During this year’s Los Angeles Seminar Series, the International Cinema Technology Association (ICTA) announced the winners of their fourth annual North America Cinema Awards (NACA). These awards honor outstanding achievements in cinema design, refurbishment, and technological innovation. “This year’s winners have redefined what it means to create extraordinary spaces for storytelling,” said Mark Mayfield, ICTA president. “Their commitment to pushing boundaries and delivering unforgettable cinematic moments deserves a standing ovation.”
BEST NEW CINEMA BUILD
B&B Theatres Red Oak 12
Red Oak, TX | 12 Screens
B&B Theatres’ Red Oak luxury entertainment center opened in March 2024 after a nearly five-year construction period. The center showcases B&B Theatres’ commitment to diversifying its entertainment options beyond the traditional moviegoing experience. In addition to catching the latest and greatest in cinema entertainment, Red Oak guests can check out the pickleball and bocce ball courts, scale the climbing wall in the Outtakes Arcade, or have some good, old-fashioned fun with B-Roll Bowling. An exceptional moviegoing experience is still the exhibitor’s lodestar: The new Red Oak complex offers its guests myriad premium audiovisual experiences, including HDR by Barco projection technology, North America’s largest ScreenX panoramic screen, the first 4DX immersive seating auditorium for both B&B and the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area, B&B’s own proprietary Grand Screen premium large format screen, and DTS-X immersive sound.
BEST USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Golden Ticket Cinemas Greenville Grande Imax + Elite
Greenville, NC | 12 Screens
2024 was a big year for Golden Ticket Cinemas: Their location in Greenville, North Carolina, received this year’s NACA Award for Best Use of Technology. The theater had its ribbon cutting on March 1, just in time for local moviegoers to watch Dune: Part Two the way it was meant to be seen—on the big screen. ELITE (Elevated Immersive Theater Experience), their flagship auditorium, is tricked out with the latest in cinema technology, including a 4K laser projector, a wall-to-wall-screen, Dolby Atmos sound, and heated recliners. Throughout 2024, Golden Ticket’s Greenville location opened more screens, bringing their total to 12, including one Imax with Laser auditorium.
BEST TRADITIONAL REFURBISHMENT
Phoenix Theatres Great Northern
North Olmstead, OH | 10 Screens
For their eighth location, Phoenix Theatres looked to the greater Cleveland area’s Great Northern Mall, which was missing a key anchor tenant after its Regal-owned cinema closed in January 2023. Roughly a year and a half later, Phoenix Theatres’ Great Northern cinema opened. Moviegoers get to enjoy updated sound (Dolby Digital and Atmos) and visual technology (Christie 4K projectors), as well as heated recliners and, in four auditoriums, Phoenix’s proprietary premium large-format brand, Encore. As part of its commitment to family-friendly pricing, Phoenix Theatres does not have a surcharge for Encore screenings, and the cost of an evening ticket tops out at $10 ($13 for RealD), ensuring that a wider audience can get to know—and love—the modern multiplex.
BEST CLASSIC REFURBISHMENT
The Playhouse — Cinema Lab
New Canaan, CT | 10 Screens
The youngest cinema chain among this year’s crop of NACA winners, Cinema Lab was founded in 2021 with the goal of reviving the neighborhood movie theater. But Cinema Lab wanted more than just a place to watch the latest and greatest films in an immersive, state-of-the-art environment: They aimed to make an essential hub for community-building. With their Playhouse location, Cinema Lab did just that, giving a new lease on life to a beloved local theater that had been a part of the New Canaan community since 1923. Then it became a casualty of the Covid pandemic. After an extensive renovation, the technology in the Playhouse’s two auditoriums was upgraded, and lounges, private event spaces, and a restaurant all serve as common areas for neighborhood movie-lovers to congregate.
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