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"You are in the dark in a big auditorium filled with people you don’t know, you will not meet again and with whom you are about to live and share the same emotions and the same story."


For the fourth edition of Big Screen Feature - providing a behind-the-scenes look at the world of cinema exhibition through the eyes of professionals themselves - Eric Meyniel (International Content Director, Kinepolis Group) discusses the job itself and the value of the Big Screen.

Describe your typical day at work

One of the great things in my job: there is not such things as typical day at work.

The only smallest common denominator would be checking figures early in the morning and checking emails, as most of us do. But then my day could be dedicated to watching movies during film markets, festivals or conventions, meeting up with our partners, negotiating, analysing markets and trends, elaborating action plans, sharing with our teams.

There is hardly one day similar to the other.

The moment you fell in love with the big screen?

I was not even 4 yet when I saw my first movie on a Big Screen. My parents went to see “Le Chat” with Jean Gabin & Simone Signoret. I was fascinated by the screen and I still have the final scene very clear in mind. Then I discovered “Mary Poppins” which was more in accordance with my age and when I saw Bernard & Bianca’s trailer, I wanted to see it although I still haven’t…

Actually I first fell in love with the movie on the small screen. My parents and I were living in a quite isolated area with no cinemas around. Thus I started to watch movies on the small screen: Midnight’s Cine clubs, VHS and when I was a young student the local cinema was my second home.

The best thing about the cinematic experience? 

You are in the dark in a big auditorium filled with people you don’t know, you will not meet again and with whom you are about to live and share the same emotions and the same story. For the length of a movie, you escape from your life. Sometimes it echoes strangely to you. And when you are out and you had a good time, the first thing you want to do is to share that experience.

And that’s my job now …


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