Christie’s Jack Kline will step down from his role as chairman, president and CEO after 40 years with the visual display systems company on April 1, 2019.
The company’s CFO, Kazuhisa Kamiyama, will take on the role as chairman and CEO, with Kline taking on an advisory role for one year.
Kamiyama joined Christie’s parent company Ushio Inc. in 1995 and became CFO of Ushio America in 2003. He was named general manager of accounting in 2011 and executive officer, general manager of Ushio’s Corporate Headquarters (parent company of Christie and Ushio America) in 2016, overseeing company financials that included investor and bank relations, and mergers and acquisitions. He graduated with an MBA from the International University of Japan.
In a press release he said: “Jack’s vision and his spirit of innovation will remain integral parts of the company’s success for years to come.”
Kline added: “I am fortunate to have worked at Christie my entire professional life and to have played a critical role in leading the company into the digital age, helping it become a global force in digital display technology.
“I have full confidence in the future of Christie, which is filled with talented, dedicated and highly motivated people who are focused on developing innovative technology and service to our customers.”
Kline was responsible for leading Christie’s acquisition strategy that included the purchase of Canada’s Electrohome Projection Systems in 1999; and, shortly afterwards, becoming the first OEM to license and bring to market digital cinema projectors using Texas Instruments’ DLP Cinema technology.
Kline joined Christie in 1979 as a national sales representative and was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing in 1988. He was named executive vice president and COO in 1997 and appointed president and COO in 1999.
In 2005, he created strategic partnerships with major Hollywood studios, exhibitors, projector manufacturers, and technology providers to advance the installation of digital cinema. He then played a critical role in developing the Virtual Print Fee (VPF) financial solution and the Christie/AIX deployment program that introduced thousands of digital cinema projectors into the marketplace.
In 2014, the year he assumed the role of chairman, president and CEO of all of Christie’s operating companies, worldwide,
he was presented with the ‘Ken Mason Inter-Society Award’ at CinemaCon in 2014 in honour of “outstanding long-term contributions leading to the overall improvement of the motion picture experience.”