This story first appeared in a special CineEurope 2016 issue of BoxOffice magazine. To subscribe to the magazine click here.

Name: Mischa Kay
Company: Vista Entertainment Solutions
Title: Managing Director EMEA
Country: United Kingdom

‘Big Data’ is all the rage, and for good reason,” says Vista Entertainment Solution’s European Managing Director Mischa Kay. “How we as technology driven businesses can harness data to better serve the cinema-goer, and provide better value to our customers is incredibly exciting.” Kay and Vista are at the forefront of this revolution which he thinks will play a central role for cinema in three to five years time.

Citing as his mentor Vista Group CEO Murray Holdaway, who “plucked me out of university many years ago,” and more recently Vista’s Chairman Kirk Senior, but acknowledges that he is “ part of an incredible organisation filled with supportive and enthusiastic individuals that make up an exceptional team.”

“ If buying tickets is difficult or too expensive, the queue for popcorn is too long… the experience economy suffers,” Kay observes. “The industry needs to encourage repeat visitation through experiences that cannot be replicated at home.” He says ensuring his 40+ staff in the London office “are properly guided and encouraged is time consuming but I believe the biggest investment we can make is in our people.”

Kay will be at CineEurope the whole week and can’t see himself working for any other company in the future. “Vista has been around for 20 years this year but we’re really just getting started… I’m excited about our trajectory and can’t wait to see where we will be in 10 years’ time.”