Cineplex’s Ellis Jacob Named Chairman of National Association of Theatre Owners

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has named Ellis Jacob, president and CEO of Cineplex, as chairman.

NATO made the announcement on Thursday. Its executive board also filled the vice chairman slot with Rolando B. Rodriguez, the chairman, president, and CEO of Marcus Theatres.

Jacob had been named as vice chairman in October and had been serving as acting chairman following Regal CEO Amy Miles’ retirement from the industry in March. The board voted to make Jacob chairman for the remainder of the two-year term.

NATO represents the owners of more than 33,000 movie screens domestically and more than 32,000 additional screens in 92 countries worldwide.

NATO is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a second office in North Hollywood, Calif. It works to influence federal policy-making and collaborates with movie distributors in areas such as new technologies, legislation, marketing, and First Amendment issues.

NATO also operates CinemaCon — the official convention of theater owners, which takes place every spring in Las Vegas.

The exhibition industry is enjoying an 8% surge at the domestic box office this year, hitting nearly $6 billion through the first six months of the year, according to ComScore. The top three films of the year are all from Disney —  “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Black Panther,” and “Incredibles 2.”