May 15, 2022—K2 Studios has announced that industry veteran Ed Capelle will retire this year after 35 years in the giant screen industry, the last 20 of which were as VP of Distribution for K2. Capelle will work his normal schedule through May and then on a reduced schedule for June and July until he is officially retired.

Ed began his career in the giant screen industry in 1987 when Don Muchmore with the California Museum Foundation and Jeff Rudolph of the California Science Center hired him to manage the Mitsubishi IMAX Theater (now the California Science Center IMAX Theater). Two years later Richard James hired Ed to manage film distribution at Cinema Group, later renamed Destination Cinema (DCI). Ed eventually became president of DCI and was there until 2001. From DCI, Ed went to the National Wildlife Federation where he was president of distribution until 2003.

In 2003 he started Capelle and Associates Consulting, where K2 Communications (now K2 Studios) was one of his primary clients. Ed worked closely with K2’s Bob and Mark Kresser over the years, eventually working exclusively with K2 in both distribution and production as Senior Vice President of Distribution.

Mark Kresser and Ed Capelle in 2004. Photo by James Hyder. © 2004 by Cinergetics, LLC.

The most important thing Ed wants to emphasize as he approaches retirement is to express his appreciation: “Thanks to Don Muchmore and Jeff Rudolph for letting me take a stab at running an IMAX theater, and to Mike Sullivan for believing I was the right person for the job.  Thank you, Jeff Kirsch, for recommending me to Richard James. Richard, you gave me my start in the giant screen distribution and production business. Thanks for believing in me. Thanks to National Geographic's John Fahey for giving me the chance to run DCI. Thanks to Chris Palmer for giving me the opportunity at National Wildlife Federation. And finally, thanks to Bob and Mark Kresser for having faith in me and giving me an absolute dream job for close to 20 years. What a great run we had! And thanks to all of my friends in the business. I could not have had the success that I enjoyed without your support!"

We at GSCA thank Ed for his many contributions to the giant screen industry and wish him the very best in his retirement. Ed, we look forward to following your future travel and diving adventures on Facebook.