NATO / Photo Credit: Department of Justice
WHAT IS THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THEATRE OWNERS? (In
the Entertainment industry.)
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What is the National Association of Theatre Owners?
Phone: +1 202 962 0054
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) is
a United States-based trade organization whose members are the owners of movie
theaters. Most of the worldwide major theater chains' operators are members, as
are many independent theater operators.
History
As the motion picture industry became larger, movie
production companies began consolidating and controlling distribution. The
largest producer, Famous Players-Lasky, joined and later merged with the
largest distributor, Paramount (eventually becoming Paramount Pictures), and
together they began block-booking in 1917, forcing theaters to buy mediocre
films to get the good ones. Theaters banded together to bargain for better
pricing, with 26 of the largest combining into First National Exhibitors
Circuit—which went on to become a producer and distributor in its own right,
before being bought by Warner Bros. By 1921, Paramount already owned 300
theaters, and other producers were catching up. Studios soon contracted with
each other to keep first-runs inside the affiliated network, using this access
to coerce independents into selling out.
In 1921, the first predecessor of NATO was founded, the
largely affiliated Motion Picture Theater Owners of America (MPTOA), soon
followed by the independent Allied States Association of Motion Picture
Exhibitors (Allied), Unaffiliated Independent Motion Picture Exhibitors of
America, National Independent Theatre Exhibitors, and more, to demand better
pricing and access to first-runs. Unlike the others, the MPTOA embraced
affiliated theaters, and soon became the largest organization.
During World War II, many theaters joined the new War
Activities Committee, after the war becoming the Theatre Activities Committee
and soon American Theatre Association (ATA), which strongly supported United
States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., the antitrust case against all of the major
studios. A plan to merge with MPTOA, which strongly supported the studios, ran
into friction, with many affiliated theaters leaving the ATA over its stance;
conversely Allied, the largest purely-independent group, refused to join over
the presence of affiliates. The merger went ahead in 1947, minus affiliates of
Loews, RKO, and Warner Bros., and they became the Theater Owners of America
(TOA) with about 10,000 theaters.
After divestiture in the fallout of the 1948
Paramount decision, many formerly-affiliated theaters ended up joining either
TOA or Allied. During the post-war period, theater revenue collapsed as
television became widespread, even as film rental became more expensive, and
thousands of theaters closed, particularly in city centers hard hit by suburban
flight. Finally, in 1966 TOA and Allied merged into the National Association of
Theatre Owners, largely based on TOA's structure but headed by Marshall Fine,
former Allied chairman.
The 1970s were difficult for NATO; although the
blockbuster The Godfather revitalized theater-going and revenue, in 1975 a new
National Independent Theatre Exhibitors (NITE) came together to challenge NATO,
eventually numbering almost a thousand theaters, and governance reforms were
pushed by members as well. When the reforms stalled, the entire California and
Illinois chapters pulled out in 1977, along with many small chains around the
nation. After 1980, many of the requested reforms were finally implemented,
including a full-time president and a full-time lobbyist in Washington, as well
as moving its headquarters from New York to Los Angeles; by the end of the
decade, NITE had folded back into NATO, leaving only one dominant organization.
The 1980s saw a relaxation of antitrust regulation
and subsequent purchasing of many chains by distributors and large
conglomerates, including 120 theaters by Paramount and Warner; by the end of
the decade, consolidation left the top 10 owners in control of 55 percent of
the industry. In the 1990s, theater growth exploded, and by 1999, movie screens
peaked at 36,448, the vast majority of which were affiliated with NATO.
What NATO Is
The National Association of Theatre Owners is the
largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing over 33,000
movie screens in all 50 states, and additional cinemas in 102 countries
worldwide.
What NATO Does
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., with a second
office in North Hollywood, California, NATO represents its members in the heart
of the nation’s capital as well as the center of the entertainment industry.
From these vantage points, NATO helps exhibition influence federal
policy-making and work with movie distributors on all areas of mutual concern,
from new technologies to legislation, marketing, and First Amendment issues.
Advocacy and Initiatives
NATO is ever watchful for opportunities to advance
and protect the motion picture exhibition industry. The Association has numerous initiatives
underway that address key issues for exhibitors, everything from cinema
technologies to movie theft. Ongoing NATO
programs help exhibitors understand and utilize cinema technologies, tackle
government relations challenges and fight movie theft. NATO also supports exhibitors’ efforts to
enforce the voluntary ratings system, and to preserve the theatrical release window. NATO’s newest initiatives are in the
marketing arena, exploring exciting new ways to attract patrons to the cinema
experience. Click here to learn more about NATO’s initiatives.
Patron Education and Employee Training
We have distributed materials and training tapes to
our members to assist them in their enforcement efforts. The rating system is a shared responsibility
between the entertainment industry and America’s parents. Advertisements for movies with adult content
should not be targeted to children. NATO
believes that parents must be informed in order to make responsible decisions.
Click here to learn more about NATO’s patron education materials and click here
to learn more about NATO’s employee training materials.
Membership
Our membership includes the largest cinema chains in
the world and hundreds of independent theater owners too.
References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks,
Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New
York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide
Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia,
Variety, No Film School, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample
Resume, How Stuff Works, Studio Binder, Career Trend, Producer's Code of
Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety,
Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite,
Realty 101, Careers Hub, Screen Play Scripts, Elements of Cinema, Script
Doctor, ASCAP, Film Independent, Any Possibility, CTLsites, NYFA, Future Learn,
VOM Productions, Mad Studios, Rewire, DP School, Film Reference, DGA, IATSE, ASC,
MPAA, HFPA, MPSE, CDG, AFI, Box Office Mojo, Rotten Tomatoes, Indie Film
Hustle, The Numbers, Netflix, Vimeo, Instagram, Pinterest, Metacritic, Hulu, Reddit,
NATO, Mental Floss, Slate, Locations Hub, Film Industry Statistics
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NATO / Photo Credit: Department of Justice
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