For over twenty-three years, John Fithian guided the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) with a steady hand. Expansion, contraction, consolidation, the 2008 Financial Crisis, the rise of streaming, COVID-19 and its aftermath — Fithian has seen it all. No surprise, then, that in November of last year, just seven months after stepping down from NATO, he announced the formation of a new venture: The Fithian Group. In partnership with two of his longtime lieutenants, Jackie Brenneman and Patrick Corcoran, Fithian’s new consultancy aims to bring outside-the-box thinking to the theatrical space, helping facilitate new companies and new partnerships which will likely define theatrical motion picture exhibition as it evolves in the 21st Century.
At a time when much of Hollywood is still wrestling with uncertainty about the future, in part triggered by a 2024 summer movie season which has been wildly uneven, Fithian and his partners are bullish on the business. In our far-reaching discussion, the trio mince no words about what Hollywood is presently doing wrong — and what changes it needs to see to recapture its former glory.
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