-By Kevin Lally

The annual Cinema Expo International event, which runs June 21-24 at the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Congress Centre, is doubling its forces this year. Beginning with the 2010 edition, CEI is now the official convention of the International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), Europe’s equivalent of the United States’ National Association of Theatre Owners.

“Joining together with UNIC has been a great benefit for the industry,” says CEI managing director Robert Sunshine. “We take their networking abilities, contacts and exposure to their members and combine that with our ability to craft a terrific convention and our contacts with the Hollywood studios, and the result is a much stronger and more viable convention. We are very proud of this relationship, and both sides are working tirelessly to make this year’s edition of Cinema Expo the best ever.”

Sunshine praises the achievements of his new convention partner. “UNIC is achieving good progress with the European Union on items that affect the marketplace. Their association with NATO makes them a better-informed organization. Being a UNIC member and supporter has been good for the industry.”

The alliance will bolster this year’s programming, according to Sunshine. “Because of the new relationship with UNIC, we have formed a programming committee consisting of Kim Pedersen [head of the Danish Cinema Association] and Jean-Marie Dura [director of the UGC circuit], which is hitting all the pertinent issues facing exhibition in Europe. With their guidance, the programming is becoming more Eurocentric, which is a real plus for the show. UNIC will be overseeing a session by the European Union on what they are doing for the movie industry, and sessions on digital cinema in Europe, digital 3D and piracy.”

UNIC’s participation is also an added draw for distributors. “Now that there is only one convention,” Sunshine notes, “the Hollywood studios are really coming to the table at CEI. Every major studio is doing a product presentation and we anticipate eight films to be screened at CEI. Three of them will be shown in 3D and we will be using three different 3D systems.” Among the big movies previewing at CEI are Fox’s Knight and Day, starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps; Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 3 in 3D; Universal’s Get Him to the Greek and 3D animated Despicable Me; and Warner Bros.’ Going the Distance, starring Drew Barrymore.

With the integration of the two European shows, the number of delegates at CEI is expected to be up significantly, and Sunshine says that the CEI trade show “will be bigger by about seven percent this year over last year.”

As for the vendors, it’s “all about digital cinema and 3D,” he notes. “What’s interesting is that many of the top 3D companies in the field are now concentrating major efforts on the consumer market and in-home products. However, it is still necessary to make certain that your theatre sound system can keep up with these digital pictures on the screen. Maintenance is also a serious point that cannot be overlooked.”

According to Sunshine, “3D has been just as popular and successful in Europe as it has been in the U.S. There is no reason to believe that won’t continue. This is not a fad. The public is demanding this new/old technology and the film studios will give it to them as long as they keep going out to the theatres.”

Another rising trend, alternative content “is bigger in Europe than anywhere else,” Sunshine observes. “We see that continuing as more and more digital-cinema systems are installed. This topic will be covered during Cinema Expo and with the addition of satellite delivery and 3D, alternative content—or as we like to say, additional programming—will continue to grow.”

In fact, alternative content is the subject of the show’s first morning seminar on June 21. That’s followed in the afternoon by a presentation by Paramount Pictures chief operating officer Frederick Huntsberry on “The Surprising Evolution of Online Piracy,” along with a panel discussion on film theft. In addition to the previously mentioned seminars on digital cinema and 3D, the schedule includes a seminar by Coca-Cola’s Barry Jones on driving retail revenues and cinema-going frequency called “Profit by Design.”

This year’s Cinema Expo International award winners (all profiled in this issue) are David Kosse, president of Universal Pictures International, as “International Distributor of the Year”; Pathé Theatres B.V. as “International Exhibitor of the Year,” with the award to be accepted by managing director Lauge Nielsen; and Despicable Me producer Chris Meledandri, who will be honored with the “Award of Achievement in Animated Filmmaking.”