/24 WIDE 

Director: Alex Kendrick 

Rating: NR 

KRAVEN THE HUNTER 

Fri, 8/30/24 WIDE 

Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, 

Russell Crowe 

Director: J.C. Chandor 

Rating: NR 


Specs: Imax, Dolby Vis/Atmos 

UNTITLED SONY/MARVEL 

UNIVERSE 2024 

Fri, 11/8/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Specs: Imax 

KARATE KID 

Fri, 12/13/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 


UNTITLED SONY/MARVEL LIVE 

ACTION 2025 

Fri, 6/27/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Specs: Imax 

UNIVERSAL 

818-777-1000 

TROLLS BAND TOGETHER 

Fri, 11/17/23 WIDE 

Stars: Anna Kendrick, 

Justin Timberlake 

Director: Walt Dohrn 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 


MIGRATION 

Fri, 12/22/23 WIDE 

Stars: Kumail Nanjiani, 

Elizabeth Banks 

Director: Benjamin Renner 

Rating: PG 

Genre: Ani 


NIGHT SWIM 


Stars: Wyatt Russell, Kerry Condon 

Directors: Bryce McGuire, 

Rod Blackhurst 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

ARGYLLE 


Stars: Henry Cavill, John Cena 

Director: Matthew Vaughn 

Rating: NR 



UNTITLED UNIVERSAL EVENT FILM 

2024 1 

Wed, 2/14/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

THE FALL GUY 


Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt 

Director: David Leitch 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 


KUNG FU PANDA 4 


Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

MY EX-FRIENDS WEDDING 

Fri, 5/10/24 WIDE 

Stars: Ariana DeBose, 

Chloe Fineman 

Director: Kay Cannon 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com 

GARFIELD 

Fri, 5/24/24 WIDE 

Stars: Chris Pratt, Samuel L. Jackson 

Director: Mark Dindal 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

UNTITLED BAD BOYS SEQUEL 

Fri, 6/14/24 WIDE 

Stars: Will Smith, Martin Lawrence 

Directors: Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 

HORRORSCOPE 

Fri, 6/28/24 WIDE 

Stars: Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley 

Directors: Spenser Cohen, 

Anna Halberg 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

UNTITLED VENOM SEQUEL 

Fri, 7/12/24 WIDE 

Stars: Tom Hardy 

Kelly Marcel 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Adv/Fan 

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE 

Fri, 1/12/24 WIDE 


MIGRATION 

Fri, 12/1/23 WIDE 


2024 2 


Director: M. Night Shyamalan 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Thr 


2024 3 

Fri, 4/19/24 WIDE 


2024 4 

Fri, 5/17/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2024 5 

Fri, 6/21/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

DESPICABLE ME 4 

Wed, 7/3/24 WIDE 

Stars: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig 

Director: Chris Renaud 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

TWISTERS 

Fri, 7/19/24 WIDE 

Director: Lee Isaac Chung 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Adv 

SPEAK NO EVIL 


Stars: James McAvoy 

Director: James Watkins 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

UNTITLED BLUMHOUSE 

PRODUCTIONS PROJECT 2024 1 

Fri, 9/13/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

UNTITLED MONKEYPAW 

HORROR/THRILLER 

Fri, 9/27/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor/Thr 

UNTITLED BLUMHOUSE 

PRODUCTIONS PROJECT 2024 2 

Fri, 10/18/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

WICKED PART 1 

Wed, 11/27/24 WIDE 

Stars: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo 

Director: Jon M. Chu 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Mus 

UNTITLED FOURTH FILM 

DIRECTED BY JORDAN PEELE 

Wed, 12/25/24 WIDE 

Director: Jordan Peele 

Rating: NR 

M3GAN 2.0 

Fri, 1/17/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Thr/Hor 


2025 1 

Fri, 2/14/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 

Fri, 3/14/25 WIDE 

Director: Dean DeBlois 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 


2025 2 

Fri, 4/11/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

THE EXORCIST: DECEIVER 

Fri, 4/18/25 WIDE 

UNTITLED BLUMHOUSE EVENT 

FILM 2025 2 

Rating: NR 


2025 3 

Fri, 6/13/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2025 4 


Rating: NR 

UNTITLED UNIVERSAL ANIMATED 

EVENT FILM 2025 

Fri, 9/26/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 


FILM 2025 2 

Fri, 10/17/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

UNTITLED UNIVERSAL FAMILY 


Fri, 11/21/25 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Fam 

WICKED PART 2 

Wed, 11/26/25 WIDE 

Stars: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo 

Director: Jon M. Chu 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Mus 


2026 1 

Fri, 1/16/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2026 2 

Fri, 2/13/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


93



FILM 2026 1 

Fri, 3/13/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2026 3 


Rating: NR 


2026 4 

Fri, 6/12/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2026 5 


Rating: NR 

UNTITLED UNIVERSAL ANIMATED 


Fri, 9/25/26 WIDE 


FILM 2026 2 

Fri, 10/16/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2026 6 

Fri, 11/13/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 


2026 7 

Wed, 12/23/26 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

WARNER BROS. 

818-977-1850 

WONKA 

Fri, 12/15/23 WIDE 

Stars: Timothée Chalamet 

Director: Paul King 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Fan 

Specs: Imax 

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST 

KINGDOM 

Wed, 12/20/23 WIDE 

Stars: Jason Momoa, Patrick Wilson 

Director: James Wan 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/SF/Fan 


THE COLOR PURPLE 

Fri, 12/25/23 WIDE 

Stars: Corey Hawkins, 

Taraji P. Henson 

Director: Blitz Bazawule 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Mus 

THE WISE GUYS 


Stars: Robert DeNiro, Debra Messing 

Director: Barry Levinson 

Rating: Dra 

DUNE: PART TWO 

Fri, 3/15/24 WIDE 

Stars: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya 

Director: Denis Villeneuve 

Rating: NR 

Genre: SF 


MICKEY 17 

Fri, 3/29/24 WIDE 

Stars: Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun 

Director: Bong Joon Ho 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/Dra/SF 

GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW 

EMPIRE 

Fri, 4/12/24 WIDE 

Director: Adam Wingard 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/SF 

Specs: Imax 

FURIOSA 

Fri, 5/24/24 WIDE 

Stars: Anya Taylor-Joy, 

Chris Hemsworth 

Director: George Miller 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act 

THE WATCHERS 


Director: Ishana Night Shyamalan 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Thr 

UNTITLED DC EVENT FILM 2024 

Fri, 6/21/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

UNTITLED NEW LINE HORROR 

EVENT FILM 2024 1 

Fri, 7/12/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Hor 

TRAP 


Director: M. Night Shyamalan 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Thr 

AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM 

Wed, 12/20/23 WIDE 


BEETLEUICE 2 


Stars: Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Com 

JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX 

Fri, 10/4/24 WIDE 

Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga 

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Dra/Thr 

UNTITLED WB EVENT FILM 2024 

Fri, 11/8/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE 

WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM 

Fri, 12/13/24 WIDE 

Director: Kenji Kamiyama 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani/Fan 

MINECRAFT 


Stars: Jason Momoa 

Director: Jared Hess 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Ani 

SUPERMAN: LEGACY 

Fri, 7/25/25 WIDE 

Director: James Gunn 

Rating: NR 

Genre: Act/ADv 

THE BATMAN PART II 

Fri, 10/3/25 WIDE 

Stars: Robert Pattinson 

Director: Matt Reeves 

Rating: NR 


UNTITLED WB EVENT FILM 2025 

Fri, 12/19/25 WIDE 

UNTITLED NEW LINE EVENT FILM 

2024 4 

Fri, 12/20/24 WIDE 

Rating: NR 

THE COLOR PURPLE 

Fri, 12/25/23 WIDE 

Hey, if Google, TikTok, 

and IMDb can count on 

us, your theater can too. 

Scan the QR code 

to find out more. 


95

MARKETPLACE 

Our Sponsors 

Advertiser 

CineAsia 20 

Cinionic 

Page 

BC 

Cretors 5, 71 

Entertainment Supply Tech 8 

GDC 21 

Gold Medal 68 

ICE Theaters 28 

Packaging Concepts 57 

Premiere Cinema Corp. 73 

Proctor 57 

Ready Theatre 34 

Ricos 69 

Screenvision 50, 51 

Sharp NEC 11 

ShowEast 31 

Spotlight 31 

St Jude 78 

Strong MDI 1, 75 

Telescopic Seating 

IFC, IBC 

The Boxoffice Company 27, 35, 46, 77, 95 

Women in Exhibition 73 

Image Credits & Acknowledgments 

Cover: Photos by Chorus Photography, courtesy The 

Colonial Theatre 

Page 3: Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of Searchlight 

Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved. 

Page 4: Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of Searchlight 

Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved. 

Page 9, 13: Photo by Leslie Schwartz, courtesy Classic 

Cinemas 

Page 10: Photo courtesy Marcus Theatres 

Page 12: Photo by Miles Boone, courtesy NATO 

Page 14: Photo courtesy Miraj Cinemas 

Page 15: Copyright Grayjay Photography 

Page 16: Photo courtesy Cinionic 

Page 22: Photo by Irwin Thompson, courtesy Variety of Texas 

Page 25-26: Courtesy Canadian Picture Pioneers 

Page 29: Courtesy of The Mahoning Drive-In Theater 

Page 32–34: Photos courtesy Warehouse Cinemas 

Page 37: Photo by Victoria Stevens, courtesy Alamo 

Drafthouse 

Page 38–39: Photos by Chorus Photography, courtesy The 

Colonial Theatre 

Page 40–41, 45: Courtesy of The Mahoning Drive-In Theater 

Page 42: Courtesy of Mann Theatres 

Page 43–44: Courtesy of Aviation Cinemas 

Page 47: Photo courtesy National Amusements Argentina 

Page 48: Courtesy Film Expo Group 

Page 52–56: Courtesy Showcase Cinemas US 

Page 58–59: Photos courtesy National Amusements Argentina 

Page 60: FRANK RODRIGUEZ 

Page 61: Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of 

Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights 

Reserved. 

Page 62: Photo by Eric Zachanowich. Courtesy of 

Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights 

Reserved. 

Page 63: Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gayle. Courtesy of 

Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights 

Reserved. 

Page 64: Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2020 

20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved 

Page 65: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th 

Century Studios All Rights Reserved. 

Page 67: Photo courtesy Film Expo Group 

Page 70: Photo by Irwin Thompson, courtesy Variety of Texas 

Page 72: Photo courtesy C. Cretors and Company 

Page 74: Photo courtesy Lumma 

Page 76: Erik Lomis photo courtesy Ryan Miller / Capture 

Imaging; Photos courtesy Film Expo Group, Miles Boone 

(Classic Cinemas) 

Page 79, 83, 85: Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. Courtesy of 


Reserved. 

Page 80-82, 84: Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. Courtesy of 


Reserved. 

Page 83: Courtesy Searchlight Pictures 

Page 86: Courtesy Fathom events 

Page 87: Photo: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera; Photo: Marty 

Sohl/Metropo; Photo: Paola Kudacki / Met Opera; Photo: 

Richard Termine / Met Opera 

Page 88: Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2023 

20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. 

Page 89: © 2023 Disney. All Rights Reserved. 

Page 90: Murray Close, courtesy Lionsgate 

Page 91: Photo by: Aidan Monaghan, ©2023 Apple 

Page 92: Photo by Moris Puccio. © 2023 Legendary 

Entertainment. All rights reserved. 

Page 93: © 2023 Illumination Entertainment and Universal 

Studios. 

Page 94: Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights 

Reserved. TM & © DC Courtesy Warner Bros Pictures/ & 

© DC Comics 

Page 95: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights 

Reserved. Photo Credit: Ser Baffo 

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