UNIC at CinemaCon 2024

UNIC was glad to attend CinemaCon 2024 – the official conference of our colleagues from the National Association of Theatre Owners. The event took place from 8 to 11 April in Las Vegas.
Monday 8 April was the International Day, which started with two keynote addresses by Eric Meyniel, Chief Box Office and Marketing Officer at Kinepolis Group, and Veronika Kwan Vanderberg, President of Distribution, Universal Pictures International. Afterwards, Le Grand Rex in Paris received the CinemaCon Award of Excellence in Cinema. A series of international seminars took place during the morning, first with Walt Hickey who presented his book “You are what you watch” on the impact of cinema on our daily lives and our physical and psychological well-being, followed by a panel moderated by UNIC CEO Laura Houlgatte “How Distribution and Exhibition are beginning to share data and what they need to do next”, with speakers from Vue International, Sony Pictures, Vista Group and The Boxoffice Company. The third seminar “Changing Tastes and Changing Landscapes” featured speakers from Searchlight Pictures, Cinépolis, Paramount Pictures and Toho-Towa discussing evolving audience habits and opportunities to increase frequency in cinema attendance.
UNIC attended the ICTA crash course on the fundamentals of presentation technology and took part in the press conference hosted by the Global Cinema Federation. On the afternoon of 8 April, UNIC and Film Expo Group co-hosted a CineEurope reception which gathered more than 100 colleagues.
The following day opened with a presentation by the Cinema Foundation in partnership with USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future on the value of consumer data. Michael O’Leary, CEO and President of NATO, delivered his state of the industry speech. He focused on the value of theatrical exclusivity and how essential a diverse film supply was to attract all audiences, highlighting the need for mid-tier titles. He was followed by Charles Rivkin, CEO of the Motion Picture Association, who stressed the work of MPA in fighting piracy.
Over the following days, UNIC met with partners, distribution and exhibition colleagues in one-to-one meetings and group seminars on cinema technology and industry trends, and attended various panel discussions and slate presentations.
Huge congratulations to our colleagues at NATO and CinemaCon for a great event! More information here.