AMC Theaters announces leadership changes

AMC Theaters has announced that Ellen Copaken has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Marketing, effective immediately. Copaken will report to Adam Aron, Chairman and CEO of AMC, and will become a member of the AMC Executive Committee. Copaken joined AMC in February 2022 as Vice President of Growth Strategy, after more than 20 years of experience in senior marketing roles at major brands such as Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, and Hostess Brands.

When Copaken joined AMC, her first assignment was to launch AMC’s strategically important initiative to get Perfectly Popcorn out of the AMC home. With her leadership across departments, she launched the initiative in March in an exclusive partnership with Walmart, ahead of internal expectations and much fanfare. In the months since its launch, the AMC Popcorn initiative has brought AMC Perfectly Popcorn to more than 2,600 Walmarts in the US and on Walmart.com, generating sales results that exceeded the company’s expectations.

Prior to joining AMC, Copaken held marketing leadership positions at Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, and Hostess Brands. Her long experience in marketing leadership roles and her success leading the cross-functional Popcorn Initiative team at AMC makes her a perfect fit to lead AMC’s Senior Marketing Division. Copaken succeeds Elliott Hamlisch, who traveled across the country from his hometown in northern New Jersey to AMC’s Theater Support Center in Leawood, Kansas.

For personal reasons, Hamlisch was unable to move permanently. Along with appointing Copaken as President of Marketing, AMC has taken the following related organizational steps: The popcorn initiative will transition from AMC to the Marketing Department and will continue to be overseen by Copaken and its popcorn team. Mark Pearson, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, who previously reported to Kopkin, remains unchanged and will continue to lead AMC’s strategic and innovative growth opportunities.

He will continue to report directly to Adam Aaron. AMC’s external communications, led by Ryan Noonan, vice president of corporate communications and public relations, now report directly to Adam Aron. AMC’s internal communications efforts will transition to Human Resources, led by Carla Chavarria, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer.