Annual ICTA LASS Holds Historic Session in Burbank

History was made in Los Angeles this past January when NATO’s Cinema Foundation joined with the International Cinema Technology Association for the Annual Los Angeles Seminar Series, a gathering of the pre-eminent industry leaders from technology companies and exhibition.

The annual event was held at the Universal Hilton and attracted more than 200 industry leaders to network and be educated on many facets of the motion picture industry. It was the first time that the ICTA shared the spotlight on this successful event and President Frank Tees stated that “working with the cinema foundation added a great deal of professional business sessions that was appreciated by the executives in attendance.”

The Cinema Foundation was led by Jackie Brenneman, President of The CF And Bryan Braunlich, Executive Director of the Foundation. The event kicked off with a reception and dinner on Monday evening at the hotel and was followed Tuesday with a series of presentations starting in the morning with ICTA President Tees welcoming everyone and a keynote by Ms. Brenneman.

Other topics that highlighted the three-day session were:

• Cinema Software: Thinking Outside the Box
• The CF and the Importance of Innovation and Technology
• What Is A Premium Theatrical Experience
• ISDCF Update
• Converting Caesar’s Colosseum for CinemaCon
• Sound System Design: Getting the Most Out of your Sound System
• Design Considerations for Energy-Efficient Theatres
• Give People What They Want: Connecting Consumers with Expanded Theatrical Content Offerings

One of the highlights of the seminar was the sit-down dinner on Tuesday evening which saw the presentation of the ICTA ICON Award to Dolby’s Ioan Allen; the presentation of the ICTA North American Cinema Awards and a keynote message by Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore.

The ICTA debuted a new app for the event developed by Theatre Toolkit to garner feedback to see which programming our delegates found most valuable. We appreciate the attendees that took the time leave comments and we will use it as a guide going forward.

The event was a big success and the addition of the CF was a great complement to the activities. Dates for the next LASS will be announced shortly but will be held once again in the Universal Hilton in January 2024.