PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lee Roy Mitchell, Founder of Cinemark USA, Inc. and Chairman of the Board for Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CNK), has been selected as a 2011 inductee to the Texas Business Hall of Fame. He is among four Texas business people who will be honored and officially inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame at its annual induction dinner November 17, 2011 at the Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
The Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation was created to focus awareness on the positive achievements made by outstanding business leaders and to honor their contributions to their community and their state. Each year the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation selects individuals, living or deceased, who have made outstanding contributions to the development of a healthy, dynamic environment in Texas and to the state's overall economic well-being. Past esteemed legends who are in the Hall of Fame include President George H.W. Bush, Overta Culp Hobby, Ross Perot, Ben Taub, Lloyd Bentsen Sr., T. Boone Pickens, Drayton McLane, Jr., Roger Staubach, Hugh Roy Cullen, and Jesse Jones, to highlight a few.
Mr. Mitchell Honored for Success in the Theatre Exhibition Industry – Mr. Mitchell, a theatrical exhibition pioneer, creative entrepreneur, humanitarian and family-man got his start in the theatre exhibition industry more than 40 years ago. He grew up around his family’s theatre business and did everything from booking the movies to working in the concession stand. Starting his own theatre business in Ennis, Texas, Mr. Mitchell built and expanded his circuit into the largest independent theatre exhibitor in the state of Texas. A trendsetter in theatre promotions and sensitive to the budgets of many families, he developed a concept of “reduced admission nights” that was emulated by the entire industry. This later proved to be a forerunner of Cinemark’s discount “Dollar Cinemas.”
Mr. Mitchell founded Cinemark in 1984. His initial vision was to bring high-quality, modern movie theatre entertainment to underserved markets in the US. In 1993 he expanded his vision by focusing on underserved markets outside the US and launching one of Cinemark’s first movie theatres in Latin America. “Today, we are the most geographically diverse exhibitor in Latin America and the number one exhibition company in Brazil, one of the fastest growing markets in South America,” states Mr. Mitchell. “It’s important to recognize Cinemark’s employees and customers.” Cinemark is the number one attended theatre circuit in the world with over 241 million guests in 2010.
Mr. Mitchell has always prioritized people over profit. He respects and invests in the communities and countries in which the company operates. He leads a management team and employees who understand and act according to his vision and values, truly putting the customer first. The result is a company operating on a global scale that constantly leverages breakthrough technologies, introduces improved levels of comfort and maximizes the entertainment value of every person who walks through the entrance of a Cinemark property. The company culture is one of giving its employees the “power to please” by ensuring “total and complete customer satisfaction.”
Believing in the value of servant leadership, Mitchell appreciates his philanthropic and professional leadership roles, too. He served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) for more than 20 years. Additionally, Nest Entertainment, Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, Bill Glass Ministries, National CineMedia, LLC and Texas Capital Bank are among businesses and organizations in which Mitchell has played a leadership role.
From his humble beginnings in Ennis, Texas, Mr. Mitchell has achieved remarkable success in the business world and in his personal life. His small-town values, dedication to his family and employees and his trust in God have guided Mitchell’s life. His business partner and wife for over 30 years, Tandy Mitchell, has had a major impact on the success of Cinemark and Mr. Mitchell's life. Together, they enjoy traveling and celebrating the success of the many charitable endeavors they support. The strategy behind their charitable giving is to empower people to better help themselves.
About Cinemark Holdings, Inc.
Headquartered in Plano, TX, Cinemark Holdings, Inc. is a leader in the motion picture exhibition industry with 448 theatres and 5,096 screens in the U.S. and Latin America as of September 30, 2011. For more information go to http://www.cinemark.com.