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CinemaCon: NATO Chief Urges Studios To Produce More Family-Friendly Films

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 10:48am PDTTags: CinemaCon, John Fithian, National Association Of Theatre Owners

“PG-13 represents the sweet spot” for theaters, National Association of Theater Owners CEO John Fithian told a CinemaCon audience this morning. Last year there were only about a third as many PG films as R-rated ones, but they collectively generated nearly equal box office sales. The message: “Make more family friendly films and fewer R-rated titles,” Fithian says. “Americans have stated their choice.” He also wants studios to spread out their releases instead of focusing on holidays. “Any month can produce a $100M movie” he says noting the success Warner Bros had in October with Argo, Sony had in August with The Bourne Legacy, and Lionsgate had in March with The Hunger Games. “In most if not all of those cases, distribution in off months produced higher returns.”

Related: CinemaCon: Theaters Need To Focus More On Baby Boomers, Researcher Says

The exhibition trade show chief also says that studios focus too much on men, and need to make more films for women and minorities. For example, Latinos are the top movie goers on a per capita basis. Fithian says that theaters are doing their part by diversifying the concessions they offer. “In many locations it is not dinner and a movie, it’s dinner at the movies.” And he congratulated NATO’s New York chapter for suing to block NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-obesity effort to control sales of super-sized sugar drinks. “Cinema patrons deserve the freedom to choose their food….without the government choosing for you.”

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CinemaCon: MPAA And NATO Unveil Ratings Awareness Campaign

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 10:30am PDTTags: CinemaCon, MPAA, National Association Of Theatre Owners

Related: MPAA’s Chris Dodd Asks Theater Owners To Step Up Anti-Piracy PR

LAS VEGAS – MPAA Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd delivered remarks today at CinemaCon, the annual National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) convention. During his address, Senator Dodd together with NATO President John Fithian revealed a new campaign intended to remind parents about the important tools at their disposal which allow them to make educated decisions about content appropriate for their children.

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Cinedigm Unveils Agreements To Outfit Drive-In Theaters With Digital Projectors

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday April 12, 2013 @ 9:41am PDTTags: Cinedigm, Digital Cinema, Drive-in theatres, National Association Of Theatre Owners, NATO

This is a fun announcement for the exhibition industry in the lead-up to next week’s CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. Cinedigm and the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) say that the company will help more than 100 … Read More »

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Lack Of Family Films Accounts For Slow Q1 Box Office, Theater Industry Rep Says

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday March 21, 2013 @ 2:06pm PDTTags: Box Office, John Fithian, National Association Of Theatre Owners, NATO

Attendance takes off when there’s a diversity of films and it was “just not there” in the beginning of 2013, National Association of Theater Owners chief John Fithian said in a conference call to discuss the MPAA’s … Read More »

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NATO Says Safety Is “A Priority For Theater Owners”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday July 20, 2012 @ 8:31am PDTTags: National Association Of Theatre Owners

This statement was just released by the National Association of Theater Owners, the exhibition trade group:

“On behalf of all the members and staff of the National Association of Theatre Owners, our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of this despicable act and their families. We are grateful

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NATO Adds Ex-Universal Exec Jerry Pierce As Tech Consultant

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday June 20, 2012 @ 9:49am PDTTags: National Association Of Theatre Owners

(Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain and North Hollywood, Calif., USA, June 20, 2012) — The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) announced today that Jerry Pierce, former Senior Vice President of Universal Pictures and Founder/Chairman of Inter-Society’s Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF), will begin advising and consulting for NATO on technology issues starting July 1, 2012.

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NATO Threatens Weinstein Co With NC-17 Rating For ‘Bully’

By BRIAN BROOKS | Tuesday February 28, 2012 @ 2:50pm PSTTags: Bully, National Association Of Theatre Owners, The Weinstein Company

The fight over Bully continues, with the National Association of Theatre Owners now making its own threats. News came out last week that the MPAA upheld its R-rating for The Weinstein Company’s Tribeca 2011 doc about school bullying and since then the Weinstein Co has considered releasing the doc unrated and even to boycott the MPAA altogether, a move could have implications for its future releases. If TWC indeed goes ahead with releasing the film unrated, NATO said today in a letter to Weinstein boss Harvey Weinstein that it will urge members to consider the Lee Hirsch-directed film an NC-17 movie. In the letter (see below), NATO president and CEO John Fithian said he would “have no choice but to encourage my theater owner members to treat unrated movies from The Weinstein Company in the same manner as they treat unrated movies from anyone else. In most cases, that means enforcement as though the movies were rated NC-17 — where no one under the age of 18 can be admitted even with accompanying parents or guardians.” Read More »

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Movie Ticket Prices Up 0.5% In 2011

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday February 9, 2012 @ 12:43pm PSTTags: Movie ticket prices, National Association Of Theatre Owners

The average moviegoer paid $7.93 for a ticket last year — just 4 cents more than in 2010, the smallest year-over-year increase since 1994 when prices fell 1.4% — according to data released today by the National Association of Theatre … Read More »

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Movie Ticket Prices Are Up, But People Spent Less In 3Q For 3D

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Tuesday November 1, 2011 @ 1:23pm PDTTags: Film Tickets, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, National Association Of Theatre Owners, Regal, The Lion King 3D

Is the price of movie tickets falling? Of course not. It may not look that way in 3Q: The average amount that consumers spent was $7.94, down from $8.06 in 2Q, the National Association of Theatre Owners reports today. But … Read More »

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Latest Push From Industry Anti-Piracy Group Creative America Includes PSA

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday October 18, 2011 @ 12:21pm PDTTags: AFL-CIO, Creative America, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, FilmL.A., National Association Of Theatre Owners, NATO, NBCUniversal, PGA, Producers Guild of America, PSA

Hollywood Unites Against Content Theft Via New Coalition

Creative America, the coalition formed by labor unions, guilds, studios and networks that launched in July, said today that it has kicked off awareness campaign as well as a redesigned website. The group also said the AFL-CIO, the Association of Talent Agents, … Read More »

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Movie Theater Owners Select New Officers

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday October 14, 2011 @ 8:31am PDTTags: National Association Of Theatre Owners, NATO

(Washington, D.C. and North Hollywood, Calif., October 14, 2011) – The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) announced today the election of new officers by the Executive Board of Directors at the association’s annual meeting, October 5-6, at the Park Hyatt hotel in Washington, D.C.

Elected to two-year terms were – S. David Passman, III, President and CEO, Carmike Cinemas, Inc., as Chairman; Nora Dashwood, Chief Brand Officer, Pacific Theatres/ArcLight Cinemas, as Vice-Chairperson; Byron Berkley, President, Foothills Entertainment Co., as Treasurer; and re-elected as Secretary, Mark O’Meara, President, University Mall Theatres.

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Analyst: Studios Have “Little Chance” Of Winning Fight Over 3D Glasses

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday September 30, 2011 @ 10:48am PDTTags: Cinemark Entertainment, National Association Of Theatre Owners, National CineMedia, Paramount, Regal Entertainment, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros

Sony’s warning that it will stop subsidizing 3D glasses is “bluster over substance,” Lazard Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett says today. He’s struck that the National Association of Theatre Owners is vigorously opposing the idea while he’s … Read More »

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3D Glasses Shakedown: Will Audiences End Up Paying If Studios Won’t?

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday September 28, 2011 @ 5:09pm PDTTags: 3D, Disney, Fox, John Fithian, National Association Of Theatre Owners, RealD, Regal CEO Amy Miles, Regal Entertainment Group, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Sony Responds To NATO’s Claim That New 3D Glasses Plan Is Myopic

The battle lines are starting to harden around who’ll pay for those lame-looking 3D glasses. I’ve learned that other studios might line up behind Sony’s decision to stop paying the average 50-cents a pair fee beginning in May. Rival studios tell me Fox is on board. “We’re studying our options, but haven’t made any decisions yet,” denied Fox Filmed Entertainment spokesman Chris Petrikin. Remember, Fox was first in line to try to stop paying for glasses back in 2009 when it released Ice Age. But then had to abandon that effort after theaters rebelled. Sony was technically correct today when it said in a statement that “there never has been” a formal agreement stipulating that studios would shoulder the cost of 3D glasses. But it’s easy to understand why exhibitors are stunned by Sony’s stoppage. Because it changes an understanding that’s been in place since 2005 when Disney’s Chicken Little kicked off the 3D movie phenom.

“It is a radical departure from what the practice has been,” National Association of Theater Owners President John Fithian tells me. Now Regal CEO Amy Miles warns that if studios end the practice then it could “result in fewer screens exhibiting 3D films”. That’s bad news for Hollywood, which plans to release 39 films in 3D next year, vs. 36 in 2011. Exhibitors might encourage consumers to bring their own 3D glasses. That may be the future anyway. But BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield says if theaters require payment for 3D specs on top of the typical 3D surcharge ($3.25 to $4 a ticket), then “the U.S. moviegoer will reject this as another way for exhibitors to milk them and further decrease their interest in 3D (and perhaps going to the movies in general)”.

The fight is over glasses manufactured for RealD which it, in turn, supplies them to theaters. RealD’s stock price was down -14.7% today on the Sony news. The 3D tech company won’t disclose Read More »

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UPDATE: Sony Responds To NATO’s Claim That Studio’s 3D Glasses Plan Is Myopic

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday September 28, 2011 @ 1:30pm PDTTags: 3D, 3D Glasses, National Association Of Theatre Owners, NATO, Sony Pictures

UPDATE, 1:30 PM: A Sony spokesman has just responded to NATO’s letter from this morning, essentially saying there has never been an agreement about who bears what costs for in the 3D biz — but we can talk about it anyway.

There are constructive ways to deal with the cost of 3D glasses that will not adversely impact consumers, and can also help the environment.

NATO’s statement that it has been “understood” that distributors would always bear the cost of 3D glasses is incorrect, because there never has been any such agreement. In fact, we have been speaking with people in the industry for a long time about the need to move to a new model, so this certainly comes as a surprise to no one in the business.

We invite theater owners to engage in a collegial dialogue with us about this issue, including at ShowEast next month. By working together on a business-to-business basis, we are confident a reasonable solution can be reached that brings benefits to consumers, the entertainment industry and the environment.

PREVIOUS, 10:36 AM: The National Association of Theatre Owners has lashed back at Sony for the studio’s recent decision to stop providing 3D glasses to moviegoers. It’s not sitting well with the exhibitors’ group, which contends that there is an understanding that theaters would pay for the tech upgrades to their facilities and distributors would provide the glasses — NATO says any shift to that model is at least worth a phone call to discuss. Not to mention that if exhibition won’t absorb the cost, those who already have to cough up for premium-priced tickets to 3D movies will have to. Here’s the group’s statement; expect Sony to have a reply shortly. Read More »

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NATO: Summer Box Office Sets Record With $4.4B

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday September 7, 2011 @ 8:43am PDTTags: Domestic Box Office, John Fithian, National Association Of Theatre Owners, NATO

Washington, D.C. (September 7, 2011) — The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) today announced summer 2011 box office reached a new record of $4.4 billion. Summer admissions were up an estimated 1.0% over summer 2010 to 546

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U.S. Senators Introduce Anti-Piracy Law To Fight Foreign Websites That Steal Content

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday May 12, 2011 @ 10:28am PDTTags: MPAA, National Association Of Theatre Owners, Protect IP Act, U.S. Senate

Under normal circumstances in these trying times in Hollywood, the indies feel frozen out by the majors, and the exhibitors have big beefs with the studios, too. Yet here they are today united because of proposed federal legislation. A bipartisan coalition of several U.S. Senators — Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Dianne Feinstein (D-California), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), Chris Coons (D-Delaware) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) — introduced and/or are sponsoring the Protect IP Bill, which aims to fight online infringement and counterfeiting by deterring, preventing, and rooting out websites that profit from trafficking in stolen content. Uniting in support of the bill are the major studios’ lobbying group the MPAA, The Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA), and the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO).

According to the MPAA, the PROTECT IP Act targets foreign websites:

Formerly operating outside the realm of U.S. law, they would no longer be allowed to exploit U.S. registrars, registries, Internet service providers, payment processors, search engines and ad placement services to sustain their illicit online businesses. Internet sites that steal and distribute American intellectual property are often foreign-owned and operated, or reside at domain names that are not registered through a U.S.-based registry or registrar, setting them outside the scope of U.S. law enforcement.

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NATO Asks Studios To Divulge P-VOD Data

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 4, 2011 @ 3:14pm PDTTags: DirecTV, John Fithian, National Association Of Theatre Owners, Premium VOD

The National Association of Theatre Owners today asked the Hollywood studios involved in DirecTV’s Premium VOD trial to release sales figures for the movies that have appeared since the service’s launch April 21. The films offered to DirecTV customers so far — at a price of $29.99 and a windows-shortening … Read More »

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Now Top Filmmakers Decry PVOD Ploy Including James Cameron & Peter Jackson

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday April 20, 2011 @ 8:38am PDTTags: Filmmakers, National Association Of Theatre Owners, Premium VOD
Mike Fleming

The propaganda battle over the decision by four studios to supply their films for VOD viewing 60 days after release is intensifying. Today, NATO released an open letter by a group of filmmakers speaking out against the shortening of theatrical windows: Michael Bay, Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Roland Emmerich, Antoine Fuqua, Todd Garner, Lawrence Gordon, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Gale Anne Hurd, Peter Jackson, Karyn Kusama, Jon Landau, Shawn Levy, Michael Mann, Bill Mechanic, Jamie Patricof, Todd Phillips, Brett Ratner, Robert Rodriguez
Adam Shankman, Gore Verbinski, Robert Zemeckis
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AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY ON PROTECTING THE MOVIE-GOING EXPERIENCE

We are the artists and business professionals who help make the movie business great. We produce and direct movies. We work on the business deals that help get movies made. At the end of the day, we are also simply big movie fans.

Lately, there’s been a lot of talk by leaders at some major studios and cable companies about early-to-the-home “premium video-on-demand.” In this proposed distribution model, new movies can be shown in homes while these same films are still in their theatrical run.

In this scenario, those who own televisions with an HDMI input would be able to order a film through their cable system or an Internet provider as a digital rental. Terms and timing have yet to be made concrete, but there has been talk of windows of 60 days after theatrical release at a price of $30.

Currently, the average theatrical release window is over four months (132 days). The theatrical release window model has worked for years for everyone in the movie business. Current theatrical windows protect the exclusivity of new films showing in state-of-the-art theaters bolstered by the latest in digital projection, digital sound, and stadium seating.

As a crucial part of a business that last year grossed close to $32 billion in worldwide theatrical ticket sales, we in the creative community feel that now is the time for studios and cable companies to acknowledge that a release pattern for premium video-on-demand that invades the current theatrical window could irrevocably harm the financial model of our film industry.

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Cinema Advertising Was Up 13% In 2010

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday March 28, 2011 @ 9:48am PDTTags: Advertising, National Association Of Theatre Owners

The Cinema Advertising Council unveiled its annual report today on exhibitors’ ad revenue timed to the start of CinemaCon, the National Association of Theatre Owners confab that runs through Thursday in Las Vegas. From the press release:

According to

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