Staci Tursi
Senior VP of Affiliate Partnerships
In the Beginning
I’ m proud to say that I’ ve been in cinema advertising for longer than even National CineMedia( NCM) has been around! In 1999, I became the VP Sales – East for National Cinema Network, Inc., which was a division of AMC. It was then acquired by Regal CineMedia in 2005 and the combined entity became National CineMedia, and I have been here ever since! I’ ve seen a lot of changes in the business, and I have never been more engaged and excited about our future.
Family
I grew up in Bucks County, PA with three brothers, and we are now scattered between Colorado( me), South Carolina, North Carolina, and Russia. Twice a year we round up all of the nieces and nephews( there are now 12) and we get together in Florida for family time. Otherwise, I am happily single!
Career
I began my sales and sales management career at an early age, and was very fortunate to hone my skills at Procter & Gamble and
Canon – both great places to work! I’ ve benefitted from many opportunities to build business acumen and develop new skills along the way, and the honor to now lead NCM’ s new Affiliate Partnerships team is the culmination of everything I’ ve learned so far. My drive and my passion has always been directed toward working with, and for, others.
Giving Back
In my spare time, I work closely with The Human Rights Council, Autism Speaks, and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Favorite Movies
The Princess Bride, Baby Boom, It’ s a Wonderful Life, Annie Hall, Zootopia … it’ s a long list!
Hobbies
Traveling, Cooking, Reading, Hiking... it’ s also a long list.
Fondest Convention Memories
At last year’ s CinemaCon, one of the most fun parts of the studio presentations was seeing Vanilla Ice and Chris Aronson of 20th Century Fox perform a well-choreographed Ice Age Baby songand-dance number to promote Ice Age: Collision Course … so imagine my surprise when I ended up sitting next to Vanilla Ice on my flight back home to Atlanta! I told him I enjoyed his performance and we started a nice conversation that included him showing me his recent vacation pictures( he went motorcycling with his mates in the Dominican Republic). He said it was his first vacation in 15 years, so of course I cheerfully scolded him for not carving out more time for himself. He was a good sport and a really nice guy.
Best Advice Received
The best advice I ever received was from my mother:
The mouth should have three gatekeepers:
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
It is so simple in theory, but much harder to practice. It serves as a guide for me both professionally and personally. I CONSTANTLY recite and rehearse it. I even have it saved on my phone as a reminder.
Best Advice for Others I would offer the same advice!
The mouth should have three gatekeepers:
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
Biggest Concern About our Industry
I think there is a tremendous opportunity for us to better interpret all of the new sources of digital and audience data from things like loyalty programs, ticketing apps, beaconing and more and use that information wisely to create both a better movie-going experience and a better cinema advertising experience for today’ s modern theater patrons and advertisers. The more we understand what this next generation of moviegoers want, the better service we can provide to help keep them coming to theaters for years to come.
Biggest Reason to be Optimistic
Millennials may differ from past generations in a lot of ways, but the great news is that the one thing they do have in common with us is that they love going to the movies. In fact, Millennials are 50 % more likely than the general population to say that movies are a passion of theirs according to our research, which is great news for the industry overall. It’ s the age of the customer, and we at NCM want to be a strategic partner with theater owners to help connect with your customers and grow your business.
What I learned from the movies / cinema
“ Help me help you!” I mean, who doesn’ t love Jerry Maguire, but honestly, it is a great mantra for this business. I love sitting down and talking with people because I truly want to learn what exhibitors want most so I can help them get what they really need out of a cinema advertising partnership. If my customers are happy, then I’ m happy, and this is the movies, so I think every story should have a happy ending!
64 • ShowTime Preview Guide – Spring 2017