Open Call for Session Curation – Virtual Young Audiences Screening Days

Salary: £500 fee

The ICO is looking for paid guest curator contributions to Virtual Young Audiences Screening Days (7–10 June) to develop film programmes and/or curated sessions (presentations, panels, case studies, provocations, discussions, workshops, debates, Q&As and more) to help develop audiences of children and audiences aged 16–30.

What is Virtual Young Audiences Screening Days?

Virtual Young Audiences Screening Days (7–10 June 2021) offers preview screenings of independent, world and art house films for children and young audiences (from 16–30), empowering exhibitors to make informed choices for their programming. Combined with these preview screenings will be capacity-building sessions (presentations, panel discussions, case studies) on young audience development and best practice programming and cinema marketing for children and young people. We are seeking contributions to both parts of the programme to reach out beyond the networks and areas of expertise within the ICO.

What kind of ideas are we looking for?

We would like session ideas to be ambitious, inspiring and engaging, as useful as possible for cinemas to apply, and to focus on specific topics rather than general concepts. Possible formats are panel discussions, case studies, provocations, discussion groups, workshops, debates, and screenings with introductions, discussions or Q&As… we’re open to your suggestions! If your idea will help bring young audiences into cinemas, we want to hear it.

A few areas your session could cover:

• Marketing (e.g. ways to reach young people, adaptations to current marketing channels)
• Outreach and engagement programmes
• Online audience development
• Improving the working lives of young people in the sector
• Expanding the canon of what young people are watching
• Audience development of underrepresented groups of young people (e.g. young people of colour and Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent young people)
• Development of young audiences in rural settings

Is there a fee available?

If your idea is taken forward we can pay a fee of £500 for organising/administering the session and a pass to attend the event. There will also be an additional budget to cover speaker fees, including if you plan to lead the session yourself. Your contribution will be acknowledged in the Screening Days info pack and on social media (if you would appreciate that). You may like to work with a partner or a group in which case the available fee will be split accordingly.

Who can make a proposal?

You do not need to work in film or in young people’s development work to propose a session. If you have practical experience of developing young audiences from other sectors that is applicable to the film sector, then we want to hear from you. You do not need to deliver the session yourself; as long as you are able to develop it and have the direct connections for it to take place we want to hear from you. You are also welcome to deliver it yourself (for which additional fees are applicable).

What are we trying to achieve?

We want to influence people who work in cinemas and other exhibition spaces to be more ambitious and try new ways of engaging young audiences. We are looking for innovative topics and speaker suggestions to make these events as impactful and inspiring as possible.

Who are the sessions aimed at? Who attends Screening Days?

Screening Days are attended by people who work for cinemas, mixed-art venues, film societies, film festivals and community cinemas as well as staff of public funders and other agencies working to support film culture in the UK. They will probably work in film programming, marketing and audience development roles. They will likely have small budgets and limited staff time so it’s important that the events give them both inspiration and practical takeaways.

What support is available?

The ICO team are happy to work with you on organising and developing sessions if you’d like, or we can try and pair you with other curators who might like to partner with you. We are also able to provide accommodations for access that you – or anyone who you might engage for the session– might need.

How should ideas be submitted?

If you’re interested in taking part please send your session idea(s) to Duncan Carson, Projects and Business Manager at the ICO: duncan.carson@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk

Your session idea should be no longer than one page and should include:

• Session title
• Session description (no more than 500 words)
• Why you think this idea will help build young audiences or help young exhibition professionals
• Suggested speakers (if applicable)

Once successful ideas have been selected to be taken forward, you will be given more guidance about session design and inviting speakers. We are happy to receive more than one suggestion if you have it.

We will let you know if your idea has been accepted or not by 18 May, offering you around three weeks to prepare the programme if successful. We are happy to offer feedback on all submissions if desired.

ICO Screening Days Advisory Group

Please be aware that we will be holding similar open calls for our Inclusion and Diversity Screening Day and Archive Screening Day events later this year. We are also seeking members for an Advisory Group to work across all future Screening Days events. Read more here.

The closing date for this position is 13/05/2021 at 10:00