The Big Picture

As the motion picture business slowly but surely rebounds from the worst of the pandemic, there are signs that many exhibitors are rethinking the design and configuration of their theatres. Should they permanently remove some seats in case pandemics prove to be a recurring event? Should they tailor some auditoriums for games or eSports or other specialized content? New-builds and renovations often present different challenges but they all have one thing in common: seats. To understand the current state of seats and cinema design I recently spoke by email with Theresa English, principal at TK Architects International. The company has designed hundreds of cinemas and this year is celebrating its 40th anniversary in business. For English, any conversation about cinema design starts long before the house lights are dimmed, or the first movie ticket is sold. “The focus,” she says, “is on the patron and the seat.”

Later this week, as executive director of the professional association New York Women in Film & Television, Cynthia López will oversee the 2021 NYWIFT Summit: The Creative Industry Radically Reimagined. López is an award-winning media strategist, and former Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, where she implemented strategies to support film and TV production throughout the five boroughs. López is the recipient of many coveted industry awards including: 11 News and Documentary Emmy Awards, a Special Emmy Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, three Peabody Awards, and two duPont-Columbia Awards. In addition, she received the National Association of Latino Independent Producers Award for Commitment to Corporate Diversity. Prior to working as Commissioner, López was executive vice president and co-executive producer of the award-winning PBS documentary series American Documentary | POV and was involved in the organization’s strategic growth and creative development for 14 years. On January 1, 2019, she became executive director of New York Women in Film and Television. López recently agreed to do a Q&A via email; our conversation started with her legacy as an advocate for women and other minorities.

In a move that may offer some clues regarding the ways that exhibitors and streaming companies can work together effectively, Cinemark announced today that it will be showing Netflix’s Army of the Dead in both Cinemark XD and digital cinema auditoriums across its domestic circuit beginning May 14. Tickets are on sale now at Cinemark.com and on the Cinemark mobile app to watch the much-anticipated Zack Snyder film in theatres before it is available on Netflix on May 21.

March offered two major signs of recovery for the beleaguered cinema business, according to the latest report from Gower Street Analytics, London. Firstly, there was the impressive international opening of Godzilla vs Kong; the first global hit since the pandemic began over a year ago. Secondly, the long-awaited re-opening of cinemas in New York City and Los Angeles helped the U.S. Domestic market to achieve the highest grossing month in a year. With the first challenging quarter of 2021 behind us, wrote Gower Street analyst Thomas Beranek, the recovery of the global theatrical market, while still fragile, looks as promising as it has in months.