Our Screening Days events are a great way to see the best upcoming independent releases. If you want to discover films to bring in new audiences and satisfy existing ones, Screening Days offers you the chance to see films first and decide which will work for your programme, as well as the opportunity to network with other exhibitors from across the UK.
Featuring key releases from July to October 2017, this industry event is for anyone in programming, marketing or education at cinemas, film festivals and film societies.
As the Phoenix is a two-screen venue, we’ll be showing a 20 film programme over the course of the event.
Keep in touch
The quickest way to keep up-to-date is to follow our Twitter account @ICOTweets. You’ll see details of new films added to the event as and when they’re confirmed.
Registration
Price
- One-day pass: £25
- Two-day pass: £44
- Three-day pass: £60
ICO Screening Days is an industry event for people who work or volunteer in the film exhibition sector. Your request for passes will be sent to the ICO for approval; you will then be sent an email with a link to pay for your pass(es) through a secure banking site. Once you’ve received your confirmation email, you’ll have five days to pay.
Please note that we have a limit of five attendees per organisation and that passes are non-transferable.
A full refund is available for cancellations up to Friday 16 June 2017.
We have closed online registration for Screening Days.
Find out more
Further information about the event will be uploaded to this section of the website. Please email info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk with any queries.
Terms and conditions
ICO Screening Days is an industry event open to people working or volunteering in an organisation whose primary purpose is the exhibition of films to the public.
As all of the films that are being shown at the event are pre-release titles there is a press embargo on the event, which includes social networking sites and film forums.
Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without the screening days! They are a huge help in programming the festivals – make my programming much more efficient – and I love attending.
Screening days delegate
Films
Travel
Phoenix Leicester
4 Midland St
Leicester
LE1 1TG
Walking
Phoenix is located in Leicester’s city centre, within the Cultural Quarter, just a 10 minute walk from the train station.
From Leicester station (<10min walk)
Head northwest on London Rd/A6 toward Waterloo Way/A594 492ft, then continue onto St Georges Way/A594. Turn left onto St George Street. Turn left onto Southampton Street and then right onto Morledge Street. The Phoenix will be on the right approx. 200ft down Morledge Street.
By car
There is a council-run pay and display car park next to Phoenix. On Sundays and bank holidays there is a £1 charge and a maximum stay of 4hrs. You can find out more about charges here: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/parking-in-leicester/parking-charges.
For alternative parking, the Rutland Centre NCP car park on Halford Street (LE1 1TQ) is just a short walk away from Phoenix and costs £5.20 all day for Phoenix customers. To obtain this reduced rate your parking ticket must be validated at the Phoenix box office.
On street parking is also available around Phoenix. In pay and display bays, parking is free after 6pm and all day on Sundays; on single yellow lines, parking is free after 6pm. Please check the signs as circumstances may change and temporary restrictions may be in place. Parking is NOT permitted in the Staples car park.
By train
There are many direct train journeys to Leicester, including journeys from London, Birmingham, Lincoln, Sheffield, Nottingham and Manchester.
To plan your train journey please visit: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Hotels
Nearby hotels (by distance)
Hotel ibis Leicester City
Approximate rate per night: £63-£70
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.2 miles
Mercure Leicester The Grand Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £120 – £170
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.3 miles
Premier Inn Leicester City Centre
Approximate rate per night: £35 – £89
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.3 miles
Ramada Encore Leicester City Centre
Approximate rate per night: £82 – £90
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.3 miles
Castle Park Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £58 – £62
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.5 miles
Hotel Restaurant Campanile Leicester
Approximate rate per night: £53 – £67
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.5 miles
The Belmont Hotel, Leicester
Approximate rate per night: £45 – £62
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.6 miles
Hotel Maiyango
Approximate rate per night: £131 – £151
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.8 miles
Spindle Lodge
Approximate rate per night: £50 – £75
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.8 miles
Travelodge Leicester Central Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £34 – £68
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.8 miles
Holiday Inn Leicester
Approximate rate per night: £65 – £179
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 0.9 miles
Croft Hotel (tel: 0116 212 0327)
Approximate rate per night: £32 – £75
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 1.2 miles
Stoneycroft Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £49 – £99
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 1.3 miles
Comfort Hotel Leicestershire (tel: 0116 268 2626)
Approximate rate per night: £43 – £80
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 1.4 miles
Holiday Inn Express Leicester
Approximate rate per night: £76 – £80
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 1.5 miles
Campbells Guest House
Approximate rate per night: £32 – £70
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 1.7 miles
Premier Inn Leicester Central A50
Approximate rate per night: £30 – £75
Distance to Phoenix Leicester: 2.5 miles
Why attend?
Exhibitors who attend Screening Days know the difference it makes.
That’s why staff and volunteers of cinemas, mixed arts venues, film festivals, and film societies attend again and again. But if you haven’t come before, here’s five reasons Screening Days could be invaluable for you…
- Screening Days make your programming decisions easier: watching our amazing selection of the upcoming films lets you get clear on whether a film is right for your venue and how to make it work best in your programme.
- Screening Days are efficient: finding time to watch films in the busy and divided schedule of a film programmer is hard. Screening Days lets you cover a lot of ground with amazing access.
- Screening Days simplify marketing: knowing what audience you’re trying to target becomes much easier once you know the film directly and who in your community would want to come and see it.
- Screening Days gives you access to key industry players: we often have representatives from the BFI, Cinema for All, Film Audience Network and Filmbankmedia, as well as many major distributors in attendance. Screening Days is your chance to hear about funding, technology and opportunities that can mean just as much as what you put on the screen itself.
- Screening Days is a forum to share knowledge: gathering together this number of exhibitors in one place means you can keep up with developments from peers and learn from what is working for them.
Simply being able to see the films is enough but there are also great opportunities to be able to talk to other exhibitors and have conversations around programming successes, failures and ideas. It builds a community of ideas and relationships that really strengthen the independent cinema community in the UK.
Screening Days delegate
FAQs
Who can come to Screening Days?
Screening Days is for programmers, organisers, audience developers, education officers or marketers from cinemas, mixed arts venues, film societies, film festivals and any other venue whose primary purpose is exhibition of films to the public.
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible, just ask us: info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk
I'd love to go, but it's too expensive for our budget.
Speak to your local Film Hub. They may be able to help you with a bursary for passes, accommodation and/or travel.
How do I register on the day?
Registration will be held from 8.30am each morning, at which you will be issued with a badge for the
day(s) you are attending. This will be your entry pass into all screenings.
The registration area will be staffed by the ICO throughout the event. We’ll also be on hand to offer advice on topics including programming, distribution, audience development and much more.
When do the screenings happen?
Screenings will run between 9am and 6pm each day.
Where are the screenings held?
Screenings will be held in screens 1 & 2 at Phoenix.
Will there be any other activities in addition to the screenings?
There will also be a drinks reception on Saturday evening for delegates to meet and network with fellow colleagues, to catch up on the all important films of the day.
Is there somewhere to get drinks and food onsite?
Yes! You can visit Phoenix’s café-bar (ground floor). Click here for further details and opening hours.
How do you select films for the programme at Screening Days?
Our primary aim is to showcase the widest possible range of independent, world and art house titles set for release in the following quarter. We focus on titles that are unlikely to have a vast marketing budget so need the keen curatorial eye and advance notice that a viewing at Screening Days can provide for your programme. We also occasionally include titles with higher profiles, particularly in the lead-up to awards season, which we believe delegates will be keen to see to assess suitability for their programmes. Our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to see the widest range of films so you’re able to broaden programmes in your venues, and we hope each Screening Days programme reflects that.
Why can't you release the schedule earlier? I want to make sure I see certain films.
We always try to finalise the schedule as soon as possible so you can plan ahead. Unfortunately, we are limited in how far in advance we can do so. Because distributors offering us their films often haven’t determined their schedule in advance, or are waiting on delivery of the materials, we often receive final confirmations quite close to the event. Then, in order to evenly space the films across the different screens, we need to carefully schedule the films, which takes time.
Why aren’t there more or longer breaks?
We try to give you as many breaks as possible between films and usually have morning, lunch and afternoon breaks, but are restricted by the availability of the screens and the length of the films. Most cinemas can’t take out their evening public screenings due to conditions set by distributors, and so they don’t disappoint their local (paying) audience. This means we can only screen films between 9am – 6pm. We try to keep in mind that the main purpose of the event is for you to be able to see as many films as possible.
Why can only organisers, marketers and programmers attend?
The purpose of Screening Days is to encourage strong audiences for a more diverse selection of films. Programmers, organisers (e.g. the most senior person in a community screen, members of the selection committee of a film society) and marketers are the people in a best position to both select films and advocate for these films in their venues. We are often oversubscribed, so this is the fairest way to ensure that key staff get the opportunity to attend.
Why can only five members of my organisation attend?
As the Screening Days events usually sell out, we are limiting the number of passes for any one organisation to five. This is to ensure that the largest number of organisations are able to attend the event. Attendees must also be engaged in one of the following roles within their organisation: programming, marketing, education, audience development, or on the selection committee of a film society/club.
How frequent do my screenings need to be for me to attend?
Our funders for Screening Days, in addition to the distributors that lend us their films, now stipulate that exhibitors must hold 12 or more feature film screenings per year of to attend.
Can I Tweet or share reviews or comments on the films in public?
No. While we appreciate your enthusiasm (or otherwise) for films you see at Screening Days, the terms that we receive the films under completely prohibit any social media or film forum discussion of films in the Screening Days programme.
Distributors and the ICO monitor social media channels for discussion of the films. Please do feel free to discuss the films in person with other delegates, and if you’d like to talk about the event in general on social media you can find us at @ICOtweets #ScreeningDays.
When will you be hosting the next Screening Days and where?
The next Screening Days events will be in autumn 2017. Dates and location to be confirmed soon, sign up to our mailing list to be the first to find out.