Sacramento, CA—Feb 26, 2007
Westhafer Joins Barco’s US Digital Cinema Division
Barco hires Terri Westhafer as the new Business Development Director for the company’s US Digital Cinema Division, bringing with her over 20 years of experience in the cinema projection industry.
Barco, a leading manufacturer in display technology, welcomes Terri Westhafer as the new Business Development Director for the company’s US Digital Cinema Division. Prior to joining Barco, Westhafer consulted for NEC Digital Cinema, Burbank, under the auspices of her own enterprise, Westhafer Cinema Consulting.
Terri Westhafer brings a wealth of motion picture industry experience to her new Barco role. Following graduation from the University of Colorado, Westhafer began her career as a manager/operator for AMC Theatres in Denver. Westhafer managed theatres for AMC in Colorado, Texas, and California. She then assumed the position of Director of Advertising, Publicity, and Promotion for Crown International Pictures. During this time, she met with representatives from Eastman Kodak who expressed a keen interest in developing film and projection training programs for cinema exhibitors.
As a direct result of these discussions, Westhafer formed her own consulting business with Kodak as her primary client and remained with the company for 18 years, concluding the film portion of her career as Kodak’s Director of Worldwide Exhibitor Relations. During her Kodak tenure, she trained thousands of projectionists and manager/operators internationally, authored Kodak’s quarterly exhibitor publication Film Notes for Reel People, worked on Kodak’s pioneering of cinema digital sound, organized trade show sponsorships, and spearheaded numerous projects targeted at optimizing cinema presentations.
“While still with Kodak, I saw a TI (Texas Instruments) demo of its fledgling digital cinema technology at a SMPTE session in Los Angeles,” noted Westhafer. “I was mesmerized, and wanted to focus my attention on this new and exciting media.” Westhafer was particularly impressed by the DLP technology’s ability to illuminate screens with bright and evenly dispersed light. Based on the potential for the digital cinema industry, Westhafer launched new consulting alliances with CineComm, Boeing Digital Cinema and most recently, NEC Digital Cinema.
“Barco digital cinema installations are expanding exponentially,” said Scott Freidberg, Barco’s Vice President of Sales for Digital Cinema, North America, “and Westhafer’s expertise is a welcome addition, in particular, her understanding of the industry from three angles — technology, distribution and manufacturing. Terri's own drive, tenacity and depth of knowledge will add a full dimension to Barco's product.”
In addition to a Bachelor’s degree, Westhafer earned a Master’s while in California, completing the graduate degree in 1995. She currently serves as Executive Director for the Inter-Society and is Past President of the International Cinema Technology Association (formerly ITEA). She makes her home in Denver, and has already immersed herself in her new worldwide responsibilities for Barco. “I’m very impressed with Barco’s commitment to the industry,” Westhafer explains. “Clearly, digital cinema projection has been a core business for Barco since the early days of DLP and the company is currently in the midst of widespread international digital cinema deployment. Barco sets very high standards for its employees and its products, and I’m honored to be a part of their driving force.”