NATO’s
Annual Meeting In Chicago
by John Fithian
NATO President
NATO convened its annual membership and board of directors
meetings in Chicago on Sept. 14 and 15. With the largest
attendance in recent history, and several fundamental issues
on the agenda, we had two very productive days. Some key
highlights follow.
Video Window/Simultaneous
Release. Theatre
operators and movie distribution executives alike have
understood that
a carefully crafted series of “release windows” serves
to maximize the marketing and sales potential of movies.
But with the average window shrinking and a few Hollywood
executives openly discussing the possibility of simultaneous
release to cinemas and the home market, many NATO members
have expressed grave concern.
At our meetings, we distributed and discussed
the comprehensive quarterly windows reports produced by NATO’s
staff as well as the need for additional information regarding
the economic and consumer benefits of the traditional tiered
release schedule. Member volunteers will be developing this
information further. We also discussed public messaging,
private messaging, and the need for individual exhibition
companies to develop their own strong policies.
Digital Cinema. NATO continues to devote enormous
time and resources to the issue of digital cinema – a coming
revolution that will represent the biggest technological
transition in the history of our industry, perhaps with the
exception of the advent of the “talkies.” In
Chicago, NATO’s Digital Cinema Technology Task Force
met to review the final
technical specifications from Digital
Cinema Initiatives (DCI) and to develop supplemental specifications
on behalf of NATO’s members. Other committees and NATO’s
board of directors also discussed the status of various business
models. Finally, the members of NATO’s Independent
Theatre Owners Committee discussed and further organized
a buying cooperative to make it easier for smaller exhibitors
to participate in the digital cinema transition.
As articulated first in the November 2004
NATO
board resolution on digital cinema, NATO’s members continue to believe
that business models need to be supported by ALL major studios
and be open to participation by ALL exhibitors. During the
meetings we also discussed and restated the need for a beta
market to test the technologies prior to a large scale roll
out.
As is appropriate, NATO members will each make their own
individual business decisions regarding the various rollout
schemes. Nonetheless, the patience demonstrated by individual
theatre companies in waiting for one or more financing and
rollout plans that satisfy the basic tenets of the NATO resolution
has fundamentally driven transition planning in the right
direction.
Industry Marketing
and Public Relations. NATO
staff and members work to promote moviegoing in a number
of ways. Given the
box office and admissions numbers for the year to date, however,
our industry has confronted a great deal of negative media
in recent months. At the meetings in Chicago, we reviewed
the efforts of the association and our members to confront
this challenge, and charted a path for enhanced activities
in the near future.
Specifically, NATO will work to support a
number of initiatives, including the planned “National Movie Week” of
the American Film Institute and two different documentaries
that are being developed on the cinemagoing experience. A
task force of NATO’s Marketing Committee is working
to collect and establish the data and research needed to
better describe and promote the cinema industry. NATO and
its members will then use that information in a more aggressive
public relations campaign to promote theatre attendance.
Movie Theft (“Piracy”). Movie theft, or “piracy,” threatens
the entire movie industry. Over the past few years NATO’s
board of directors has made a priority of the fight against
movie theft, and the association’s staff dedicates
significant efforts to this issue. At the meetings in Chicago
we reviewed and expanded many ongoing activities to fight
movie theft, including camcorder theft location tracking;
employee education; the employee reward program; coordination
with the MPAA (Dan Glickman spoke to our board dinner); coordination
with our colleagues overseas; implementing improved technologies
to fight movie theft; public education (including some new
and effective public service announcements that NATO will
make available to its members); and newly enacted laws (including
a federal bill outlawing camcording).
Government Relations. Speaking of legislation,
various committees and the board discussed and developed “action plans” on
many different federal and state legislative and regulatory
issues confronting the industry, including: association health
plans; the Americans With Disabilities Act; minimum wages;
obesity liability; ratings codification; admissions taxes;
film rental taxes; and movie start times.
Movie Ratings. Continuing our commitment to
the federal government and America’s parents, NATO’s ratings compliance
officers met in Chicago to review ratings enforcement and
education efforts and to discuss such varied ratings issues
as: trailer compatibility; ratings information on theatre
company and ticketing websites; promotional materials; the
ratings appeals process; unrated films; and many other issues.
Though the space of this column limits
my review, please know that many other issues were discussed
and “action
items” developed. I continue to be amazed at the volunteer
spirit and energy of the NATO members who dedicate their
time to the industry at these important meetings and throughout
the year. Thank you for your efforts and the honor of leading
your trade association.
