Becky and Gary Dupuis take on CinemaCon

CinemaCon held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, is perhaps the biggest convention for movie theater owners. The convention offers a chance for theater owners to touch base with everyone from vendors to some of Hollywood's brightest stars. 

The convention is essential this time a year as movie theaters confront a new age and a new audience. The rise of streamers and the COVID-19 shut down has presented big obstacles for cinema.

You might expect the big names like AMC, Regal, and Cinemark to dominate the week. While those companies were all in attendance the Mission Valley was well represented by our very own Becky and Gary Dupuis.

Becky and Gary are the CEO and COO respectively of Polson Theatres Inc a family company started by Howard and Ayron Pickerill. The movie theater company has seven locations all across Montana and one location in Idaho. 

For over 25 years the duo has been bringing the movies to the mission valley, growing a two-screen cinema on Main Street into a 6 plex freshly named Showboat Stadium 6.

In front of thousands of people at CinemaCon from all across the United States, Polson's local theater was highlighted by Becky and Gary in their introduction of fellow Montanan and CEO of Cinema United Micheal O’Leary. 

“We are a place to gather, we are a place to share stories, we are a place for them to be together in a safe place. That’s what makes this all worth it,” Becky said when speaking about the community of movie goers in the Mission Valley at CinemaCon.

Even before the Dupuis took the stage for the introduction, they were highlighted in a "Behind the Screens: The Faces of the Exhibition" video that spoke about the family-owned company while showcasing the dazzling new interior of Showboat Stadium 6.

“The town of Polson is just a really great community to operate a theater in,” said Gary in the video.

Becky and Gary however know they are not just providing the movie theater experience for the people of Polson, acknowledging that some people have to drive 40 plus miles just to go to the show at their theater. 

“The first thing is thank you, thank you for making the effort to come to the movie…we want to make it totally worth driving 40 miles” said Becky addressing those making the effort to come to the Showboat Stadium 6. 

The theater convention wasn’t simply a chance for the managing duo to highlight and celebrate their moviegoers; it also presented an opportunity for them to learn how to improve the cinema-going experience for their patrons.

“It gives us a lot of different ideas,” said Becky with Gary adding “You come back recharged, and you have some ideas if you want to try to implement at your level that you can do.”

For Becky and Gary as the busy summer season approaches it’s clear that their goal is providing the best affordable movie going experience for all movie lovers and CinemaCon was just another way to tinker, improve and celebrate the very patrons that have kept their small-town business open for 50 years and hopefully another 50 more.