Amanda Martin Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Cinema United
Amanda Martin spent 2025 working on both the people already running cinemas and some of those who may run them next. As Chief of Staff at Cinema United during the year, she managed the second season of “Behind the Screens: The Faces of Exhibition,” profiling theatre owners and operators from across the industry, while also leading the launch of Future Leaders in Cinema, a two-year development program combining education, mentorship and industry engagement.
Martin’s responsibilities have since grown considerably. In September 2026, Cinema United promoted her to Senior Vice President of External Affairs, adding broader industry partnerships and educational programming to an advocacy portfolio that already included federal and state government affairs.
Erin Von Hoetzendorff
Vice President, Membership and Global Affairs, Cinema United
Erin Von Hoetzendorff’s job requires keeping an increasingly international collection of cinema owners connected to one another and to the trade association representing them. In 2025, that took Cinema United’s membership and global-affairs lead from CineEurope in Barcelona to UNIC Cinema Days in Brussels, while she continued overseeing member communities and serving as liaison to the Global Cinema Federation.
Cinema United made that international role more explicit in September 2026, promoting Von Hoetzendorff to Vice President of Membership and Global Affairs. She also serves as Director of Education for Film Row, extending her industry work into professional development beyond Cinema United itself.
New Cinema Investment Yearly Update Highlights Exhibition’s Ongoing Commitment to Innovation and Investment in the Consumer Experience
Eight Largest Circuits Alone Have Totaled $1.8 Billion in Reinvestment Over Two Years
WASHINGTON, D.C. and LOS ANGELES, CA – October 1, 2026 – On the heels of a spectacular summer box office season, Cinema United issued today its updated Cinema Investment Report. It highlights the North American exhibition industry’s reinvestment into movie theatres, with $1.2 billion going towards upgrades and innovations this past year, pushing total reinvestment over the past two years to $2.7 billion. The announcement comes at the close of another successful Fall Summit in L.A., where theatre owners gathered together for four high-impact days of connection, insight, and industry momentum. United in its support of a bright future, exhibition demonstrates through these reinvestments a clear financial commitment to creating premium entertainment experiences that audiences everywhere crave.
The updated industry total includes the eight largest domestic circuits’ commitment to reinvest $840 million this past year, bringing their total reinvestment over the past two years to $1.8 billion. In September 2024, those same eight companies had pledged more than $2.2 billion to modernize and upgrade theatres of all sizes over a three-year period.
“From the world’s largest circuits to independent theatres on Main Streets across this great nation, theatre owners have shown how much they believe in the future of the big screen, and 2026’s strong box office proves that commitment is paying off,” says Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United. “When a theatre reinvests in itself, everyone wins—moviegoers get a better experience, studios get a stronger platform, local businesses benefit, and contractors get the work that comes with it. Cinema United members are reaffirming that there is nothing like seeing a movie on a big screen. Every investment in a movie theater is an investment in the community it serves, which is why moviegoing will remain essential for generations to come.”
From Cinema United, the trade association representing more than 63,000 screens worldwide, the new Cinema Investment Report comes at a time when audiences of all ages are enthusiastically embracing the big screen experience. In addition to showcasing the capital investments in theatres, the report also highlights the vendors who led several of the renovation efforts, creating jobs and driving local economies.
“The benefit to communities from movie theatres is unmatched by any other premier entertainment experience, and that is why they remain so valued in major cities and small towns worldwide,” says Mike Bowers, CEO of Harkins and Chair of Cinema United. “These investments continue our industry’s long history of ensuring that every moviegoing experience is a premium one.”
Cinema United members profiled in the report include AMC, Cinemark, Harkins, Emagine, Megaplex, CineLux, Classic Cinemas, EPIC Theatres, BAM Rose Cinemas, Hoyts, and Major Cineplex.
Partners mentioned include Okland Construction, Amcon, and D.L.B. Metal Inc.
ABOUT CINEMA UNITED
Founded in 1948, Cinema United is the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing more than 33,000 movie screens in all 50 U.S. states and Canada, with an additional more than 30,000 screens in 81 countries internationally. Its membership includes theatres of all sizes, from the largest cinema chains to one-screen theatres in cities and towns around the world. For additional information, please visit cinemaunited.org.
Amanda Martin becomes SVP, External Affairs, and Erin Von Hoetzendorff is promoted to VP, Membership and Global Affairs
New roles reflect Cinema United’s growing commitment to serve exhibition worldwide
WASHINGTON, D.C. and LOS ANGELES — September 29, 2026 — Cinema United, the world’s largest trade association representing global exhibition, announced today two important leadership promotions. Amanda Martin will assume the newly created role of Senior Vice President, External Affairs, and Erin Von Hoetzendorff will be promoted to Vice President, Membership and Global Affairs. Both appointments reflect Cinema United’s continued investment in building an organization equipped to serve the full breadth of the exhibition industry, both domestically and abroad.
“As exhibition continues to evolve, Cinema United is evolving with it,” said Michael O’Leary, President & CEO of Cinema United. “These two well-deserved promotions will allow us to strengthen our partnerships across the entertainment ecosystem, deepen our advocacy on behalf of all theatre owners, and expand our engagement with international theatre owners, ensuring that every constituency we serve has a strong voice within our organization. Amanda and Erin are critical to our success, and in these new roles, they will have even greater impact on the direction and future of Cinema United.”
Amanda Martin, who served previously as the Chief of Staff since joining Cinema United in 2023, will become SVP, External Affairs. She will continue to serve as a senior member of Cinema United’s leadership team, leading the organization’s advocacy efforts and strategic partnerships across the filmed entertainment industry. In this role, Martin will grow and strengthen Cinema United’s relationships with allied organizations, coalitions and stakeholders central to the exhibition business and oversee the organization’s state government affairs function. Martin will also lead and shape all educational programming for Cinema United’s signature industry events, including CinemaCon and the Fall Summit. She will, along with CEO Michael O’Leary, continue to serve as a federal advocate before Congress and relevant federal agencies.
Erin Von Hoetzendorff, Vice President, Membership and Global Affairs
Erin Von Hoetzendorff, who first joined the organization in 2018, is being promoted to the position of VP, Membership and Global Affairs. In this capacity, Von Hoetzendorff will continue the excellent work she has done as the head of Membership Services and will also lead Cinema United’s expanded engagement with international theatre owners, building on the organization’s existing membership function to deliver substantive representation and support for exhibitors around the world. This role reflects Cinema United’s recognition that global exhibition is critical to the success of our industry, and that Cinema United is committed to helping elevate their voice as a key part of our advocacy on behalf of all theatre owners.
“Together, these roles will help Cinema United serve exhibition more completely and effectively than ever before,” O’Leary added. “One strengthens our connections across the industry itself and elevates our advocacy on behalf of our members; the other strengthens our connection to theatre owners around the world. Both are essential to how we grow and represent our members going forward.”
The new positions are effective immediately and represent Cinema United’s ongoing commitment to building an organization with the capability and reach to meet the needs of exhibition today and in the years ahead.
About Cinema United
Founded in 1948, Cinema United is the largest exhibition trade organization in the world, representing more than 33,000 movie screens in all 50 states, and more than 30,000 screens internationally. Its membership includes theatres of all sizes, from the largest cinema chains to one-screen theatres in cities and towns around the world. For additional information, please visit cinemaunited.org. Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
[Left to Right: Becky Dupuis (Polson Theatres), Paul Gunsky (CineLux), Stephanie Silverman (Belcourt Theatre), and Lauren McChesney (Shankweiler’s Drive-In)]
Four independent leaders at Cinema United–Becky Dupuis (Polson Theatres), Paul Gunsky (CineLux), Lauren McChesney (Shankweiler’s Drive-In), and Stephanie Silverman (Belcourt Theatre)–drafted an OpEd for Indie Wire touting the importance of the SCREEN Act:
For more than a century, the American motion picture industry has been an enduring part of our shared experience. Movies bring audiences across the country the unique magic of sitting with their neighbors to see extraordinary stories told on the big screen at their local cinema.
This summer’s strong box office demonstrates once again that Americans still love going to the movies. But that success masks one important truth facing theatrical exhibition today: Over the past six years, studio consolidation, a global pandemic, and multiple labor strikes have all contributed to a long-term erosion of available capital to reinvest in our businesses. For nearly all theater owners, years of lost and disrupted revenue mean that even as audiences are returning, the capital needed for major improvements has not. Thankfully, a bipartisan bill, the Supporting Cinema Renewal, Enhancement, and Enriching Neighborhoods (SCREEN) Act (H.R. 9938), is waiting in the wings. This legislation will have a direct economic impact in all 50 states, and we urge Congress to act.
We are four small business owners who represent this vital piece of the American film industry’s success, and as Congress considers how to restore and strengthen American film, it must ensure movie theaters are part of the solution. We own and operate independent theaters in Northern California, Nashville, rural Montana and Idaho, and America’s oldest drive-in theater in Orefield, Pennsylvania. We are not part of Hollywood, although we’re vital to bringing films to audiences. We are proud Main Street enterprises.
Statement from Michael O’Leary, President and CEO of Cinema United:
“For nearly a year, and throughout multiple efforts to acquire the iconic Warner Bros. Studios, Cinema United has remained steadfast in its primary objective to safeguard theatres of all sizes across this great nation and around the world from the harms of legacy studio consolidation.
The agreement announced yesterday accomplishes many of exhibition’s objectives. The consent decree includes language on increased film production for five years, meaningful theatrical exclusivity and wide distribution, prohibitions on cost increases, and continued access to the catalogs of Paramount and Warner Bros. While no settlement can eliminate all risk from a merger of this size, these conditions will enable our industry to adapt and succeed in a rapidly changing media environment.
The State Attorneys General’s lawsuit and, now the consent decree, strongly validates that movie theatres are the beating heart of Main Street America and the entire U.S. film industry. Cinema United appreciates the efforts of both the State Attorneys General and Paramount to resolve the merger lawsuit. Our focus now shifts back to our bright future. For well over 100 years, global exhibition has worked closely with both Paramount and Warner Bros. to deliver amazing big screen experiences to fans around the world. We look forward to strengthening these historic partnerships to ensure that going to the movies remains the premier entertainment option for generations to come.”
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:
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
In the lead-up to the Fourth of July holiday, Northwoods Theater Group, an affiliate of Emagine Entertainment, debuted its newest crown jewel, the Emagine Parker, located in the Denver metro area. Cinema United’s Andrew Stewart was there to help celebrate the ribbon cutting event on Tuesday, June 30, along with Jon Goldstein, Owner of Northwoods Theater Group, Parker Mayor Joshua Rivero, and Paul Glantz, former CEO of Emagine Entertainment.
Officially now open to the public, the completely reimagined 32,000-square-foot entertainment destination features luxury heated recliners, premium large-format EMX auditoriums, immersive Dolby Atmos sound, 4K projection, expanded food and beverage offerings, a full-service bar, and the company’s first self-ordering guest experience. Goldstein said he wanted the theatre to be “a beautiful gathering place for the community, and since people in Colorado like to be outside, we tried to bring a little bit of the outside inside.”
The location’s entire design, accented by rich green hues and light hardwood floors throughout, is meant to bring the beauty of the state indoors. Its ties to the local area go beyond just decor; the theatre will help revitalize and grow the community.
“Truly I cannot say (enough) how appreciative we are of your investment into the community,” Rivero said at the event. “Movies are like those films you get from childhood, and you remember where you were when you saw them. I want those memories to be instilled in kids today.”
Rivero congratulated Emagine Parker as the newest spark to the community’s development, saying, “That dirt field will not be a dirt field for much longer with what you guys have done here. All of you working together are going to make West Main Street the gem that it should be.”
A special thank you to Melissa Boudreau, Chief Experience Officer for Northwoods Theater Group, and the entire team for their hospitality. Congratulations again on an incredible opening!
[Left to Right: Movie Theatre Association of Canada’s Nuria Bronfman, Cinema United’s Erin Von Hoetzendorff, and ShowCanada’s Carrie Wolfe]
Cinema United’s Erin Von Hoetzendorff, Director of Membership and Global Affairs, attended 2026’s ShowCanada.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, ShowCanada brought the theatrical exhibition industry together in Banff for screenings, networking and education focused on the future of moviegoing. Hosted by the Movie Theatre Association of Canada, the convention welcomed exhibitors, distributors, and industry partners from across Canada and beyond to discuss collaboration, innovation, audience engagement, and the evolving theatrical experience.
The event was anchored by educational sessions, with topics ranging from independent cinema and community engagement to marketing strategies and premium theatrical experiences. The State of the Industry lunch featured Cinema United members Dave Cohen (Landmark Cinemas of Canada) and Kevin Watts (Cineplex) as panelists, and was moderated by Brooks LeBoeuf (Regal).
Throughout the week, attendees participated in screenings and presentations from studios including Amazon MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, VVS Films, Cineplex Pictures, Mubi, Game Theory, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., and Walt Disney Studios.
ShowCanada also honored Canadian exhibition industry legend, Cinema United board member and former Chair, Ellis Jacob, as he prepares for his well-deserved retirement. Separately, ShowCanada hosted their annual Showmanship awards, honoring dedicated Canadian exhibition and distribution industry members and partners who work hard every day to ensure that their communities have the best moviegoing experiences.
Against the backdrop of the Canadian Rockies, ShowCanada 2026 once again demonstrated the strength, creativity, and forward-thinking spirit of the theatrical exhibition industry.
