ICO news
- What would summer be without attending a great outdoor screening? We also recommend going ahead and taking the next step: it’s even better to organise one yourself. Our (free!) online guide is here to help you with that.
- We’re excited to be heading to Lewes’ lovely Depot Cinema for our Summer Screening Days next week with a stellar line-up of films such as The Last Tree (pictured), Bait and The Souvenir. Early bird passes for our I.D. (Inclusion & Diversity) Screening Days will also go on sale later in July – stay tuned for more info!
- As featured on The Guardian, New Towns, Our Town is a unique feature-length archive film programme that reveals how New Towns have been continually reshaped by the public imagination. Read more and book this vital film now. Our Film Programmer Heather McIntosh will also introduce a special screening of the film at Reframing Film Heritage on 25 July 2019. FAN members, don’t miss it!
- The latest two programmes in our popular Britain on Film tour are currently available for bookings with subsidised fees, starting from as little as £20. During a time of intense political turmoil, growing public activism and ongoing debates, Protest! and Welcome to Britain offer a chance to explore a century of protest and new arrivals to the UK via touching and fascinating footage from around the country.
- Programming is at the heart of what we do at the ICO. Our expert team of programmers work closely with all UK distributors to make sure your venue has the best set of films for your audiences. To find out more, get in touch with our programming team today.
- When the ICO began in 2003, there were very few women in leadership roles in exhibition; a lack of diversity in the workforce, particularly in full-time programming positions; hardly any opportunities for exhibitors based outside London to see prerelease films prior to programming them; no recognised exhibitor training courses; and fewer opportunities for audiences across the UK to see a true diversity of content and the broadest possible range of world cinema. We are incredibly proud that we have instigated meaningful change in all these areas these past 16 years. Looking ahead to the next decade, we spoke to some of the brightest voices in film exhibition about what the future of cinema holds.
Opportunities
- Film societies and community cinemas! Applications for Filmbankmedia’s Innovation Fund are now open until 31 July.
- Expressions of interest for venue-based and regional project proposals (for up to £12k) are now open for the next BFI Blockbuster season: Musicals! Send your fantastic ideas over to Film Hub Midlands by 2 August.
- FAN members! Hear some of the most distinctive voices in curation and archiving at the next Reframing Film Heritage (Thursday 25 July, Watershed). The event is free and you can book a place here. Check out also the fine programme for Cinema Rediscovered.
- This Way Up is a two-day UK film exhibition conference packed full of ideas and debates to inspire and enlighten, provoke and challenge. This year’s edition will take place at Broadway Cinema, Nottingham on 3-4 December. Grab your early bird pass by 10 July!
- Tickets are on sale for Cinema for All’s Community Cinema Conference, taking place in Sheffield from 20-22 September 2019.
- Every two years, over 500 film professionals gather for the Europa Cinemas Network Conference. Join them in Lisbon this 21-24 November.
- Looking for a bursary to cover the cost of couriering equipment to and from your community cinema? Check out Cinema for All’s Doorstep Fund.
- Support your local: Deptford Cinema has just launched their Kickstarter campaign. With a goal of £15,000, they can complete electrical upgrades and increase the accessibility of the space so more people can enjoy this independent South East London venue.
- John Brabourne Awards offer up to £5000 in financial grants to emerging film and TV talent. Their summer round is now open for applications until 31 July.
- Jeremiah Zagar’s acclaimed We the Animals, the latest film to receive BFI FAN New Releases support is currently playing in cinemas across the UK. Find a screening near you and talk to your Film Hub about additional marketing support if you’d like to screen the film.
- Save the date: Distributor Slate Days returns to Picturehouse Central from 17-18 September.
Good reads
- It’s been a busy month of news in changes to cinema pricing around the world. In 2018, the price of a UK cinema ticket fell for the first time in 17 years, to an average of £7.22. Meanwhile, Japanese cinema ticket prices are going up for the first time in 26 years as major multiplex chains raised standard prices to help pay for technology upgrades and building work.
- 2018 marked the fourth consecutive year that cinemas across Europe welcomed over 1.25 billion admissions, equating to close to €8.1 billion at the box office. UNIC’s Annual Report is a highly recommended read.
- “We all need to make significant changes to reduce the threat of the impending climate disaster and cinema exhibitors are no exception.” Read how Lewes’ Depot Cinema became one of the greenest cinemas in Europe.
- “As one of the 50 most visited sites in the world, IMDb wields considerable power over the entertainment industry.” With HBO’s Chernobyl shooting to the top of IMDb’s all-time TV rankings, The Ringer analyses how the platform’s rankings system has been used to influence releases both big and small, both by studios and online communities.
- With our film New Towns, Our Town currently available for bookings, we asked University of Brighton’s Georgia Wrighton to reflect on why these valuable towns should be a recognised part of Britain’s heritage.
- Dimensions UK, Cinema UK and Inclusive Cinema have put together a great autism-friendly screenings guide for cinema. Explore this fantastic resource here.
- “When you apply for a BFI NETWORK fund or meet with your Talent Executive it’s really important that you focus on ‘What is the story?’. Don’t be afraid to simplify it.” Filmmakers! Read the top five tips from our Film Hub South East Talent Executive Thomas Wightman on how to make your application stand out.
- We’re delighted that Melbourne’s beautiful art deco cinema Capitol Theatre has been recently reopened after a five year and $18 million restoration process. Feast your eyes on these gorgeous cinema shots.
- Will Bon Joon Ho’s black comedy Parasite become the biggest Palme d’Or winner of all time at the global box office?
- The news that shook film professionals and fans in London: “A planning application has been submitted to demolish the iconic 20th Century Fox building in Soho Square, London, which has stood as the studio’s UK headquarters since it was built in 1936–7.”
- With the virtual print fee (VPF) — the charge paid over the past decade by distributors towards the digitisation of cinemas — expected to come to an end in the UK by next year, Screen International gathered together feedback from both distributors and exhibitors, including our Head of Cinemas David Sin.
- After one film fan reportedly broke records by watching Avengers: Endgame over 100 times in six weeks, The Guardian reached out to its readers about other great cinema-bingeing stories.