CinemaCon: Identifying the Voice of the Film Exhibition Industry Through the National Association of Theatre Owners’ Field-Configuring Event, 2011-2018

Abstract

This dissertation examines the film exhibition industry’s main field-configuring event, CinemaCon (2011-2018), deemed the largest convention and trade show in the world with over 4,000 participating delegates each year. Though CinemaCon is the newest industry event operated by the exhibitor trade organization, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), it has quickly become the prominent annual ritual activity for film exhibitors and production and distribution industry delegates to attend. This study draws upon extensive primary and secondary source materials from archival research; immersive field attendance as a participant-observer at the multiple events; and industry artifacts. It combines these analyzed resources with multi-disciplinary approaches from media industry studies, political economy, organizational, management and event studies in order to present a detailed case study of the CinemaCon event as well as a critical examination of the ‘semi-embedded deep texts’ of its activities, presentations, and messages. Overall, I argue that CinemaCon is a powerfully constructed film exhibitor field-configuring event where its dominant organization is the represented ‘voice’ of the film exhibition industry that reinforces technological standards and intra-industry practices. The study begins with an overview of film exhibition’s history of formulating a unified convention event as it attempted to organize its body during the beginnings of the film industry. I draw upon substantial archival research in articulating the experimentation and evolutionary aspects of national convention events as they formed ritualistic practices and promoted a sense of exclusivity among film exhibitors. This analysis includes the formation of the principle trade organization, NATO, in 1966 and its first convention, as well as the shift toward outsourcing conventions, like ShoWest, as the event industry evolved. Chapter Three begins the case study of CinemaCon, when NATO took back its convention from a for-profit organization and launched its own in 2011. I draw heavily upon three years of convention attendance (2014-2016) in addressing what CinemaCon is and how its programming, badging, trade show, panels and sessions reinforce the ritual of convention attendance in promoting an exclusive experience for exhibitors through the marketing of “hype” and “buzz.” These activities create opportunities for dialogue among exhibitors that highlight areas where the homogenization of exhibition is not definitive. Furthermore, Chapter Four continues building on this case study in addressing the activities—studio presentations, advanced screenings, NATO’s president John Fithian’s “CinemaCon State of the Industry” addresses, and the final awards ceremony—that occur in The Colosseum space. This exclusive space is viewed as a place where the three areas of the film industry unite, yet these industry stakeholders sometimes contradict one another as small fissures reveal discontent and points of conflict. This chapter reinforces my argument that field-configuring events, such as CinemaCon, are valuable research fields that provide inter- and intra- organizational insights from film exhibitors about film exhibition. CinemaCon is an event where industry knowledge is shared, unification is attempted, and the principle ‘voice’ of the film exhibition industry represented by NATO is made known.