08:50 PDT 20/20/2021
by
Pamela McClintock
“It’s time to get off the bench,” said Brandon Jones, one of the event’s founders.
A broad coalition of theater owners is holding Cinema Week, a six-day event in June, designed to boost movie shooting while the film industry emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of cinemas across the country will showcase exclusive content, offer exclusive merchandise and arrange special guests, including filmmakers and talent. The event runs June 22-27.
“The theater experience is very important, and we are a better society for it. This is where we go for entertainment, and by launching Cinema Week, we want to preserve the culture of films,” said Brandon Jones, one of designers of the event who serve as executive chair of the founding committee of exhibitors and studio partners for Cinema Week.
“It’s time to get off the couch,” says Jones, who previously did marketing at a medium-sized theater chain before setting up his own firm.
Cinema Week has the support of the Independent Cinema Alliance (ICA), the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), dozens of cinemas and numerous sponsors, including Atom Tickets. More than 28,000 screens featuring mega-exhibitors AMC, Regal and Cinemark, regional tracks and independent chains will take part.
“We want to raise all ships, and we want everyone to be successful,” said Melissa Boudreau, Cinema Week’s chief marketing officer. She, like Jones, had previously worked for a middle chain. “And we work in the background to get filmmakers involved.”
The activities of Cinema Week will depend on the location. Moviegoers will buy tickets as usual, and when they arrive at the theater, each experience will be unique.
“Nothing compares to the truly awesome experience of watching a movie on the big screen with visual and audio technology that can’t go home,” said Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark’s global CEO and chief marketing officer. “Cinema Week was created in collaboration between exhibitors and our studio partners to celebrate the immersive film experience with filmgoers, now that theaters across the industry are reopening.”
Rich Daughtridge of the Independent Cinemas Alliance added: “The ICA and our members will represent more than 5,000 screens, and we will contribute to the marketing and advertising initiatives and help promote this inaugural address. We see this as an opportunity to celebrate films and strengthen communities where our members operate their premises. ”