The Who, What, and How of the NATO Executive Board

By Erin Von Hoetzendorff, Industry and Global Affairs Coordinator, NATO

The National Association of Theatre Owners Executive Board election results are in! After plenty of campaigning by all 14 of the brilliant candidates, Bo Chambliss (Georgia Theatre Company), J.D. Loeks (Studio C), and Joe Masher (Bow Tie Cinemas) were each reelected to represent mid-sized companies on the board. In the independent category, John Vincent (Wellfleet Cinemas) was reelected, and Donald Fox (Fox Theatres) was elected for his first term. 

The news of newly elected board members is exciting, but we also realize that the Executive Board of NATO might be a mystery to some, so we wanted to take a moment to explain (or remind) Boxoffice Pro readers what exactly the NATO Executive Board is and how these elections work.

According to NATO’s bylaws, “the Executive Board is the legally constituted governing body of the Association and may bind the Association.” In other words, NATO’s Executive Board is a 17-member governing board that makes important decisions about NATO’s priorities, press strategy, major projects, and annual budget. The Executive Board meets often virtually and at least twice a year in-person at CinemaCon and the NATO fall governance meetings to discuss important issues affecting the exhibition industry. The Executive Board also considers and votes on all Advisory Board resolutions.

Most NATO initiatives pass through an approval process with the Executive Board. NATO’s Executive Board is responsible for driving the strategic direction of the association, for setting policies and priorities, and managing risk and accountability for NATO, CinemaCon, and NATO-PAC.

The eight largest cinema companies in the domestic market (U.S. and Canada), ranked by screen count, hold automatic seats on the Executive Board. These eight seats are reevaluated each year based on screen counts at the end of NATO’s fiscal year, in late June. Four elected seats are held by exhibitors in each of the regional/mid-sized categories (companies with 75 screens and over who are not part of the top 8) and the independent category (companies with 1–74 screens). NATO’s certified regional associations are represented with one elected seat as well.

Only members of NATO’s Advisory Board are eligible to run for elected seats. The terms are two years, and elections are staggered in the regional/mid-sized circuits and independents categories, so that an election is held each summer, usually for two of the four seats representing those categories. Board members can be elected for four consecutive terms. After that, they must sit out at least one two-year term before they can run again.

Only Advisory Board members in the specific category of the elected seats are eligible to vote. In other words, only mid-sized Advisory Board members can vote in the mid-sized election, only independent Advisory Board members are eligible to vote in the independent election, etc.

All of this is to say that the NATO Executive Board is meant to be a representative voice for all NATO members. If you are a NATO member, we highly encourage you to reach out to your elected representatives to discuss any thoughts, ideas, and opinions you have that might help NATO members. Of course, you are also always welcome to contact NATO staff, but we want to ensure that the NATO Executive Board members accurately represent you. NATO is a member-driven organization, so your active engagement is important to us.

NATO’s 2020–2021 Executive Board is below:

Eight Automatic Seats (listed by company’s domestic screen count):

1. Adam Aron, AMC Entertainment Inc.
2. Moshe Greidinger, Regal Entertainment Group
3. Mark Zoradi, Cinemark USA Inc.
4. Ellis Jacob, Cineplex Entertainment LP
5. Rolando Rodriguez, Marcus Theatres Corp.
6. Dan Harkins, Harkins Theatres
7. Eddy Duquenne, Kinepolis/Landmark/MJR
8. Robert Bagby, B&B Theatres

Four Regional/Mid-Sized Circuit Seats (listed alphabetically by last name):

1. Bo Chambliss, Georgia Theatre Company
2. Ron Krueger, Southern Theatres LLC
3. J.D. Loeks, Studio C
4. Joe Masher, Bow Tie Cinemas

Four Independent Seats (listed alphabetically by last name):

1. Donald Fox, Fox Theatres
2. Joe Paletta, Spotlight Theatres Inc.
3. John Vincent, Wellfleet Cinemas
4. Dave Wright, Linway Plaza Cinemas (MCIC Inc.)

One Regional Associations Representative:

1. Chris Johnson, NATO of Illinois