The National Association of Theater Owners is joining with its European counterpart and several theater chains to launch a new organization to represent the industry's interests at an international scale.

The debut of Global Cinema Federation comes at a time when box-office returns for movies are increasingly evenly spread across the world, according to a statement posted on NATO's website. In the past, most box office returns came from just a few countries, particularly the U.S. But in recent years ticket sales in Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific have increased significantly.

"We decided to establish the Global Cinema Federation to give our industry a much stronger global voice in this new landscape and will in the coming months actively reach out to leading operators and their trade bodies around the world to establish an inclusive organization that is able to speak on behalf of a large share of the global cinema exhibition community," the groups said.

The Washington, D.C.-based NATO is one of the founding members of the federation. Others include the association's European counterpart, the International Union of Cinemas, and theater chains such as AMC, Cineplex and Regal Entertainment Group.

Federation members will not pay fees, but rather contribute time by their senior executive staff, the groups said. http://bit.ly/2sZJOpc

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