Two executive moves this week highlight the kind of experience theatrical companies are prioritizing as they increasingly compete for audiences.

Bleecker Street named Frank Martinez its new head of distribution, bringing him over from A24, where he spent three years as head of theatrical sales. Martinez will oversee theatrical strategy, planning and execution for both Bleecker Street and its Crosswalk label. During his tenure at A24, the distributor’s annual domestic box office grew from USD $151 million in 2023 to more than USD $333 million so far this year, with Martinez working on releases including “Backrooms,” “Civil War,” “The Drama” and “Materialists.”

His arrival also completes an interesting bit of industry musical chairs. Martinez replaces Kyle Davies, who left Bleecker Street in August to lead distribution at AMC Theatres’ newly formed Leawood Films. In the span of a month, Bleecker Street has lost its distribution chief to an exhibitor entering distribution and replaced him with an executive from one of the most aggressive independent theatrical distributors in the market.

Meanwhile, Marcus Theatres has appointed Shannah Miller senior vice president of marketing and sales, effective 19 October. Miller joins from Fathom Entertainment, where she served as vice president of marketing and helped market more than 100 theatrical releases annually across anime, music, faith-based programming, repertory films, gaming, sports and original content.

That background feels particularly relevant at a moment when exhibitors are looking well beyond conventional studio releases to fill screens and reach specific audiences. Marcus isn’t entering the event-cinema business — it is already very much in it — but hiring an executive whose recent work has centered on turning specialized content into theatrical events suggests how important that part of the programming mix has become.

Neither appointment is revolutionary on its own. Together, however, they reflect a theatrical business in which the skills needed to find audiences, position films and create reasons to visit cinemas are becoming increasingly transferable across what were once much more clearly separated parts of the industry.