Central to all successful film programming is understanding your audience.
Get to know your audience
Audiences for community exhibition will always vary depending on location – rural audiences are usually very different to urban ones. It’s helpful to get to know your audience as much as you can; assessing the size of your catchment area, your local transport infrastructure, your local population demographics (the Office for National Statistics is a good starting point) and making sure you talk to local groups to build interest, awareness and support – preferably including your local authority, town council or community council.
There is usually a high level of repeat audiences in community cinemas because of local support for the schemes, with people seeing them as a positive and valuable addition to community life.
Screenings can be as much social events as opportunities to see a particular title, and can help build or strengthen community spirit.
Audience types
Many rural areas have growing, but ageing populations, so many rural screenings therefore play to mostly retired audiences who live within walking distance of the community cinema venue.
It’s therefore important to check the limitations of local public transport (for example, if the last bus leaves the village at 10pm and you know that some of your audience rely on public transport from neighbouring villages, you should ensure your screenings always finish well before then).
Younger audiences are usually much harder to attract to rural screenings – community venues often aren’t readily perceived as spaces for young people, and their facilities can differ greatly from newer traditional cinemas, particularly seating. However, the opposite is often the case for urban community exhibition.
Community screenings often encourage lapsed cinema-goers to give cinema a try again after what may have been a considerable gap in attendance. It’s not unusual – particularly in rural areas – to attract people who haven’t been to the cinema for 10, 20 or even 30 years, which can be especially rewarding.
Building awareness
If audiences don’t necessarily associate your venue with film it can be a barrier, and the process of developing loyal audiences is likely to take much longer. Traditional methods of marketing such as posters, flyers and press releases in local outlets are still effective in spreading the word, but can be greatly boosted by digital marketing.
Many people now use social media to search out local entertainment options. It’s quick, cost-effective and can reach large numbers of people, so you should use it whenever you can. Advertising in community hubs such as shops, pubs and on local notice boards can also be very effective.