At Cinema Next we are passionate about what we do and how we do it. We treat every project personally, get the right people working on it and aim to make it as easy for you as possible. And because our experience straddles property development and cinema we talk the language and have insight into both.
Cinema Next is headed up by John Sullivan and Keith Pullinger, who have both worked extensively in the cinema industry and property development business

John Sullivan

John’s background is property led. He is passionate about finding the right locations, and identifying the right offer for those locations. He is interested in how a site works with its surroundings and interacts with the community around it.
His experience is international. He has worked with Fyna, Coles, Warner Cinemas, Village Roadshow and VUE Entertainment in Australia and the UK and CGV Cinemas (Samsung) in South Korea. He has also consulted for Westfield, Multiplex, ING, Hammersons, Land Securities and others.

Keith Pullinger

Keith has a development and operations background. His passion is in design and operational delivery. Configuring the best offer, ensuring it is positioned correctly in terms of quality of design and operational service levels and making it happen.
Keith has been a Board Director at both Virgin and UGC Cinemas. He gained international experience, working on cinema developments in France, Spain and Japan and has vast cinema operational experience.
Two of the developments that Keith was responsible for in Glasgow and Dublin have the heaviest footfall in the British Isles, both with admissions close to 2,000,000 p.a. and profit at EBITDA of £2-3million p.a.
Both John and Keith believe there is strength in partnership – which is why they formed Cinema Next in 2006.
They are backed up by a team of specialists who share their passion and commitment to the industry and your projects.

Damian Drabble

Damian is our operational delivery specialist. His background is in day to day and business management of high volume leisure destinations, especially cinemas. He has worked with AMC Cinemas, Warner Village and Virgin Cinemas in the UK & Europe and now looks after The Light Cinemas in Germany and Romania. He is passionate about delivering an exceptional guest experience every time.

Mike Thomson

Mike Thomson’s background is operational and commercial. His expertise is in developing leisure and retail strategy. He is passionate about delivering the best possible customer experience through the right mix of marketing, product offer and operational delivery.
Mike was Commercial Director at Virgin and UGC Cinemas, where he worked alongside Keith Pullinger to create the UK’s leading cinemas. He also held senior executive positions at BHS and Virgin Megastores. Well known in the UK film industry, Mike has experience of working with national, regional,and local government, and the UK Film Council as well as all the major film festivals. At UGC he was responsible for the introduction of the ‘Unlimited’ card – the UK’s first, and largest, cinema subscription scheme.

Mike Vickers

Mike is our programming and content expert. Mike consults on programming for a number of cinemas across Europe. He has run his own chain of cinemas, been a Board member of European Union initiative Media Salles and President of the Cinema Exhibitors Association in the UK. He has a wealth of experience and is passionate about ensuring that the product range is the right one for the audience profile of each cinema. …

Katy Cox

Katy is our marketing specialist. Her background is in cinema and service marketing, particularly audience development and industry relationships.  She has worked for Thistle Hotels, The BBC, Virgin, UGC and Cineworld Cinemas, Virgin Media/ FilmFlex Video On Demand and on the UK Film Councils website FindAnyFilm.com.  Katy is passionate about audience and programme development, communication and the future and scope of digital distribution, delivery and marketing.

Ian Riches

Ian has extensive multi-site operational management and real estate experience throughout the United Kingdom, Europe and the Far East. Both as a consultant and as a Senior Executive. Companies he has worked with include MegaStar Media in Vietnam, IFC in Russia, the Araneta Group in the Philippines, Jiangsu Asia Film Co. in China, Loews Cineplex Entertainment in the US and Europe and Village Cinemas International in Europe.