-By Sarah Sluis

Stewart Harnell, CEO and founder of Cinema Concepts, is a lifelong veteran of the movie trailer business. “I’ve seen every technological change you can imagine. I’ve seen executive leadership changes at all the film companies, at all the theatre circuits. There used to be hundreds of them, but over the years they consolidated.” With close to 50 years of experience, Harnell is this year’s recipient of the Show ‘E’ Award for industry achievement, which will be presented at ShowEast 2009 in Orlando.
Harnell started in the business as a trailer scriptwriter for the father of his future wife. “Back in those days, it was just big titles across the screen saying ‘The Thrill of a Lifetime,’ all that kind of stuff. I said, ‘I’m a writer, I don’t want to do this stuff.’” Harnell switched to the role of booker/salesman for the company, National Screen Service. He was promoted to manager after several years, but left the company after he and his wife divorced.

Moving to production and distribution, he started Harnell Independent Productions in the 1970s. As the market softened, success became more difficult to come by. “Back then, you had to knock on doors and beg, borrow, and steal to get people to play your pictures.” After a few years, his ex-father-in-law called him back to work for National Screen Service as their executive VP and worldwide sales manager.

Stewart Harnell founded Cinema Concepts not only as a business decision, but also a personal one. “We had just had a baby and it was tough for my wife to be alone and not have many friends, and I was flying all over the world. I asked the executive board if I could do the job out of Atlanta, where we really lived, and they said, ‘No, if you’re going to make the big bucks, you’ve got to stay here in New York.’” He decided to form his own company in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of Harnell’s key accomplishments at Cinema Concepts was a re-imagining of policy announcements like “No smoking” and “Please deposit your trash.” The industry standard used to be seven to ten-second announcements called “snipes” that would appear on an otherwise blank screen before the show.

In the late 1970s, Harnell made a pitch to General Cinemas, “which was the biggest circuit in the world at that time.” In his presentation, he said, “Instead of using all these little snipes…I’ve come up with an idea that I think you guys are going to like. It’s going to open with ‘Welcome to General Cinema Theatres, for your comfort and safety, no smoking in the auditorium, please visit our concession stand and don’t forget to deposit your litter on your way out.’ They loved it. It was the greatest idea since sliced bread. I sent it around to other theatre circuits, Loews, and all the other big ones at that time, and everybody fell in love with it, and that’s how the policy trailer was born.”
Asked why it succeeded, Harnell offers a simple reason. “It made it easier for the projectionist, having it all condensed into one trailer rather than to have to splice all these little snipes in various segments of the pre-show.”

Innovation and quality have always been integral to Cinema Concepts’ business. “We’ve kept up with the technology, and every time we hear about something new that can improve our ability to provide the best, we go out and buy it. In fact, when film started to fade away and everyone said digital is here to stay, we prepared for it right away,” Harnell explains. This mindset has helped Cinema Concepts bring in more business. “We can handle anything that’s thrown at us. We actually have people that come to us because they couldn’t get what they wanted somewhere else.”

The company is already fully equipped for 3D, from the editing room to the screening room. One of the company’s latest accomplishments was a successful transfer of a 2D Coca-Cola commercial to 3D. The commercial, which took place in the eye-popping environment of New York City’s Thanksgiving’s Day parade, skyscrapers and giant balloon characters included, was an incredible success, and advertisers have taken notice. As 3D continues to grow, Cinema Concepts expects demand to increase for 3D policy trailers and pre-show ads.

The company has also endured setbacks. During the consolidation of theatre circuits, their customer base shrunk. “We had to diversify. We had to go out and find new sources of revenue and that’s when we got Coca-Cola and a lot of national advertisers. We had the equipment, we had the technology, and we had the money to buy all the equipment for cash so we didn’t have to finance anything.”

While the number of theatre chains decreased, Cinema Concepts held on to bigger circuits, among them AMC, Cinemark, National Amusements, Pacific, Marcus and Metropolitan. They’ve also been able to do more business with national advertisers and Fortune 500 companies.

“They finally realized on Madison Avenue that people were flipping channels when commercials were coming on, and you can’t do that in the theatre. You’re seated, bolted down facing the screen, and you don’t have a little clicker in your hand to change the channel. That’s why cinema advertising is so effective and why it’s become so popular.”

With all the changes in the theatre business, Harnell counts the personal relationships he developed as a salesman as his biggest asset. “My philosophy was: Get to know the people, get them to embrace you, and then it’s going to be a lot easier to sell whatever you’re selling, as long as it’s the best. And that’s been our slogan, ‘Nothing but the best.’”

Harnell views his early experience in the Variety Club, which he has been involved with his whole life, as an example of his early attention to people skills. As a kid, he would go down to the hospital in Coral Gables, Florida, every Saturday to entertain patients by tap dancing and playing the accordion. “Because I was an entertainer as a kid, I could retain lyrics real well,” he explains. That gift has helped him remember names and relationships, and offer special touches like sending people anniversary gifts. He’s currently serving his eighth term as president of the Variety Club’s Atlanta Tent 21. He also graduated from the Dale Carnegie course in human relations and the sales management course.

Harnell comes from a creative background. His father played piano, accordion and violin, and two of his brothers were concert pianists—Joe Harnell won a Grammy Award for the hit record “Fly Me to the Moon.” His son Steve works in commercial production and is directing a movie about DJs, and his daughter Ali is an executive at Anschutz Entertainment.

Harnell has designed logos for numerous circuits around the world, including United Artists, but Harnell’s biggest coup was designing the AMC Logo. “It’s got that backward A on it, which I must admit I did after having two martinis in a cocktail lounge with a friend of mine and I was trying to come up with a logo idea for AMC. I drew the A backwards—blame it on the martinis. They chose it and they’ve been using it ever since. The owner of AMC theatres was Stan Durwood, and I said, ‘Why did you choose that one, Stan?’ He said, ‘Because it’s timeless, it’ll never get old.’” The company still uses the logo.

Located in a nondescript business park, Cinema Concepts’ office inspires awe once people are inside. “Everybody who comes here is amazed because of the technology we have and the creativity we have and they’re just blown away.” Harnell also praises his employees. “We only have 12 to 15 employees, but everybody does double duty around here. They all know what they’re doing and they do it perfectly. They’re all thoroughly professional.” He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and hiring great people.

Wherever Harnell leads Cinema Concepts next, it’s sure to be on the cutting edge. “We don’t ‘wait and see.’ We’ve always stayed ahead of the curve.”