Cinema-industry veteran Susie Beiersdorf, Vice President
of Sales, Cinema – The Americas, Christie, has been selected as the 2019
recipient of the Ken Mason Inter-Society Award. The Ken Mason Award honors an
individual who has made outstanding long-term contributions leading to the
overall improvement of the motion picture experience. The announcement was made
today by Paul Holliman, President, The Inter-Society for the Enhancement of
Cinema Presentation, Inc. Beiersdorf will receive the award at a ceremony held
at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on April 4.
"I am honored to present Susie with the prestigious Ken
Mason Award,” said Holliman. “She has been an integral part in the development
and transition to digital cinema and is one of the most well-respected individuals
in our business. I have known Susie for many years and admire her
professionally and personally.” Previous recipients include: Ken Mason, Barry
Reardon, Al Shapiro, Bud Stone, Ioan Allen, Curt Behlmer, Wendy Aylsworth, Mark
Christiansen, Sid Ganis, and Jack Kline.
“In addition to her many professional accomplishments, Susie
Beiersdorf has always devoted that rarest of commodities – her personal time –
to advance technologies and drive initiatives to enhance the motion picture
experience,” said Jack Kline, Chairman, President and CEO of Christie®. “This
recognition by the Inter-Society is well deserved and I extend my warmest
congratulations to Susie on being the 2019 Ken Mason Award winner.”
In her current role at Christie, Beiersdorf is responsible
for working with exhibition, distribution and studio partners to further
develop Christie’s presence in North and South America and expand Christie's
distribution of high performance projection displays and visualization
solutions.
Susie is actively involved in several industry organizations
and initiatives, including Inter-Society, ISDCF, ICTA and SMPTE. She recently
served as Chairman of the Inter-Society, the cross-industry forum that promotes
dialogue and co-operation between all players in the movie presentation
ecosystem and is on the Board of Directors of ICTA.
Susie has been involved in cinema from an early age, beginning
with helping at her parents’ drive-in theatre in southern California. Susie subsequently held management,
operations and marketing roles at Cineplex Odeon, followed by her appointment as
Director of Sales at DTS, Inc. During
this time, Susie helped lead the rollout of high quality digital surround sound
into cinemas.
Moving to Sony Electronics in 2008, Susie oversaw the
introduction and rollout of the first 4K digital cinema projection systems in
her role as Vice President of Sales at Sony Digital Cinema.
In 2016, Susie joined Christie as VP, Sales Cinema –
Americas.
“Having known Susie for over 20 years, I can think of very
few individuals more deserving of this award” said Don Tannenbaum, Chairman of
the Inter-Society “Susie’s strategic vision and commitment to success have
benefited many, including cinema operators and moviegoers.”
"It's great when someone you've known and respected for
many years is acknowledged by their peers” said Ioan Allen, SVP, Dolby
Laboratories. “Susie is a charismatic and hardworking leader of the industry --
well deserved.”
