Boxoffice Pro - Winter 2020
Boxoffice Pro is the official publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners
Boxoffice Pro is the official publication of the National Association of Theatre Owners
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Industry IN MEMORIAM<br />
IN MEMORIAM<br />
Lene Løken (1947–<strong>2020</strong>)<br />
<strong>Boxoffice</strong> <strong>Pro</strong> regrets to inform our<br />
readers that industry veteran Lene<br />
Løken passed away in October at the age of 73.<br />
Løken was appointed CEO of Film &<br />
Kino in 1993, serving as the head of the<br />
Norwegian trade association until her<br />
retirement in 2014.<br />
Alongside her considerable<br />
achievements in the Norwegian cinema<br />
sector, Løken was a great supporter of<br />
UNIC, where she served as a vice president.<br />
Løken was one of the co-signatories<br />
of the revised UNIC Statutes when the<br />
decision was made in 2011 to relocate the<br />
organization from Paris to Brussels, in<br />
order to better to influence the European<br />
Commission. In addition to her roles in the<br />
cultural sector, she served as state secretary<br />
to the Norwegian prime minister and as<br />
state secretary to the minister of culture.<br />
“European exhibitors were hugely<br />
saddened to learn of Lene’s recent passing,”<br />
said UNIC president Phil Clapp. “Her<br />
achievements in leading the Norwegian<br />
cinema sector for over two decades were<br />
matched only by the contribution she<br />
made over a number of years to the work<br />
of UNIC. Having served as vice president<br />
to the organization for nine years, we<br />
were very pleased to be able to present<br />
her with the UNIC Achievement Award at<br />
CineEurope 2012. Lene was instrumental<br />
in helping UNIC deliver the changes which<br />
have made it the strong voice for European<br />
cinema operators that it is today.”<br />
NATO president and CEO John Fithian<br />
said, “I started representing exhibition as<br />
a lawyer for NATO in Washington D.C., in<br />
1992, and Lene started her leading role at<br />
Film & Kino in Norway in 1993. We worked<br />
together as NATO and UNIC developed a<br />
strong partnership over the years until she<br />
retired in 2014. For example, I believe that<br />
she was one of the early signatures on a<br />
global exhibition letter calling for standards<br />
for digital cinema in the early aughts. She<br />
was one of the first to understand that<br />
exhibition would be stronger if we all<br />
worked together on a global basis.”<br />
“Lene was instrumental in<br />
helping UNIC deliver the<br />
changes which have made it<br />
the strong voice for European<br />
cinema operators that it is<br />
today.” —Phil Clapp, UNIC<br />
<strong>Winter</strong> <strong>2020</strong><br />
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