Brent Lang Executive Editor John Fithian, the top lobbyist for the exhibition industry, will retire as the CEO of the National Association of Theatre Owners on May 1, 2023.
The group said it has already begun a search for Fithian’s successor, but he leaves big shoes to fill having been a major force at NATO, as it is called, for 30 years.
Initially engaged as outside counsel to NATO in 1992, Fithian assumed the presidency in 2000. In that capacity, he helped guide the group’s members through some of the most tumultuous periods in the cinema business’s history, including its transition to digital projection, as well as the COVID-19 closures that brought the industry to its knees. “It is nearly impossible to sum up a career of three decades in a few sentences,” said Fithian. “I will leave that to others.
But my highest goal was always to leave this organization and this industry stronger and more effective than I found it – and more importantly – to ensure that it remains strong and effective after I am gone.
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