Theater Owners Chief John Fithian Argues Streaming Is Not a ‘Sustainable Business Model’ and Studios Need Cinemas for Profits

The National Association of Theatre Owners has named Amanda Matin as their first chief of staff. Martin will report directly to president and CEO Michael O’Leary while working across all NATO organizations, including the Cinema Foundation and CinemaCon, in this newly created position.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Ellen Stutzman, the Writers Guild of America West’s chief negotiator, was out early Monday morning taking part in the family-themed picket that drew big crowds of striking writers and their children — including a few furry family members — to the sidewalks outside Netflix headquarters at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Avenue in Hollywood. Stutzman’s presence at the location that has been one of the most heavily trafficked picketing sites was praised by WGA members who feel that guild leaders are going the extra mile to provide support and communication on the strike that began May 2. Stutzman, who brought her young son Mateo in a stroller, said the next steps in the process of coming to agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are self-evident.

A school in Wigan still has to improve reading and attendance following their first Ofsted under a new academy trust, a report states.

Not believing the rumors. Real Housewives of New Jersey newcomer Danielle Cabral may have been told the rumor that Melissa Gorga cheated on husband Joe Gorga, but it doesn’t mean she believes the hype.

EXCLUSIVE: LA’s KT Studios is shopping podcast Death Island with Conor Powell as a TV series, as it launches a slate of true-crime shows alongside iHeartPodcasts.

Lovebirds in London! John Cena and wife Shay Shariatzadeh were spotted enjoying a stroll in the U.K. capital.

6lack has announced new tour dates for the UK and European leg of his upcoming 2024 ‘Since I Have A Lover’ world tour. You can buy them here.The tour is in support of the R&B–hip-hop hybrid star’s recent third studio album, ‘Since I Have A Lover’ – which featured from Don Toliver and Wale.

EXCLUSIVE: “There are folks that are working in the motion picture industry that are not making enough money to have a sustainable life, to be able to buy a home — which is just insane,” says Hollywood Teamsters leader Lindsay Dougherty of the hard economic realities her members and other Hollywood unions like the Writers Guild of America are being squeezed by.

A landlady aged 87 has told how she is “not old enough to retire” and plans to continue pouring pints at her pub.

Elon Musk and Bill Maher found common ground on Friday’s Real Time on HBO. Both have been damned if they do and damned if they don’t for various controversies.

Not cool. Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright slammed Tom Sandoval for not being physically there for ex Ariana Madix when her grandmother died ahead of their split.

Martin Scorsese sat down one-on-one at CinemaCon with Leonardo DiCaprio, the star of his new film “Killers of the Flower Moon” about the past and future of cinema.The new film, which tells the story of the murder of Osage natives in the 1920s by oil tycoons looking to take over their resource-heavy land, is the first Scorsese film since 2016’s “Silence” to get a full theatrical release. It comes out at a time when escapist films have been making money as much as ever at the box office while smaller, independent films have largely struggled to find their way back.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav came to Las Vegas to put all of his chips on movie theaters. The executive made an appearance at CinemaCon, the annual convention of theatrical exhibitors, to reassure the crowd that the Warner Bros. Pictures Group was not interested in releasing its premium movies directly to streaming platform Max. “At Warner Bros., at DC Studios, we believe that everything is possible. This business could be bigger and stronger than its ever been,” Zaslav said on stage at Caesar’s Palace on Tuesday. “We believe in full windowing of the motion pictures. We do not want to do direct-to-streaming movies. We’re in no rush to bring the movie to Max.”

A video salute from James Cameron to John Fithian launched CinemaCon Tuesday, with the director offering a big “thanks on behalf of the worldwide creative community for your passionate dedication to championing the cause of the theatrical experience.”

CinemaCon is doubling as a retirement party for its president and CEO, John Fithian, who in his final opening day speech urged movie theater owners to not use the word “content” to describe what they put on their screens.“The words ‘product’ and ‘content’ are still used far too often, and they diminish the value this industry provides,” Fithian said on Tuesday. “We are not in the widget business…Movies are fun, entertaining, and sometimes art.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Denzel Washington told a Colosseum full of exhibition executives Monday at CinemaCon.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Will Smith and Martin Lawrence kicked off CinemaCon by talking up their return to “Bad Boys” business. “We’re hype, we’re excited,” Smith told the crowd of movie theater owners. He apologized for not being able to be in Las Vegas for the annual convention of the exhibition industry…well, kinda. “We’re not sorry we couldn’t be there,” Lawrence admonished him, noting they were four weeks into film the fourth film in the franchise. “We glad we not there because we here and they’re paying us to be here,” Smith said.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter No, the box office hasn’t fully rebounded from COVID-19 — as evidenced by the peaks (“Top Gun: Maverick,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie) and valleys (“Shazam: Fury of the Gods,” “Babylon”) of the last year. But despite all of the obituaries, the movie theater industry is poised to recover. A new study even shows that revenues in 2023 will reach $32 billion, a 10% increase on earlier estimates of $29 billion. Though those aren’t pre-pandemic levels of $41 to $42 billion, the revised projections are still a relief for exhibitors. After all, they struggled to stay afloat during the darkest days of the pandemic but have emerged with a renewed confidence in one truth: watching movies from the couch is overrated.

Three years after brutal Covid shutdowns, spring is in the air for cinemas with the box office blossoming and the economics of streaming looking muddy. Traditional studios are re-committing to theatrical, with Apple and Amazon on board. That’s the view from the perch of John Fithian, longtime president and CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners, taking a final bow next week in Las Vegas at CinemaCon, the industry’s biggest annual event. He will formally pass the baton to Michael O’Leary on May 1.

Marks and Spencer (M&S) has been flooded with praise for using a model with stomach rolls to show off its lingerie. It comes just a day after another woman with a slimmer figure was body shamed for doing exactly the same thing.