Cypress, Ca—Sep 27, 2006
Christie Hires Industry Expert for Growing Sales in Cinema Market
Christie, a leading provider of visual solutions for business, entertainment and industry, is pleased to announce the appointment of Keith Watanabe as Senior Manager of Cinema Sales in its Entertainment Solutions division. In his new role, Keith will support Christie's growing number of cinema customers in the US, Canada and Mexico while identifying new directions for sales and service in Christie's expanding portfolio of film, Digital Cinema and On-Screen Advertising (OSA) products.
Keith joins Christie with 25 years of experience in the imaging industry at Kodak Co., where he was instrumental in the development of new and innovative products and business models for multi-million dollar projects. Among his many successes, Keith played a major role in the establishment of Kodak's largest professional digital camera customer in the world and developed expansive marketing programs that significantly increased revenue in their Digital Imaging portfolio. In his most recent role as National Accounts Manager in Hollywood, California, Keith managed advertising pre-show and feature solutions system sales for customer circuits in the US and Canada. Prior to his role as National Accounts Manager, Keith was Director of Sales & Digital Development serving the entertainment post production industry. While in this position, he maintained high-level relationships with major studios post facilities.
"Keith is a highly accomplished sales professional with strong technical acuity in understanding how technologies are adopted," remarked Craig Sholder, vice president of Entertainment Solutions at Christie. "His expertise and long standing relationships in the entertainment industry will be invaluable as Christie continues to drive initiatives to support our customers' businesses in Film, Xenon Lamps, On-Screen Advertising and Digital Cinema. Keith brings a keen understanding of the market that is a
hallmark of Christie's professionalism and industry expertise."
Keith has been active in several entertainment industry organizations including: the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE); the Association of Moving Images Archivists (AMIA); and the Association of Cinema and Video Laboratories (ACVL). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Advertising from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.