Cineplex Odeon Canada has named company veteran Sam DiMichele its new president. DiMichele had served as general manager since 2000. At the same time, the exhibitor also announced that senior VP film Tony Cianciotta has left the company following a three-and-a-half-year tenure. Cianciotta also worked earlier with 20th Century Fox, Alliance Releasing and Red Sky Entertainment, which he cofounded in 1997. In a prepared statement, Cineplex said he left ‘to pursue new challenges.’

Replacing Cianciotta as the exhibitor’s top product manager is former MGM executive Rich Boynton, senior VP film. While Cianciotta was based in Toronto, Boynton will be based in Los Angeles, where he is expected to strengthen Cineplex’s relations with the major studios.

The team is completed by Robert Wales, VP film – Canada, based in Toronto, and Natalie Fecteau, VP film – Quebec, based in Montreal.

Cineplex Odeon now has 68 locations and 600 screens in Canada, the newest being North Edmonton Cinemas, a 14 screen stadium-seating venue, which opened July 11. New theatres set to open in ’04 and early ’05 include Lethbridge, AB and Brossard, QC, respectively, with additional announcements to come, says Greg Malone, Cineplex’s VP marketing.

The new venues include stadium seating, the latest Digital Sound technologies, state-of-the-art projection, wall-to-wall curved screens, plenty of free parking, automated ticket machines and listening devices free of charge for the hearing impaired.

Nearly 20 old and less profitable Cineplex venues have been closed since early ’02, when Gerald Schwartz’s Onex Corp. and investment partner Oaktree Capital Management gained control of Loews Cineplex Entertainment, Cineplex Odeon’s New York-based parent company. Since the bankruptcy bailout, the Onex-led management has closed 119 locations and renegotiated more than 80 leases.

The turnaround was fueled by a US$517-million cash infusion (as of Dec. 31, 2002) by Onex and its partner.

New theatres opened in the past two years have performed well, says Schwartz. He recently told shareholders the exhibition business is ‘a healthy industry undergoing a healthy restructuring and consolidation after overbuilding in 1990.’

‘We are a privately held company, but what I can tell you is that we are enjoying some record-breaking profitability right now,’ adds Malone. ‘Onex has been extremely supportive, which is evident with the new builds and the growth. Product is certainly part of it and we’ve had a fun summer with films like Finding Nemo and Bruce Almighty surprising us.’

Onex reported its exhibition segment had operating profits of US$24 million in Q1 of ’03, on revenues of US$278 million.

In ’02, for the year ending Dec. 31, worldwide revenues for Onex’s exhibition segment topped $1.4 billion, with net earnings of $42 million.

Its majority-controlled specialty exhibitor, Galaxy Entertainment (15 theatres and 125 screens in small and medium-sized Canadian cities), reported operating earnings of $5 million on revenues of $45 million in ’02.

Malone says Cineplex makes investments in selected Canadian releases, mostly Quebec titles, such as Seraphin, La Grande Seduction and Sur le Seuil, a thriller set to open Sept. 11.

-www.cineplex.com

-www.onex.com