About us

Experience

It was registered 20 July 2017, but previously it had been functioning as a club of theater owners and in that form it organized several conferences for members on burning issues in different Russian cities (Krasnoyarsk winter-2017, Krasnodar May-2017, Sochi June-2017).

Conferences

First meeting in its official status Association held in Kaliningrad in September 2017, now the fifth conference is going to take place in Kazan in February. It is expected that there will be 3 conferences every year.

Our team

As for the end of 2017 there are about 50 members of RATO – they are individuals who owned about 200 cinemas and more than 1000 screens. RATO members hold therefore 25% of the screens in Russia. Their box-office for 2017 forms 28% of total receipts in Russia (according to comScore data). Among the biggest members are United cinema chain CINEMA PARK and Formula kino, Cinema 5, Monitor, Barguzin, Charli, Vega-film, Muviz, Lumen film, Maska, Kosmik, Continent cinema, Kazak-film, etc.

No more than 25% of the members could be managers of cinema exhibition company or owners of other business. It is an important point that 75% of RATO members must be theaters owners able to make the decisions and undertake them in their companies.

council (collective management)

working groups

By now there are 7 working groups elaborating burning issues of the industry in favor of cinema exhibitors:
In 2018 there will be established more groups:

Several loud actions

collective appeal towards Ministry of culture, distributor company Caro Premiere and even to synod in connection with the film Matilda: before its release, Russian cinema theaters used to receive threats from the “orthodox” extremists that those cinemas which would venture to show this film could be burned. RATO requested to secure the audience and cinema property
association’s rigid opinion towards Central Partnership in December 2017 when the distributor tried to make exhibitors sign new agreement before the expire date of the previous one. The problematic point concerned distribution fee to be paid for the on-line ticketing extra charge introducing by Rambler-kassa
#TeddyBearNotGuilty – the letter from RATO to the Russian Government concerning the situation when the Ministry of culture on 17 January refused to release film Paddington 2 in cinemas on 18 January (giving the new date 1 February on the premiere eve!). The flash-mob was also planned in the cinemas on Saturday 20 January to explain to the audience of film delay because of the Ministry ban. It should have been non-existing but announced everywhere screening of Paddington 2 film and some activity in the halls with teddy-bears distribution and so on. Fortunately, on 19 January the distribution license was given with the starting date 20 January. Nevertheless in many theaters the premiere night was held together with the flash-mob #IamBack

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