Renana Teperberg, CCO of Cineworld, talks about theatrical perspectives, priorities and more – CinemaCon

Exclusive: Renana Tepperberg, director of marketing at Cineworld, receives the CinemaCon Global Achievement Award on Monday in Las Vegas. The executive has spent virtually his entire career in business, starting with the band as a cashier at the Jerusalem Cinema and moving up to various positions, including head of programming and marketing and senior vice president in the commercial department, before becoming CCO in 2016..

As the second largest CCO exhibition group in the world, owned by Regal in the United States and operating in 9 countries with 9,185 screens, Tepperberg has many responsibilities including strategy and business development, e-commerce, marketing, catering, human resources, new products and businesses. growth. .

A respected leader in the global exhibition industry, Tepperberg works closely with Cineworld CEO Mookey Gradenger, who he calls “extremely professional and passionate”. After two tough years in business due to the pandemic, he is also evaluating the future of filmmaking, sharing industry insights with Deadline below.

Deadline: How do you feel about getting back into business? What’s your perspective now that it looks like we’re moving away from the pandemic?

René Tepperberg: I am very optimistic when it comes to people who want to go to the cinema. I think we’ve already shown that if people want to go out, we’ve seen it Spiderman, Link, Uncharted, Batman – People want to go out. I think our challenge is still fulfilled because this is the main thing you have to offer. We can build the best cinemas in the world, but if we don’t have movies, it won’t do us any good.

This year, when it comes to blockbusters, it looks incredible. We’re still running out of mid-sized movies, probably because they weren’t produced or streamed during the pandemic, but I think it will come. I think it’s understandable that when someone sees a movie in the cinema, they go out and say “Wow!”, And at home they see the same movie, they go out and say, “Hey, that was good.” For a director, if this is his life project, I think in the end everyone wants to show it on the big screen.

DEADLINE: Speaking of content, how did your relationship with studies develop during the pandemic? There were moments of tension; Are they all more or less on the same page now?

Tepperberg: Today our relationship with the studies is in excellent condition. There have been really, really tough times and I don’t lie that it’s been a calm and loyal love affair over these two years. We had difficult discussions and at times we really felt like the studies could do things differently. That said, they have had their challenges and I think we are in a very good situation today and I can personally say that during this time some relationships have become even stronger. I feel that we are now working on a great collaboration and are keeping an eye on the future of cinemas.

DEADLINE: What’s the most important thing on your agenda in terms of club development?

Tepperberg: One thing we need to make sure is that when people come to the theater, first of all they have a very positive experience. So we need to make sure our theaters have high standards, from seating to quality of equipment. But I think our main program right now is to invest more in special formats because that’s what you can’t get anywhere and because it attracts people, we’ve seen a lot of them. Spiderman – Watch the same movie multiple times because you want to experience it in different formats.

And it is a way to attract a young audience, which is more difficult today. I know from my son that he saw Spiderman Four times he went to Imax, regular audience, ScreenX, 4DX, each time it was a different experience for him.

DEADLINE: You’ve been working with Cineworld for a while now, you’ve never worked anywhere else, have you?

Tepperberg: (laughs) If you don’t mind the horrible job I did in one of the bakeries when I was 16, then yes, this is the only job I’ve ever had.

DEADLINE: To begin with, did you know that you wanted to enter the world of cinema?

Tepperberg: I didn’t really know. I was looking for work while studying psychology at university. I was 100% sure that I was going to become a psychologist and was looking for a weekend job while studying for a week. Only the cinema was open in Jerusalem on weekends. I started at the box office… I was in the projection room, directing films, I was still studying and I was sure that I would become a psychologist. Three or four years after working in the office with Mookie, I said, “Okay, I think I’ll stay.”

DEADLINE: What was the draw?

Tepperberg: First of all because this is an industry, you know, it does it for you, it’s very interesting and different and you feel part of this business that entertains people, a good thing that people love. When I arrived at the headquarters, it was at this point that the company began to develop significantly as we moved from Israel to Central Europe. It was fascinating, we opened countries from the very beginning that many times did not have model cinemas, so it was interesting to meet people from different countries and mindsets, as well as customers who came and said “Wow!” … Most importantly for me it is the relationship with people.

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DEADLINE: As a woman in the main exhibition circle, were there any challenges to be faced?

Tepperberg: There are many women in leadership positions in our company. In Israel, our table is balanced, but I would say that balanced women outnumber men. In Central Europe, many women hold leadership positions, so this has never been a problem within our company, I have never felt like I needed a tougher battle or that there was no good chance. Muki has great faith in women in leadership positions.

As for the industry, I was a little surprised as we got older and as I’ve known bigger and bigger companies in the industry, it’s still not where I think it probably should be. At Regal, Amy Miles was the CEO when we arrived, Elizabeth Frank is a great colleague at AMC. So there are women, but of course when you look at the industry and prominent people, there are far fewer women than they probably should be.

DEADLINE: What’s the best thing about going to the movies for you personally?

Tepperberg: Every movie I see with someone I love and care about really relates to the experience. I can enjoy almost any movie when it comes to the right experience and the right person by my side.