Category: Reel Blog

NATO’s 2024 Fall Summit Conveys Optimism For A Bright Future
By Michael O’Leary
President & CEO, National Association of Theatre Owners

The 2024 Fall Summit brought together more than 300 exhibitors in Los Angeles from September 23-26 for a week full of meetings, presentations, panel discussions, screenings, and networking events that were focused on the future of our great industry

We came to Los Angeles with our vision clearly set on a bright future for exhibition and on fans who love movies on the big screen. The Summit did not disappoint as the optimism for the future was palpable. As the box office continues to rebound, exhibitors across the country continue to create great experiences for moviegoers to enjoy. We have the wind at our backs for the first time in a while. 

I want to thank all our members who volunteer their time to support NATO, The Cinema Foundation, and CinemaCon. You take time out of your busy schedules to help make sure this great industry thrives. We could not make the Fall Summit – or anything we do – a success without you.

The passion and innovative ideas that members conveyed in 1-on-1 conversations and on panels are truly inspiring. This industry is incredibly creative and dynamic, and the entire team at NATO is committed to promoting you each day. Our “Investing in Ourselves” panel—moderated by B&B’s Brock Bagby and featuring Salt Lake Film Society’s Tori A. Baker, Cinema Lab’s Brandon Jones, Emagine Entertainment’s Ally Smith—provided many examples of creativity in our space.

A vibrant future requires us to be clear about the challenges, and to be intentional in how we address them. This industry works best when we have open lines of communication with our partners in distribution. I applaud Jeff Goldstein and Andrew Cripps of Warner Bros for their candor when answering important questions about the future of our industry. Jeff and Andrew are true champions of the theatrical experience. On a separate panel, NEON’s Tom Quinn, Focus Features’ Peter Kujawski, and Searchlight’s Matthew Greenfield addressed the state of mid-budget and specialty films and how confident they are in the future of this important part of the theatrical ecosystem. We need all aspects of distribution to excel! 

Our film screenings at the Summit showed just how diverse and strong the upcoming slate is: Sony’s frenzied and fun Saturday Night, Paramount’s action-packed Gladiator II, and Universal’s highly anticipated new musical Wicked. The commitment from distribution to releasing films for theatre continues to be strong and it on full display during the week. I know that members felt energized by all three films.

During our visit to SONY, it was an honor to welcome acclaimed filmmaker Jason Reitman to the NATO family and to the Independent Theatre Owners Coalition (ITOC). Jason, along with a group of legendary directors including Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg, recently purchased the legendary Village Theatre in Westwood. Jason’s passion for the big-screen experience comes through in a big way, and he fits right in among the NATO membership. Jason shared a moving story about watching Ghostbusters: Afterlife at CinemaCon with his late father, Ivan Reitman, and how he’ll never forget the crowd’s reaction to a movie he made for his dad. Welcome, Jason, and we all look forward to all the great things in store for the Village Theatre.

For the NATO team, the Fall Summit is not just a welcome chance to catch-up with NATO members, it also signals the end of the summer movie season, and the time when we turn our focus to thinking about the coming year and how we are going to capitalize on the opportunities before us. As I noted at the Summit, we are at long last in a welcome period of “normalcy.”  For the first time in almost five years, we are not dealing with the impact of outside factors on the marketplace. Rather, we are welcoming an increasing number of movie fans, looking at ways to enhance the experience of all those fans, and showing them a wide range of top-quality movies. In other words, you are getting to be theatre operators once again. The future holds much promise, both for this fall and into 2025. Now is the time for us to leave the pessimism and cynicism of the past to history and move deliberately to define ourselves and our role in the next century of filmed entertainment. Let’s build on the enthusiasm and optimism of the Fall Summit and continue to innovate and show the world that there simply is no other entertainment experience like a movie on a big screen in a theatre full of people.

NATO’s The Cinema Foundation hosted a session at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6 titled “How Theatres are Event-izing the Moviegoing Experience.”  

Moderated by Bryan Braunlich, Executive Director of The Cinema Foundation, the TIFF event was a standing-room-only session, featuring RogerEbert.com film critic Monica Castillo (who is also senior film programmer for the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY), Sara Moore, the Chief Marketing Officer for Cineplex Entertainment, and Erik Davis, Director of Social Content & Strategy for Fandango. The panelists shared observations, anecdotes and data on how elevated concessions and rewards, community connection, live entertainment, creator engagement, alternative content, must-have merchandise, and memorable in-theatre activations are all contributing to moviegoing enjoyment. Many thanks to the TIFF industry Conference Team, Beth Janson at The Cinema Foundation, and Michelle Saba at Cineplex for their support in putting together a fantastic event.

Amanda Martin brings a distinctive background to her role as the National Association of Theatre Owners’ Chief of Staff, including experience in the video game industry and the U.S. Congress. Martin previously worked with Michael O’Leary, NATO president and CEO, at the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). Before her time at the ESA, she worked as district staff for Eric Swalwell, a California congressman. Martin’s familial ties to the movie theatre industry have provided a meaningful connection to her work at NATO, marking a significant chapter in her professional journey.

What are your core responsibilities as chief of staff at NATO?

My biggest responsibility is helping to manage the strategic and operational direction of NATO. I work closely with all of the great people at NATO and theatre owners on various issues.  An important example is our three-year strategic plan. I work closely with the NATO Strategic Planning Committee, NATO members, and NATO staff to implement the plan. I have projects that I am responsible for, but I am also here to support and help everyone at NATO to be successful. I also work closely with Michael as a sounding board to help him focus on the organization’s priorities.

What specific initiatives are you working on that you are excited about?

We are always focused on providing value to our members. This year, we launched a webinar series to promptly educate our members on important issues. It’s an ever-evolving project where the NATO team identifies meaningful topics, puts together panels, and executes the webinar. This has been a fun and rewarding effort that directly benefits our members. 

You came to exhibition from the video game industry. Did you take anything from your time in video games that has helped you in this industry?

My biggest takeaway from the video game industry is their commitment to innovation. Video games are a relatively new form of entertainment, but I was amazed at how many companies don’t just view their video games as entertainment. They use them in education, military training, medical training, and even disease treatment. That innovative thinking and use of entertainment in nontraditional ways to help people is something I like to explore with my approach to exhibition. 

You led the effort to create the “Behind the Screens: Faces of Exhibition” video series that was a hit at CinemaCon. What did you learn from that process?  

“Behind the Screens” was an amazing project to work on. The process showed me the power of telling our members’ stories and that our members’ stories resonate and inspire people outside of exhibition. I think of Emelyn Stuart, who initially got into exhibition because she wanted a place to see the stories she cared about. How many people across the country and globally can be inspired by and relate to going out and filling a gap in their community? Or Shankweiler’s Drive-in, where Lauren McChesney and Matt McClanahan saw that a drive-in they loved would be sold to a developer. They didn’t want to lose that important cultural hub for their community, so they bought and now operate that theatre. As an advocate, I talk about theatres’ cultural and economic impact, but the stories in these videos make it real, and people responded positively to them.

When you look to the future, what is the most important thing NATO can do for exhibition? 

One of the core things any successful trade association must do is prioritize education for its members, making them aware of trends, new technologies, and innovations by other exhibitors and outside industries. We launched the webinar series, the ITOC calls, education at CinemaCon, and the Fall Summit as a way for NATO to help our members look forward. Everything we do should help our members succeed in the marketplace.

In your capacity, you work with many NATO members of all sizes and from different places around the world. What is your biggest takeaway from the theatre owners you talk with?

The greatest joy I have in interacting with members of all sizes is seeing their passion for the industry and the theatrical experience. Our members from big cities, small towns, and across the globe are always innovating and looking to elevate the experience for moviegoers. They are also willing to jump in and volunteer to help—not just the NATO staff but their fellow members—and it has been a driving force behind the work we do here at NATO.

In addition to being chief of staff, you are also a government affairs advocate for exhibition at the state and federal level. Tell us about that. Is it something you enjoy?

I have always had an interest and passion for politics, for better or for worse, so scratching that advocacy itch on the state and federal level has been fun. I was eighth-grade class president, ran a political club in college, worked on campaigns, and worked for my local congressional member, so it is nice I have been able to do this throughout my career. The political nerd in me still gets excited to go up to Capitol Hill and talk with congressional staffers.

You worked for a member of Congress, in the video game industry, and now in exhibition. Was there a point in your career or background when you thought you might work in the movie industry?

I never thought I would work in the movie industry, but it became a full-circle moment for me and my family. rom the ‘60s to the ‘90s, my grandpa Ralph L. Martin and family owned several movie theatres and drive-ins in California, mostly in the Bay Area and Central California, and many were devoted to Spanish language movies. They ran the gamut. My grandpa worked at his first theatre in Mountain View, California, with his uncle in the 1930s. Later on, he owned theatres with former NATO Chair Phil Harris, and with longtime family friend, NATO member Jerry Harrah.

On Wednesday, August 7th, the NATO Technology Committee, represented by Matt Basford (Regal), Cynthia Pierce (AMC), Brock Bagby (B&B), Kirk Griffin (Harkins), Chris Johnson (Classic Cinemas), and Mark Latimer (AMC) spent a day in Los Angeles visiting with studio leaders at Disney, Universal, Warner Bros. and Paramount, as well as DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives). Michael O’Leary and Erin Von Hoetzendorff also joined the meetings.

The NATO delegation discussed important topics of mutual interest between exhibitors and studios regarding the ever-evolving landscape of cinema presentation technology. These meetings were a collaborative effort that recognizes the shared interest of exhibition and distribution to ensure that audiences continue to have the best moviegoing experiences in cinema auditoriums across the world. Topics ranged from captioning on trailers to immersive audio and high dynamic range images. Given the rapid pace of technological advancement in cinema, these were another set of constructive discussions, and something the tech committee plans to continue to build on in the future.

NATO members can tune in for a recap of the meetings and important technology updates from the Tech Committee leaders on Wednesday, August 21 at 9:30 am PT/12:30 pm ET. 

By Michael O’Leary
President & CEO, National Association of Theatre Owners

As we enter the final weeks of the summer season, this is a moment to take stock of where the theatrical exhibition business stands and how we have performed against the expectations that were set in January. While predictions are always that the sky is falling for theatrical, the truth is that our industry continues to demonstrate adaptability and resilience–amidst wholesale reinvention and change in the entertainment industry–that should give both movie fans and investors optimism for the future. 

First, we entered 2024 knowing that the 2023 labor impasse would be a temporary setback, and we responded by finding new ways to bring consumers through the doors during a difficult time. The impact of the strike was real, but it was also simply the latest hurdle for our industry to overcome. Our industry has not had a “normal” marketplace for a meaningful period in nearly five years.  But the success we are seeing this summer–setting box office records for the biggest animated film of all time (Inside Out 2) and the biggest domestic R-rated movie of all time (Deadpool & Wolverine)–is a strong signal that audience loyalty endures when theatres deliver a viewing experience that can’t be found anywhere else. The release of fewer new movies was a temporary setback, not a new reality. 

Second, we saw continued evidence this year that studios of all sizes are committed to the theatrical experience. Why? Because they understand that the return on investment for a single movie—both culturally and economically—cannot be realized without a robust theatrical release. This is truer than ever in our fractured media environment. 

Third, young audiences–one of the most desired demographics with the most competing demands on their entertainment time–continue to enthusiastically seek out the big screen. 18-24 year olds made up 31% of Deadpool & Wolverine‘s record-setting $211 million debut, which made them the largest age group to embrace the superhero flick. For Inside Out 2, 51% of the audience was between 18-34, and the largest age group was 13-17 years old with 31%.  Last year, young audiences embraced the Barbenheimer phenomenon: 18-24 year olds were the biggest part of Barbie‘s opening weekend with a 27% share, while 18-24 year olds also led all demos with 33% of Oppenheimer‘s debut. The suggestion that young people are not going to the theatre is incorrect. Like audiences of all ages, young people respond when there is something compelling to see. Through dynamic social media campaigns, movie theatres have been able to build a relationship with their customers–particularly young customers–online that creates loyalty and enthusiasm. These campaigns produce a cultural impact that no other out-of-home entertainment option can come close to matching.

Finally, it’s important to recognize that the structure of our industry is constantly changing. While there are fewer movie screens in the United States than there were a few years ago, that doesn’t tell the whole story. Many closed theatres are purchased, upgraded, and successfully re-opened. The total number has always ebbed and flowed, and that is true today as well. But the reality is that theatres are economic anchors in communities around the world, generating more spending in the restaurants and stores around them. There is so much great innovation taking place across the country to provide consumers of all ages the experiences they want. Ultimately, the marketplace will set the number of screens as it always has, but the enthusiasm for moviegoing remains strong.

As an industry, theatrical has demonstrated a resilience and consistency that make us well equipped to continue to evolve and thrive as the entire entertainment industry continues to grapple with change and reinvention.