MPAA Chief Chris Dodd Disses Screening Room, Champions Diversity

CinemaCon: Dodd tells exhibitors that “cinema provides a unique and powerful experience you can’t get anywhere else”

mpaa chris dodd

MPAA CEO and Chairman Chris Dodd gave a concise and forward-looking address to global theater exhibitors at CinemaCon on Tuesday — one that included a reference to Sean Parker’s Screening Room concept and a salute to Hollywood’s diversity efforts.

Dodd first celebrated 2015’s record global box office haul of $38.3 billion dollars — saying the cinematic experience cannot be replicated, much to the delight of the theater owners present.

“Despite the noisy suggestions otherwise,  cinema provides a unique and powerful experience you can’t get anywhere else but your theaters,” Dodd said, alluding to rampant convention chatter of Parkers’ $50 home viewing service that essentially explodes the theatrical window.

“You need to say that over and over again,” he added.

Dodd next addressed campaigns inside Hollywood’s walls to increase diversity and gender parity, a major discussion in show business in 2015, saying, “to state the obvious, we can and must  do a better job. But [the industry] has taken healthy, productive steps to address this issue this year.”

He said the industry is facing “some hard truths — but as all of us can attest, we’ve seen how powerful films can be urging us to think harder.”

Follwing Dodd’s remarks, National Association of Theater Owners John Fithian reported a record-breaking year at the global box office — $38.3 billion in receipts.

A full report from the MPAA, its annual Theatrical Market Statistics, will be released following CinemaCon’s morning program.

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