Deadline has confirmed that the National Association of Theatre Owners Tech Advisor, Jerry Pierce, has resigned from the exhibitor trade org following the dismissal of EVP and General Counsel Jackie Brenneman.
Pierce is a former Universal SVP who was key in exhibitors’ transition from film to digital cinema projection.
Pierce is the third staffer from the former NATO CEO John Fithian regime to exit, the first being the org’s head of Corp Comm and VP Patrick Corcoran. Pierce is an 11-year vet of NATO. Fithian resigned from NATO after more than three decades with Michael O’Leary taking over as CEO on May 1.
In a note released to THR who first reported the news on Pierce, O’Leary took umbrage with O’Leary’s leadership, “his lack of interest and disrespect for the knowledge and experience of his staff,” not to mention the removal of Brenneman. Many sources inform Deadline that Brenneman was single-handedly involved in keeping smaller theaters open and obtaining assisted funds for them during the pandemic. She was in the running for the top job at NATO post Fithian, however, it went to O’Leary.
Brenneman and her NATO sister org Cinema Foundation were behind the second annual National Cinema Day which is taking place this Sunday. Movie tickets for all shows, all movies, all formats are $4 with 3K theaters participating.
NATO did not return request for comment.