Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), is an American trade organization whose members are the owners of movie theaters. Most of the operators of worldwide major theater chains are members, as are hundreds of independent theater operators; collectively, they account for the operation of over 35,000 motion picture screens in all 50 U.S. states and over 33,000 screens in 100 other countries.
NATO was founded in 1965 by the merger of the largest movie theater trade organizations; the Theater Owners of America and the Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors. The long-running official magazine of NATO is Boxoffice (now Boxoffice Pro); between 2001 and 2007, they also published In Focus. On March 18, 2025, NATO rebranded as Cinema United, to honor and support movie theaters.
History Early history
As the motion picture industry became larger, movie production companies began consolidating and controlling distribution. The largest producer, Famous Players–Lasky, joined and later merged with the largest distributor, Paramount (eventually becoming Paramount Pictures), and together they began block-booking in 1917, forcing theaters to buy mediocre films to get the good ones. Theaters banded together to bargain for better pricing, with 26 of the largest combining into First National Exhibitors Circuit—which went on to become a producer and distributor in its own right, before being bought by Warner Bros. By 1921, Paramount already owned 300 theaters, and other producers were catching up. Studios soon contracted with each other to keep first-runs inside the affiliated network, using this access to coerce independents into selling out.
In 1921, the first predecessor of NATO was founded, the largely affiliated Motion Picture Theater Owners of America (MPTOA), soon followed by the independent Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors (Allied), Unaffiliated Independent Motion Picture Exhibitors of America, National Independent Theatre Exhibitors, and more, to demand better pricing and access to first-runs. Unlike the others, the MPTOA embraced affiliated theaters, and soon became the largest organization.
During World War II, many theaters joined the new War Activities Committee, after the war becoming the Theatre Activities Committee and soon American Theatre Association (ATA), which strongly supported United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc., the antitrust case against all of the major studios. A plan to merge with MPTOA, which strongly supported the studios, ran into friction, with many affiliated theaters leaving the ATA over its stance; conversely Allied, the largest purely-independent group, refused to join over the presence of affiliates. The merger went ahead in 1947, minus affiliates of Loews, RKO, and Warner Bros., and they became the Theater Owners of America (TOA) with about 10,000 theaters.
After divestiture in the fallout of the 1948 Paramount decision, many formerly-affiliated theaters ended up joining either TOA or Allied. During the post-war period, theater revenue collapsed as television became widespread, even as film rental became more expensive, and thousands of theaters closed, particularly in city centers hard hit by suburban flight. Finally, in 1966 TOA and Allied merged into the National Association of Theatre Owners, largely based on TOA's structure but headed by Marshall Fine, former Allied chairman.
The 1970s were difficult for NATO; although the blockbuster The Godfather revitalized theater-going and revenue, in 1975 a new National Independent Theatre Exhibitors (NITE) came together to challenge NATO, eventually numbering almost a thousand theaters, and governance reforms were pushed by members as well. When the reforms stalled, the entire California and Illinois chapters pulled out in 1977, along with many small chains around the nation. After 1980, many of the requested reforms were finally implemented, including a full-time president and a full-time lobbyist in Washington, as well as moving its headquarters from New York to Los Angeles; by the end of the decade, NITE had folded back into NATO, leaving only one dominant organization.
The 1980s saw a relaxation of antitrust regulation and subsequent purchasing of many chains by distributors and large conglomerates, including 120 theaters by Paramount and Warner; by the end of the decade, consolidation left the top 10 owners in control of 55 percent of the industry. In the 1990s, theater growth exploded, and by 1999, movie screens peaked at 36,448, the vast majority of which were affiliated with NATO.
Rebranding In March 2025, the National Association of Theatre Owners announced that it had rebranded to Cinema United and a new slogan, "Moviegoing is Our Mission", as part of an effort to honor and support movie theaters by emphasizing audiences viewing movies theatrically. The new name also avoids confusion with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military alliance known as NATO.
Conventions As ShoWest, the convention was formerly one of four major worldwide annual events owned by the Film Group unit of Nielsen Business Media before being sold in 2011 to e5 Global Media and operated exclusively by NATO.
Renamed CinemaCon in 2011, the convention is NATO's only official convention of theater owners controlled by the organization itself. The first gathering took place in March 2011 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the second held April 23–26, 2012, at the same venue.CinemaCon (official site). Retrieved May 3, 2012. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012
CinemaCon is now a stand-alone movie theater industry trade show or exposition originally established by NATO in 2011. Usually held in Las Vegas in March.
On March 11, 2020, NATO canceled CinemaCon 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The remaining Nielsen Media event properties include CineEurope held in Barcelona, Spain in June, CineAsia held in early December in varying locations throughout Southeast Asia, and ShowEast, held in late October or early November in the Southeastern United States, usually somewhere in the Miami-Dade area.
ShoWest Convention Awards
ShoWest Convention 1976
George Barrie – Producer of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1978
George Lucas – Director of the Year Award Mark Hamill – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Henry Winkler – Male Star of the Year Award Robert Mitchum – Lifetime Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1979
Jane Fonda – Female Star of the Year Award Jon Voight –Male Star of the Year Award Sylvester Stallone – Star of the Year Award Michael Douglas – Star/Producer of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1981
George Hamilton – Showman of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1982
Steven Spielberg – Director of the Year Award Frank Marshall – Producer of the Year Award Pia Zadora – Young Star of the Year Award Chuck Norris – Action Star of the Year Award Rich Little – Entertainer of the Year Award Clint Eastwood – Male Star of the Decade Award Lori Singer – Newcomer of the Year Award Sean Connery – Worldwide Star of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1983
Taylor Hackford – Director of the Year Award Shelley Long – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Debra Winger – Female Star of the Year Award David Keith – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Richard Gere – Male Star of the Year Award Sydney Pollack – Producer of the Year Award Louis Gossett, Jr. – Best Supporting Actor Award
ShoWest Convention 1984
Lori Singer – Breakthrough Performer of the Year Award Sylvester Stallone – Star of Stars Award Charlton Heston – Lifetime Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1985
Kelly LeBrock – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Eric Stoltz – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Arnold Schwarzenegger – International Star of the Year Award Eddie Murphy – Star of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1986
Roy Scheider – Career Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1987
Leonard Nimoy – Director of the Year Award Paul Hogan – Male Star of the Year Award Tom Cruise – Box Office Star of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1988
Bette Midler – Female Star of the Year Award Don Johnson – Male Star of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1989
James L. Brooks – Director of the Year Award Carey Lowell & Talisa Soto – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Glenn Close – Female Star of the Year Award Danny DeVito – Male Star of the Year Award David Zucker, Jerry Zucker, Robert K. Weiss & Jim Abrahams – Comedy Filmmakers of the Year Award Leslie Nielsen – Male Comedy Star of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1990
Tim Burton – Director of the Year Award Winona Ryder – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Anjelica Huston – Female Star of the Year Award Johnny Depp – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Jeff Bridges – Male Star of the Year Award Joel Silver – Producer of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1991
Jerry Zucker – Director of the Year Award Robin Givens – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Julia Roberts – Female Star of the Year Award Richard Grieco – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Andy Garcia – Male Star of the Year Award John Hughes – Producer of the Year Award
ShoWest Convention 1992
Lawrence Kasdan – Director of the Year Award Jodie Foster – Female Star of the Year Award Nicole Kidman – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Stephen Dorff – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Patrick Swayze – Male Star of the Year Award Brian Grazer – Producer of the Year Award John Singleton – Screenwriter of the Year Award John Singleton – Directorial Debut of the Year Award Chuck Norris – International Box Office Star of the Year Award Oliver Stone – Meritorious Achievement Award Cuba Gooding, Jr. – Newcomer of the Year Award Eddie Murphy – Star of the Decade Award
ShoWest Convention 1993
Clint Eastwood – Director of the Year Award Juliette Lewis – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Whoopi Goldberg – Female Star of the Year Award Brad Pitt – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Mel Gibson – Male Star of the Year Award Mace Neufeld & Robert Rehme – Producer of the Year Award Richard Friedenberg – Screenwriter of the Year Award Arnold Schwarzenegger – International Star of the Decade Award George Kennedy – Special Award of Merit Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau – Lifetime Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1994
Steven Spielberg – Director of the Year Award Tia Carrere – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Michelle Pfeiffer – Female Star of the Year Award Chris O'Donnell – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Robin Williams – Male Star of the Year Award Arnold Kopelson – Producer of the Year Award Steven Zaillian – Screenwriter of the Year Award Elijah Wood – Young Star of the Year Award Harrison Ford – Box Office Star of the Century Award Kirk Douglas – Lifetime Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1995
Robert Zemeckis – Director of the Year Award Julia Ormond – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Demi Moore – Female Star of the Year Award Martin Lawrence & Will Smith – Male Star of Tomorrow Award Tom Hanks – Male Star of the Year Award James Cameron – Producer of the Year Award Paul Attanasio – Screenwriter of the Year Award Mara Wilson – Young Star of the Year Award Jim Carrey – Comedy Star of the Year Award Christina Ricci – Star of the Year Award Faye Dunaway – Lifetime Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1996
Mel Gibson – Director of the Year Award Cameron Diaz – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Sandra Bullock – Female Star of the Year Award Greg Kinnear – Male Star of Tomorrow Award John Travolta – Male Star of the Year Award James G. Robinson – Producer of the Year Award Edward Burns – Screenwriter of the Year Award Jonathan Taylor Thomas – Young Star of the Year Award John Lasseter – Outstanding Achievement Award Sophia Loren – Lifetime Achievement Award
ShoWest Convention 1997
Joel Schumacher – Director of the Year Award Claire Danes – Female Star of Tomorrow Award Winona Ryder – Female Star of the Year Award