In January 1982, Steve Ellman was, as he says, "called in from the bullpen" to put together and oversee a brand new department within Universal Pictures called Exhibitor Relations. It was a groundbreaking concept for Universal and, indeed, for the industry as a whole: no other company had yet taken the initiative to create a group focused solely on nurturing the common interests --with the emphasis on showmanship --throughout all segments of its customer base, be they home office executives, operations or marketing personnel, film buyers, or theater managers.

Eight years into his tenure with Universal, Steve led the charge in convincing exhibitors that knowing how to intelligently market upcoming films to "captive" patrons was essential to every theater manger's handbook. "Make an effort to know your audience," he told them. Steve emphasized that the promotion of a film begins on the first one-sheet is displayed in a lobby, or when the first trailer appears on screen. Before the formation of Universal Pictures Exhibitor Relations, no studio had made a formal effort to roll trailers in front of a film that catered to similar demo- or psychographics.

Steve, whose background prior to joining Universal in 1974 included advertising and publicity,  was National Promotion Manager at the time.  His duties included handling what are now called research screenings, and supervising grassroots and national promotions. Effective in unique marketing efforts, Steve once even persuaded Pontiac to provide (at no cost to Universal) 19 cars to be given away via radio promo tie ins for the 1980 sequel to Smokey in the Bandit.

Steve's personal relationship within the ranks of Exhibition made him a choice candidate for leading the new department.  It would take a considerable amount of time and effort to manage the millions of dollars in advertising and promotion materials Universal annually provided to theatres across the country.

The Job, Steve recalls, involved constant interaction with Universal's creative advertising and productions executives -- and a lot of traveling: he attended all of the Exhibitor conventions and numerous theater manager meetings annually, preaching the mutual benefits of partnership and sensible theater marketing. "I was one part customer relations, one part sales promotion, one part industry enthusiast, and 100 percent schmoozer," Steve says.

His effectiveness as a salesman and marketer came to light when, he recalls, the president of one theater circuit likened Steve to the famous brokerage firm E.F. Hutton: "When I talked," he recalls, "they listened." In 1986, Steve persuaded exhibitors to provide more than 500 theaters nationwide to screnn Steven Spielberg's An American Tail on a  Saturday morning -- prior to its November opening for employees of Sears and McDonald's.

Spielberg was one of many filmmakers with whom Steve had the pleasure of working with during his three-decades at Universal: the list also includes Kathy Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Dino De Laurentiis, John Landis, Joel Silver, Brett Ratner, Mark Rydell, Rob Cohen, Peter Jackson, and the late, legendary Jennings Lang.   Steve also had the opportunity to work with such actors as Sissy Spacek, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Willie Nelson, Burt Reynolds, Roy Scheider, Jack Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, and Hollywood icons Jack Lemmon and James Stewart.

Among his many contacts through the years, Steve is moved to speak of one in particular.
"I feel honored to have known him," he says of the late Lew Wasserman. "He was truly awe inspiring."

In addition to the individuals, Steve looks back fondly on the film that helped make Hollywood what it is today. He cites three Universal films-- all directed by Spielberg-- as having particular historic impact:  Jaws, the director's first mega-hit that forever changed summer movie-going; Jurassic Park, which made digital sound a staple in theaters; and Schindler's List, for its cultural impact (it led the director to establish the Shoah Foundation to record the memories of Holocaust survivors for posterity).

Currently Vice President of the group he helped build 23 years ago, Steve retires in 2005 after 31 years at Universal. For his years of accomplished dedication to the field of Exhibitor Relations, Steve was inducted into the Exhibition's Hall of Fame at the 2004 ShowEast Convention in Orlando.

Source: Nbc Universal Employe Spotlight December 13, 2005