If you’ve been to the multiplex anytime since 2002, you’ve already met your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man—multiple versions of him, in fact. Now it’s time to met your friendly neighborhood… movie theater owner.
During the 2025 edition of CinemaCon—which kicks off on Monday night in Las Vegas—attendees will be treated to fresh episodes of Behind the Screens: The Faces of Exhibition.
Launched last year by Cinema United—the organization that oversees the trade show and convention—the video campaign spotlights the unsung superstars operating the movie houses where blockbusters like Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Superman, and Wicked: For Good hope to cast their spell on audiences this year.
ADWEEK can exclusively reveal the five owners and theaters that will be profiled in the series’ sophomore year. We’re also providing a special sneak peek at one of the two-minute episodes, which transports viewers to a Chicago cinematic landmark: the Music Box Theater, currently overseen by its cineaste general manager, Ryan Oestreich.
“Every time that I meet with a theater owner—whether it’s small theater or a big theater—I always came away from it feeling energized,” Cinema United president and CEO Michael O’Leary says about the origin of the Behind the Screens series. “We wanted to to figure out a way to highlight that.”
The inaugural class of Behind the Screens criss-crossed the United States in search of picturesque picture houses, from a theater and cafe in downtown Brooklyn to a 1930s-era drive-in theater in the wilds of Pennsylvania. And this year’s crop casts an equally wide net.
In addition to the Music Box, the new videos venture inside Montana’s Polson Theaters chain, operated by husband-and-wife movie lovers Becky and Gary Dupuis; Toronto’s Cineplex multiplexes, where Gurbani Marwah serves as executive director of theatrical releasing and film buying; the 100-year-old Cranford Theater in Cranford, N.J., run by Doreen Sayegh; and San Diego’s Regal Edwards Mira Mesa, led by general manager Nikki Shellenberger.