NATOs John Fithian First Billion Dollar March In History At B. O. UPDATED, 1 0. PM Asked by Deadline about whether the studios or other companies will be able to pull off Premium Video on Demand PVOD, NATO President and CEO John Fithian said, Going back to 2. Lets stop fighting publicly about the future of our release dates, this is about growing the pie for everyone. So, our partners in distribution and our partners in exhibition said lets talk about how to grow the business together finding a way to grow the home market is important not only to distributors but also exhibitors. Its tricky but it is doable, he said. These things need to be discussed privately and negotiated comprehensively and then go publicly, he said, adding that they went nuts when word of a new PVOD business to shorten the theatrical window broke in the press. Our strong encouragement to our partners in distribution is to keep going, but we need to talk about this privately. What you have not seen from exhibitors is public comment about release dates and price points. Were not going to talk about it publicly and neither our our members. There may be a whole lot more on the table than what they talked about. He said his advice for everyone is to keep going and find solutions for everyone. What will NATOs role in this beFithian said, Cheerleaders for the process a collaborative process. Once you start discussing competitive terms, were out of it. Asked about independent operators and their opinion, Fithian said, The independents are having their voice heard. He said some of them have come to Los Angeles to have their own discussions. The independents are engaging themselves in finding the solution and share in that process. Asked about the worry about piracy with PVOD, he said, Yes, some people have argued that shortening windows is a way to fight piracy. The data shows that there are two big piracy periods, when the movie first hits theaters and thats with camcorders and the like and then as the awareness off the movie dies down, we see drops in piracy and there is virtual no piracy on a movie until its get ready for digital and then there is a second spike in piracy so if you shrink the release windows, all you are doing is accelerating the second wave of piracy. He said the industry lose about 1. B in ticket sales a year in piracy. He said if there is a new early window, there has to be really, really, really good protection against piracy. PREVIOUSLY, TUES, 1. The-Sisters%E2%80%99-S-Scandal-2017.jpg' alt='Watch Scandal Online Hoyts' title='Watch Scandal Online Hoyts' />AM NATO President and CEO John Fithian said Tuesday at Cinema. Con that despite misconceptions that millennials arent attending movies, the stats prove otherwise. He also noted that this month will be the first billion dollar March in movie history. And, he said, with only four days remaining in the quarter, it is clear box office numbers will be up. We are up 2. M and 1. M accounted for 2. M more in 2. 01. 6 than in the prior year, he noted. Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get. So far, 2. 01. 7 has gone against analyst predictions with such box office superstars this quarter as Universals Get Out 1. M domestically and Split 1. M, Foxs holdover Hidden Figures 1. M, Lionsgates holdover La La Land 1. Two of Scentres Westfield shopping centres will be given multimilliondollar makeovers, including upmarket David Jones department stores and multiplex cinemas, in a. PksETP4Voam6SSvmYb7TXQwHac.jpg]];var lpix_1=pix_1.length;var p1_0= [[700' alt='Watch Scandal Online Hoyts' title='Watch Scandal Online Hoyts' />M, Foxs Logan 2. M, Warner Bros The Lego Batman Movie 1. M and, of course, Beauty And The Beast 3. M. He also noted that nine titles last year gross over 3. M while there were only six in 2. The National Association of Theatre Owners chief also noted that global box office was up 1 to 3. Full Episodes Of Days Of Our Lives. B from 2. 01. 6. He said you also must take into account currency fluxuations to get a clearer picture of the state of the industry. For instance, he noted in China the box office was down 2. M in U. S. dollars but up in RMB. China is still growing but there are some complicated things going on in China, he said to reporters afterwards. The Chinese box office grew but not as much as in previous years. Its still growing and are continuing to grow at a pace and there is only a question of when it catches up with the domestic market. We would like to get more foreign films into China. He said it was up about 4. I local currency, only one Germany did not grow. Despite all this excited talk about the Internet and streaming disrupting the movie business, domestic box office has been on a steady upward path for more than a decade, Fithian said. Domestic ticket sales brought in 1. B last year and that was up by 4. And, he said the average ticket price of 8. Mind you, this performance was not only a rebuke to the idea of disruption, it was in teh face of two recessions, 1. U. S. median income that is only now returning to the levels last seen 1. The industry has not held still, he said, pointing out that they have invested billions of dollars to improve the moviegoing experience both in the technology and perks inside theaters. Another common misconception is that millennials arent going to the movies, but statistics show differently, said Fithian. He showed a slide that 5. One of the reasons they found this age group goes to the theater more often because of reclining seats. Hispanics, he said, constitute the most frequent moviegoers with 2. Asian moviegoers and African American moviegoers over index. Per capita, Asian American movie attendance grew from 3. African American attendance grew from 3. Fithian also said, NATO benefits from a global worldview exhibition is becoming a global business. He noted the amount of exhibition expansion with AMC in Europe with the acquisitions of Odeon and Nordic and Wanda continuing to acquire chains, like Hoyts in Australia. Exhibitors around the world, as we know, lose billions of dollars a year on movie theft and would lose even more if there wasnt an effort against piracy, he said, and was happy that everyone is contributing to stopping it. NATO currently has members in 9. This convention is very global now, he told reporters. Our members love that we focus on international on Monday during Cinema. Con. Free trade is very good for our business and always has been. Immigration is good for our business, said Fithian when asked about the current political environment. Asked specifically about the relationship between Mexico and the U. S., he said they want to work on good bi lateral agreements. In terms of 3 D, it is still a value add for our business but it is very movie specific.