It’s a mixture of big cities and small towns, not to mention independently-owned venues and larger chains. O’Leary says that accurately reflects the diversity of the theatrical exhibition industry.
“For some, it’s a family business that’s been passed down and they want to protect that,” he notes. “We also try to peel back the curtain on some of the bigger circuits and show the real faces of the people working there.”
And then there’s a theater like the Music Box, which has its own special place in the cinematic landscape. A staple of the Windy City’s Lakeview neighborhood since the 1920s, the two-screen movie palace has a packed programming schedule of new releases and classic fare and has also expanded into distribution with its Music Box Films label.
“It’s a very special place,” O’Leary says of the Music Box. “You see in the video how the people that work there realize they have something really unique and they lean into that.”
Episodes of Behind the Screens will premiere at CinemaCon and then find their way to the official Cinema United website by the week’s end. But O’Leary hopes to find additional public-facing venues where the campaign can reach audiences outside of the B2B space.
“We’re constantly looking for ways to push exhibitors out there and make them part of the story,” he notes. “They’re the strength of our industry and without them, we’d be lost.”