Apollo Cinemas won the 2007 Oscar Deutsch Award for Exhibitor Of The Year and Buena Vista International (BVI) has won the 2007 Bromhead Award for Distributor Of The Year, in an awards ceremony attached to monthly industry magazine Cinema Business.

At a reception held at BAFTA on Thursday March 1, Robert Mitchell and his team at BVI were recognised for the support they provide the independent exhibition sector by winning Distributor Of The Year. The company found great success in 2006 with Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which brought in $102.11m (£52.5m) at the UK box office, putting it in second place to Sony's Casino Royale $100.96m (£53.1m) on the UK's tops 10 films for 2006.

Runner-up to Distributor Of The Year was 20th Century Fox for its success in delivering significant box office returns for mid-range titles in 2006, while special commendations went to Momentum Pictures and Park Circus.

Apollo Cinemas won the 2007 Oscar Deutsch Award for Exhibitor Of The Year due to their commitment to bringing new cinemas to previously poorly serviced areas such as Stroud, Altrincham and Redditch where it has built new mini-plexes in 2006.

Runner-up to Exhibitor of the Year was Scott Cinemas for its renovation and improvement of independent cinemas in the south west of England. Special commendations went to Curzon Cinemas and the first all-digital cinema in the UK, Kino Hawkhurst.

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