LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 2, 2024--
Curzon today announces the appointment of Philip Knatchbull as Interim Executive Chairman.
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“I’m very excited about the next stage of the Curzon journey and am looking forward to reuniting with so many of my colleagues in this new role,” said Philip Knatchbull. “I spent almost 18 years building Curzon to be the hugely respected brand it is now. I trust the team I assembled, and know the company and the industry incredibly well. I return during a pivotal moment for the industry with full confidence in Curzon’s ability to be a strategic and cultural leader."
“Leadership is deeply rooted in Curzon’s history – from being one of the first cinema companies to import European and world cinema in the 1930s, to being among the first global film companies to identify the growing influence of streaming platforms and new production studios. During my tenure as CEO, we forged relationships with many of the industry’s then-new entrants, many of whom have continued to grow their impact on every part of the industry. Together with our long-standing relationships with established studios and distributors, these relationships are a testament to Curzon’s enduring quality in-cinema experience, and our trusted curatorial voice, across development, production, distribution, exhibition and streaming. With this in mind, I can confidently say that Curzon continues to be hugely influential in the film world. I believe the company has the potential to grow that influence significantly over the coming months and years.”
Philip Knatchbull was CEO of Curzon from May 2006 to November 2023. During his tenure, the company grew from a few locations into a national cinema company with film exhibition, distribution, production, and on-demand streaming services.
In November 2024, Fortress Investment Group announced that funds managed by its affiliates had acquired Curzon, making it an independent UK-based company.
The company operates Curzon Cinemas – with 16 cinemas and 46 total screens across the UK – as well as film distributor Curzon Film, and the Curzon Home Cinema streaming service.
Curzon’s pioneering membership programme integrates cinema and streaming, allowing members to use credits against Curzon Cinema visits or watching films on Curzon Home Cinema. The premium Cult membership tier includes seven tickets a week, discounts across food and beverage and more. Curzon members receive priority booking for events, and personalised recommendations based on their film taste. In the past year Curzon has collaborated with Kia, Beronia and Butchers on integrated partnerships that enhance the cinema experience with offerings that include wine tasting screenings, in-person Q&As, and repertory film screenings.
Curzon’s curatorial approach extends to editorial forums and communications, with monthly and weekly newsletters, an online and biannual printed journal, and online video content series ‘Conversations at Curzon’. Curzon has a longstanding relationship with Netflix to exhibit the best of their films in their cinemas.
Curzon Film, which in 2020 set a new UK foreign-language box office record with Parasite (over £12 million at the UK and Irish box-office), has had notable successes in the past year, including:
Curzon Film has released more Cannes Palme d’Or winners than any other UK distributor and has distributed multiple Academy Awards and BAFTA winners, including Best Picture winner Parasite. In 2017, Curzon received a BAFTA in recognition of its Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema.
Curzon Film’s forthcoming slate includes Flow( release date: 21 March 2025)and Julie Keeps Quiet (release date: 7 March 2025) - critically acclaimed hits which have been selected to represent Latvia and Belgium respectively at the Oscars.
Additionally, Curzon is partnering with Amazon MGM on the theatrical release of three of their forthcoming titles:
Curzon has opened new cinema locations in the past several years, including Hoxton, Camden, Kingston-upon-Thames (which features a rooftop bar with panoramic views of the historic riverside town) and Canterbury. Today, Curzon has destination venues across London and around the UK.
About Curzon
Curzon is a multifaceted film company covering exhibition, distribution, production, and on-demand streaming. The company currently operates 16 cinemas across the UK. The distribution business, encompassing Curzon Film and specialist label Artificial Eye, has nearly 50 years of experience in independent film, with a library of critically acclaimed films by some of the world’s greatest directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke, Bong Joon Ho Alice Rohrwacher, and Ruben Östlund. Streaming service Curzon Home Cinema is available to customers through TV, mobile apps, and over-the-top platforms. For more information please visit www.curzon.com.
Philip Knatchbull, Interim Executive Chairman of Curzon (Photo: Business Wire)
NEW DELHI (AP) — India is hosting an artificial intelligence summit this week, bringing together heads of state, senior officials and tech executives to New Delhi for a five-day gathering highlighting the growing global importance of the technology.
Organizers said the India AI Impact Summit is the first such summit being held in the Global South to discuss the technology developed and dominated by wealthy companies based in rich countries. It comes at a pivotal moment as AI rapidly transforms economies, reshapes labor markets and raises questions around regulations, security and ethics.
From generative AI tools that can produce text and images to advanced systems used in defense, health care and climate modeling, AI has become a central focus for governments and corporations across the world.
The summit, previously held in France, the U.K. and South Korea, has evolved far beyond its modest beginnings as a meeting tightly focused on the safety of cutting-edge AI systems into an all-purpose jamboree trade fair in which safety is just one aspect.
India — the world’s most populous nation and one of the fastest-growing digital markets — sees the summit as an opportunity to project itself as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South.
Officials said the country’s experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure, including digital identity and payment platforms, offer a model for deploying AI at scale while keeping costs low.
“The goal is clear: AI should be used for shaping humanity, inclusive growth and a sustainable future,” India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
The summit begins Monday and will be attended by 20 heads of state and government, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a session Thursday.
Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith and AMI Labs Executive Chairman Yann LeCun are also expected to attend.
Indian executives are hoping the summit will reflect the country’s recognition as an enabler of national capabilities, economic resilience and long-term capabilities.
“As India continues on the journey to become a developed nation by 2047, AI has a critical role to play in strengthening large scale systems, from energy and manufacturing to public infrastructure,” said Sumant Sinha, the CEO of the NASDAQ-listed ReNew, a clean energy company.
Like previous editions, the India AI Impact Summit is not expected to result in a joint binding political agreement. It’s more likely that the event could end with a non-binding pledge or declaration on goals for AI development.
Last year’s edition, the Paris AI Action Summit, was dominated by U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s speech in which he rebuked European efforts to curb AI’s risks by warning global leaders and tech industry executives against “excessive regulation” that could hobble the rapidly growing AI industry.
AI summits have evolved since the first meeting in November 2023, barely a year after the launch of ChatGPT, which stoked both excitement and fear about the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence.
That meeting at a former code breaking base north of London was attended only by official delegations from 28 countries and the European Union, along with a small number of AI execs and researchers, and was focused on keeping AI safe and reining in its potentially catastrophic risks.
Ahead of the India meeting, a panel of experts released a second annual safety report on the risks posed by the most advanced AI systems, including through misuse, malfunctions and so-called systemic risks.
AI governance efforts are also underway elsewhere, including at the United Nations, which last year adopted a resolution to set up two key bodies on AI — a global forum and an independent scientific panel of experts.
“The whole point of this report is to build an international consensus on the state of the science regarding the emerging risks of AI,” said Yoshua Bengio, a prominent scientist known as one of the “Godfathers of AI” who led the study. “It’s really important that the world will continue to have a strong independent scientific evaluation of the risks.”
Like elsewhere, there have been concerns in India about AI’s adverse effect on jobs across technology and allied sectors, but experts point to reskilling to hedge risks.
“There is a lot of genuine concern around this theme, and I don’t want to underestimate this impact. But, from an Indian lens, emphasis is on re-skilling programs and as AI becomes much more mainstream, you will also see newer job roles coming up,” said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice president at Nasscom, a prominent body representing India’s technology industry.
For 22-year-old Anirudh Singh, pursuing a master’s in social work from Delhi University, AI makes it easier to prepare internship projects.
“I think AI is just reducing the tedious work that students generally had to do,” said Singh.
Chan reported from London. Piyush Nagpal and Rishi Lekhi in New Delhi contributed to this report.
Security people walk at the venue of AI-Summit in New Delhi, India, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo)
A municipal worker sweeps on a street with banners of the AI-Summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi photographs in New Delhi, India, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
A scooterist drives past a banners of AI-Summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stands on a road leading to summit venue in New Delhi, India, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Banners of AI-Summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stand beside a road leading to summit venue in New Delhi, India, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
An Indian para-military force soldier stands guard outside the venue of AI-Summit in New Delhi, India, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
