(photo by Michael Dequina)
The afternoon saw the beginning of the general convention program with the first in this year's seminar series, called Refreshing the Future of Cinema, sponsored by Coca Cola. One could be cynical and describe this session as being not only a commercial, but a commercial for a commercial, for the back half of the hour centered on the finalists of the annual Refreshing Films competition, where student filmmakers compete to have their original Coca Cola-themed short films play in theatres nationwide. That said, it gives young filmmakers valuable experience on set with a budget and a professional crew, not to mention that the program has proven to be a launching pad for successful talent. One of said alumni is Tracy Oliver, best known for writing Girls Trip and creating the Amazon Prime series Harlem; she appeared on stage to discuss briefly discuss her career before being joined by the 4 director duos whose films are the finalists in this year's competition. But before the deep dive into that program and competition, Emily Rogers, vice president of strategic insights at the Coca-Cola Company relayed a number statistics that fit the seminar's title: namely, the moviegoing and movie-related habits of Gen Z, and how exhibitors can adapt to and build on their practices to further grow the demographic's attendance.
Stay tuned here and on my Instagram, TikTok, Spill (user name: @twotrey23 ), and Twitter all week for ongoing coverage of all the goings-on at CinemaCon 2025!
(Very special thanks to Heather Lewandoski and the CinemaCon PR team for all their helpful and generous assistance at the convention, as well as Mitch Neuhauser and the CinemaCon crew and Harry Medved and the Cinema United team)
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