ICE Theaters, the leading premium screen offering in France with 36 screens, and its parent company CGR Cinemas, the top French multiplex company with 700 screens in France, announced that Guillaume Thomine Desmazures will assume the role of senior V.P., sales and strategy, effective immediately.
In the newly created role, Desmazures will lead ICE Theaters’ international expansion efforts and worldwide sales division. With over 10 years’ experience in the media industry, Desmazures will be in charge of expanding the brand footprint and theater development by identifying strategic partnership deals with exhibitors, distributors, and manufacturers. Part of Desmazures’s role will be to lead the strategy and fine-tuning of the ICE offering according to each market’s specifics.
Desmazures officially joins ICE Theaters after working with the company in a consolatory capacity to help secure two milestone international expansions in 2019—to Saudi Arabia with VOX Cinemas, and the opening of the first location in the U.S. at AEG’s Regal L.A. Live.
Previously, Desmazures held a position at Arts Alliance Media as its senior sales manager, where he guided the digital transition through the virtual print fee model throughout the European and Latin American markets. Over the past four years, Desmazures has been headed Bel Air Cinema, which provides day-and-date movies in DCI format to high-net-worth individuals on board superyachts, royal palaces, private islands, and residences.
“I was taken back by the newness of this breathtaking sensorial immersive experience ‘made in France.’ With over 52 major studio feature films released in ICE Theaters in only two years and outstanding box office results, I realized a new revolution was on its way in theatrical exhibition,” Desmazures said. “With a shockingly profitable business model for both exhibitors and distributors, I couldn’t see why this would not triumph internationally. Being part of this new and fantastic adventure, supported by such a powerful and innovative theatrical exhibition group, is a fantastic challenge for me. With Mr. Bouyssy’s green light, I tested the market and then signed an exclusive agreement to roll out several ICE Theaters with Vox Cinemas for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with the very first U.S.-based ICE Theaters at Regal L.A Live in Los Angeles as a start. Now [that] it’s proven the model has some great wings, it is time to put it into the second gear!”
“We are very excited to welcome Guillaume to the ICE Theaters team,” said Jocelyn Bouyssy, CEO of CGR Cinemas Group. “Our first meeting goes back to 2007 when he did fantastic work on the digitization of our exhibition locations with CGR. We are starting an amazing new adventure: We have the right product supported by all the major studios, along with the right executives to drive ICE Theaters to all corners of the world.”
ICE Immersive technology features up to seven non-reflecting LED panels flanking each side of the auditorium to fill the moviegoer’s peripheral vision with colors complementary to the front screen. An in-house post-production team in La Rochelle, France creates ambient images for the panels and syncs them to each film showcased.
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