Todd Halstead, Cinema United’s Director of Government Relations and Independent Theatre Owner Engagement, received CinéShow’s inaugural Byron Berkley Leadership Award at CinéShow 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Halstead is a true leader in the exhibition industry, and he played a vital role in launching CinéShow and building Cinema United of Mid-America into a strong regional group. Halstead’s work spearheading Cinema United’s Independent Theatre Owners Coalition (ITOC) has helped independent owners and operators around the world succeed.
Receiving an award named after Berkley, a true industry legend, clearly means a great deal to Halstead. When Berkley was honored with CinéShow’s Vision Award in 2023, Halstead wrote in Boxoffice magazine, “He’s been my very close colleague, valued industry leader, respected adviser, valued mentor, and most especially my very dear friend. ln my lifetime I’ve known very few people who are universally admired and respected and without exception held in the highest regard.”
On behalf of the entire Cinema United staff and its members around the world, we congratulate Todd on this tremendous honor.
[Left to right: Matt Shapiro, Lou DiGioia, Todd Halstead, Byron Berkley, Matt Pollock and Mitch Neuhauser]
Cinema United’s Todd Halstead traveled to Fayetteville, Georgia to meet with the exhibition community at this year’s ShowSouth convention. The event was held at Trilith Studios for the first time, and the move, combined with great programming, resulted in enthusiastic attendees and an important gathering for the industry:
Interview with American International Concession Products, Corp. (AICP)
Headquarters: Charlotte, NC
Interviewee: Stephen Sciortino, VP of Sales & Owner
How would you describe AICP and its role in theatrical exhibition?
American International Concession Products, Corp. (AICP) provides strategic sales solutions tailored to the movie theatre and alternative entertainment channels. We partner with leading CPG brands to drive distribution, optimize product assortments, and deliver data-driven analysis backed by tremendous industry knowledge and category expertise. We design and build customized single-line queue solutions that help our customers improve flow, enhance the guest experience, and drive revenue and profit. Additionally, we offer premium blankets to create incremental revenue opportunities for our operator partners
What’s new at your company this year?
One of the biggest highlights for AICP this year has been the continued expansion of our single-line queue solutions, where we not only design but also build customized systems that help operators improve guest flow while driving measurable revenue and profit growth.
Did you launch or showcase anything new at CinemaCon 2026?
Yes, at CinemaCon 2026 debuted new CPG brands from one of our industry-leading partners, expanding the portfolio of proven products available to theatre operators. We’re also continuing to evolve our single-line queue solutions, showcasing new ways our customized designs help operators enhance the guest experience while driving incremental revenue and profit. We’re excited to connect with partners and demonstrate how these innovations create measurable impact at the theatre level.
What recent innovations or projects are you most excited for?
Yes, we’re actively engaged in multiple initiatives with Cinema United members, including our ongoing partnerships with NCG Cinemas and Santikos Entertainment. Our customized single-line queue solutions have been implemented across numerous locations within both circuits, with continued expansion in progress. These installations are designed to optimize concession flow, elevate the guest experience, and generate measurable revenue and profit growth for our theatre partners.
How does your company engage with local communities – either where you’re headquartered or in partnership with cinema exhibitors across the country?
We support and engage local communities and exhibitors by partnering closely with theatre operators to implement solutions that enhance both operational performance and the overall guest experience. Through customized single-line queue installations, curated CPG assortments, and incremental revenue programs like premium blankets, we help exhibitors strengthen their financial performance while better serving their local audiences.
What industry trends are shaping your work right now?
Right now, our work is being shaped by evolving consumer preferences and the need for theatres to maximize every guest interaction. Trending CPG products — especially recognizable, high-velocity brands — continue to drive excitement and incremental spend at concession. At the same time, operators are increasingly open to new revenue streams, such as premium blankets, that enhance comfort while generating incremental profit. Equally important is helping our theatre partners understand the power of impulse purchasing. By implementing customized single-line queue systems, we create controlled, high-visibility merchandising environments that naturally encourage add-on purchases, increasing per-cap revenue while improving traffic flow and the overall guest experience.
How is your company helping cinema operators evolve?
AICP helps cinema operators evolve by combining strategic product partnerships with operational innovation. We introduce high-performing, recognizable CPG brands that drive incremental concession revenue while using data-driven analysis and deep industry knowledge to optimize assortments and performance. At the same time, we design and build customized single-line queue systems that improve traffic flow, create structured impulse-buying opportunities, and increase per-cap spend. By also developing new revenue streams — such as premium blankets, we help operators enhance the guest experience while strengthening overall profitability in an increasingly competitive entertainment landscape.
What makes your company or team unique?
What truly sets our team apart is our genuine, hands-on commitment to our customers. We prioritize exceptional service and focus on delivering solutions that create real, measurable value for each operator we partner with. Our approach is built on trust, responsiveness, and long-term relationship building, ensuring that our customers view us not just as a vendor, but as a strategic partner invested in their success.
How long have you participated in CinemaCon, and what keeps you coming back?
AICP has proudly participated in CinemaCon since the very beginning, dating back to the Showest days at Bally’s. Our longstanding involvement reflects our deep commitment to the exhibition industry and the relationships that drive it. We continue to come back each year because we strongly believe in the importance of this conference, what it represents for our industry, the collaboration it fosters, and the meaningful connections it creates with our partners. CinemaCon remains an essential platform for innovation, alignment, and strengthening the future of theatrical exhibition.
We are writing to you in our capacity as the leadership of Cinema United, the world’s largest trade organization representing the global theatrical exhibition business. We write to encourage you both to meet in the immediate future and discuss all possible avenues for resolving the state of California’s pending challenge to Paramount’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Theatrical exhibition is a Main Street industry. A night at the cinema not only benefits the movie studios and theatre owners, but it also benefits nearby restaurants, coffee shops, bars and shopping frequented by moviegoers. From family-owned independent theatres to vibrant mid-size circuits to the world’s largest theatre chains, Cinema United members are cultural and economic drivers in communities across this great nation. Our members have been partnering with Paramount and Warner Bros. for over a century to provide movie fans of all ages with the unparalleled experience of a movie on the big screen. We look forward to strengthening and growing that proud tradition for generations to come. Movie theatres are also undeniably a part of the fabric of this nation. In just the twelve states represented in the litigation we have 196 members doing business. The majority of those are independent or family-owned theatres: 130 operate fewer than ten screens; 90, with less than five screens; and 30 of those members operate single-screen theatres.
Our industry is familiar with the impact of legacy studio consolidation on moviegoers and exhibition, and those facts are well documented. As a result, all relevant parties understand the enduring value of the theatrical experience not only to our culture, but to the overall economy and the financial success of films themselves. At the same time, we have remained open to tangible and enforceable guardrails that can offer our industry some measure of certainty in the face of an evolving and otherwise challenging future. That is why we have engaged, in good faith, with both the coalition of State Attorneys General and Paramount.
As you both know, we believe any resolution of the current situation must ensure four core elements, which are essential to the long-term strength of the entertainment industry:
A long-term commitment to maintain or expand wide-release theatrical movie production that is supported by a meaningful period of theatrical exclusivity, fully marketed, and promoted in theatres of all sizes.
Provisions ensuring that the merger will not cause an increase in rental terms, so that theatre owners, and in turn, moviegoers, do not bear the brunt of the cost of this transaction, particularly independent theatres across the United States.
Enforceable safeguards to ensure broad access to films for moviegoers and theatres of all sizes that is not conditioned on requirements that impede theatre owners from making business decisions that are responsive to their communities’ preferences and the broader marketplace realities that many theatre owners face today.
And finally, continued access, under reasonable conditions and precedents, to the valuable and vast film catalogues of both Paramount and Warner Bros.
Today, our industry has the wind at its back. Studio partners are creating and distributing extraordinary films. Audiences across generations are responding with enthusiasm. Theatre owners are continuing to reinvest in their cinemas and build remarkable experiences for moviegoers. Movies are once again at the center of our shared culture. But none of that can be taken for granted. Global exhibition believes in a bold future for this industry, but reaching our full potential requires working together.
For many in our industry, the current environment is marked by disruption and uncertainty. That is why we believe that it is incumbent upon both of you to meet in good faith to discuss a resolution that would provide robust protections and serve the entire industry. In fact, it is the next logical step. Our goal remains a resolution that puts this industry on a positive path to continued success, not just in the near-term, but for generations to come. As has been the case since the outset, we stand ready to assist in any way we can. However, we urge you both to take the steps necessary to explore a meaningful resolution of the current situation as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Michael O’Leary President & CEO, Cinema United Washington, DC
Mike Bowers (Chair of the Board) President & CEO, Harkins Theatres Scottsdale, AZ
Wanda Gierhart (Vice Chair) EVP & Chief Marketing and Content Officer, Cinemark USA, Inc. Plano, TX
Rob Lehman (Treasurer) President & COO, Santikos Entertainment San Antonio, TX
Bo Chambliss (Secretary) President, Georgia Theatre Company Saint Simons Island, GA
Eduardo Acuna CEO, Regal Entertainment Group Knoxville, TN
Robert Bagby President & CEO, B&B Theatres Liberty, MO
Becky Dupuis CEO/Owner, Polson Theatres, Inc. Polson, MT
Eddy Duquenne CEO, Kinepolis Group Ghent, Belgium
Sean Gamble President & CEO, Cinemark USA, Inc. Plano, TX
Paul Gunsky President & CEO, CineLux Theatres San Jose, CA
John Henrich General Counsel, Regal Entertainment Group Knoxville, TN
Ellis Jacob President & CEO, Cineplex Entertainment LP Toronto, ON, Canada
Greg Marcus Chairman, President & CEO, Marcus Theatres Milwaukee, WI
Lauren McChesney Co-Owner, Shankweiler’s Drive-In Orefield, PA
Todd Vradenburg President & CEO, Cinema Association of CA/NV Los Angeles, CA
Phil Zacheretti Founder, President & CEO, Phoenix Theatres Entertainment Knoxville, TN
Official statement from Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United:
“Moviegoers across generations made this weekend one for the record books. Our industry is at its best when there is something for everyone to see on the big screen, and this year we are seeing what happens when the innovation and creativity on display in amazing movie theatres across the country and around the world is combined with a great slate of films.”
From Variety: A powerful one-two punch from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” has fueled the biggest collective weekend in box office history, with roughly $430 million across all movies in the marketplace.
Prior to this, the top three weekends were led by “Avengers: Endgame” ($402 million collectively), 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” ($314 million collectively) and 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($313 million collectively). It’s a particularly exciting benchmark for the recently married Tom Holland and Zendaya, who star in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey.”
