The Event Cinema Association is delighted to congratulate its winners after a very successful ECA Awards ceremony at the ECA Conference today.
The ECA Conference, which took place at the recently opened Picturehouse Central cinema in London’s West End, included the hotly anticipated ECA Awards as part of its all-day convention and this year it was definitely one of the highlights. Presented by the UK’s One Show presenter Nick Wallis, and opening with a slick montage of the best of the year’s releases, the ceremony celebrated every aspect of this growing industry, recognizing individuals and companies achievements alike.
The Awards, sponsored by Rentrak, are separated into two sections; the Box Office Awards, which are open to distributor Members of the ECA, and Awards for Excellence, which are open to anyone, as long as they are nominated by an ECA member.
Box Office Awards are designed to recognize Event Cinema box office success for 100,000 admissions (bronze) 250,000 admissions (silver) and 500,000 admissions (gold). Awards for Excellence are nominated by other ECA members and include categories such as Best Cinema Chain, Best Content Provider, and Outstanding Contribution to Event Cinema.
This year the Box Office Awards were dominated by US distribution company Fathom Events; they swept the board with an unprecedented 7 Bronze Awards for various documentaries, anniversary specials of Gone With the Wind and the Sound of Music, the Dr Who Season Premiere US Release and the One Direction US release. They were also awarded and a Silver gong for The Drop Box, an inspiring documentary about a Korean pastor who takes in and raises abandoned babies dropped in a box at his house.
Other Bronze awards were handed to UK distribution company Arts Alliance for Exhibition on Screen’s art exhibition Vincent Van Gogh’s A New Way of Seeing, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Arts Alliance also won Bronze awards for the Royal Opera House’s The Nutcracker and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Pathé Live also walked away with Bronze awards for the Bolshoi Ballet’s The Nutcracker and Swan Lake.
But the big news this year was the only gold award for One Direction: Where We Are, again awarded to Arts Alliance, which set a new world record when it was released in late 2014, grossing an historic $15m worldwide in a single weekend.
Ross Fitzsimons, Head of Sales & Marketing told the ECA, “We always knew the fan base with 1D would lead to a successful release but even we were surprised just how well attended it was. It just goes to show the power of Event Cinema, that when the right elements are in place, the sky really is the limit. We’re delighted with this award, and look forward to many more in future.”
The ECA’s Awards for Excellence recognize quality in a variety of categories, and are divided in to regions: Europe, Americas, Australasia and Rest of the World.
Full results of the ECA Awards 2015
Best Cinema Chain
Europe Picturehouse Cinemas/Vue Cinemas (Joint), UK
Americas Alamo Drafthouse, USA
Australasia TOHO Cinemas, Japan
Rest of the World Empire Cinemas, Lebanon
Best Independent Cinema
Europe The Picture House, Uckfield, UK
Americas Kerasotes Showplace Theater, USA
Australasia Rialto, New Zealand
Rest of the World NCPA, Mumbai, India
Best Distributor
Europe More2Screen, UK
Americas Fathom Events, USA
Australasia CinemaLive, Australia
Rest of the World No nomination
Best Content Provider
Europe NT Live, UK
Americas The Metropolitan Opera, USA
Australasia Opera Australia, Australia
Rest of the World No nomination
Outstanding Contribution to Event Cinema
Melissa Cogavin, ECA, UK
Technical Achievement Award
MPS’ LANsat
The annual ECA Conference was held at the Picturehouse Central cinema in central London on Tuesday October 19 and was attended by 280 industry professionals from 20 territories worldwide. Gold sponsors included Philips Lightvibes, Fathom Events and Powster. Full details can be found at http://www.eventcinemaassociation.org/events/ecacon/2015/index.html
