I walked by a closed theatre and wondered what would that be like to do that. I had run the student union at Columbia University and I had owned my own deli, so there were a lot of things I understood, but I didn’t know how to project a movie and had no movie business experience. When my wife and I toured the theater, we noticed the seats were fabric, so we tested the cleaning process of the seats. That made the landlord like me, because he knew we were planning on taking really great care of the theater.

I love getting to know the customers, seeing how movies affect them, and what makes them tick.

So so many. Being an MC at an intimate lunch for 1300 people at ShoWest was definitely a highlight. I also was blow away when we started a fundraising campaign for new seats, which we coined “Save our Butts” and the community rallied together to support us. It was incredible.

Here’s one: We hosted a Variety DC event, screening Downton Abbey: A New Era. It was sold out and 90% of attendees had costumes. We served tea and crumpets. The audience cheered and responded to the film throughout.

I also loved going to Rocky Horror with my daughter and doing the Time Warp dance (which we also did together at her wedding).

My hope is the industry reaches an equilibrium of movies in theatres (with good windows) with movies being streamed. I am a glass-half-full person and believe we will continue to thrive with new ideas to continue to make moviegoing a part of our every day lives

Be willing to take risks, be social media literate, be patient, have a sense of humor, and be a people lover