deco to digital

New era for film in the UK?

2011-01-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

The BFI is predicting a new era for film in the UK as it prepares to restructure and reorganise in light of its promotion to the dizzy heights of the leading UK body for film. But what is this new era really going to mean to the quality and diversity of content on our screens?

2010 is all set to prove itself as a bumper year at UK box office, thanks to recession, big blockbusters and 3D. But with Little Fockers currently top of the box office pops after packing away over £3m in ticket sales in its first five days of release in the UK, it feels unlikely that this new era will fuel any real change in the type of content that keeps the cinema near you in the red.

Change however does trickle beneath the frozen waters of Hollywood dominance. Curzon Cinemas has launched Curzon On Demand a service that allows you to view the latest cinema releases from the comfort of your own home. This is a great opportunity for those who can’t reach specialist cinemas such as the Curzon to access the latest independent releases as well as the occasional classic.

And following on from the success of the National Theatre and New York Met, the Bolshoi Ballet now plan to beam four of their performances to 300 cinemas around the world.

But is a new era really coming for the UK film industry, or merely a shift in who gets the cash from the DCMS? Too soon to say. But as 2010 rolls into 2011 it looks likely that hard times will hit us all. This could be good news for a recession friendly industry that provides affordable escape from the harsh realities of being hard up. But in terms of fueling the industry with new talent, fresh ideas, innovative ways of working and stories from around the world, the new era might not bring anything new at all.

Film Power or the Power of Film?

2010-10-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

Film, cinema and the moving image are entering a new phase in Scotland with the creation of the Centre for the Moving Image which will incorporate the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the city’s Filmhouse cinema. Mark Cousins and Tilda Swinton have come on board as creative advisors in what feels like another major shift for the landscape of the arts in Scotland.

Meanwhile the hopes of Edinburgh’s grand old lady of cinemas – the Odeon on Clerk Street – have been raised as a group of recent graduates aspire to breath new life into its boarded up auditorium. This feels like a coming of age for Film Studies – a subject I was once told wasn’t a ‘proper’ one. I love that graduates are emerging with energy, passion and the confidence to take a piece of cinema history into their own hands and give it a workable future.

All of this is refreshing news at a time when Hollywood is accused of being too scared to take risks and 3D is already being touted as yesterday’s news. In the week that Warner Bros cancelled the release of the next Harry Potter film in 3D, you have to question whether plans to convert the Star Wars films into 3D are going to rake in the anticipated profits from a cynical audience who are counting the pennies and seen it all before (both 3D and Star Wars). Give us something new to inspire our cinema screens George! Not the same story you’ve been telling for 33 years re hashed and re vamped and all ready to milk as much money out of its fans as possible. Give us a new story – a good one, well told, just like you did with the first Star Wars.

Other head thumpingly dull news is that James Cameron has toped the Guardian’s Film Power 100 list. Please, please can we have a list of people who are ‘feeling the force’ of film, circumnavigating the industry’s traditional ‘gatekeepers’ and taking its future into their own hands. Let’s have a list that celebrates the likes of the graduates planning a coup of Edinburgh’s old Odeon, the filmmakers who are crowd sourcing footage and finance, the artists who are breathing new life into archive film, mob cinema and the 8 1/2 Foundation.

Film has come of age and its maturity has nothing to do with an expensive in-your-face format, powerful men, or industry veterans squeezing every last penny of profit out of a thirty year old franchise. It has everything to do with people who are passionate about cinema and filmmakers sticking two fingers up at the likes of lists celebrating those who have ‘Film Power’. Because such is the power of film!

UKFC – RIP? probably not.

2010-07-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

It’s no great surprise that the UK government’s Department for Culture Media and Sport today announced that it plans to abolish the UK Film Council.

The government deals out around £25m to the UKFC each year and if you want to get a health check on the industry it presides over, check out the organisation’s latest Statistical Yearbook.

There is no denying that the British film industry is something to be proud of. The list of films, careers and talent the UKFC has invested in over its ten year existence is impressive. If you don’t believe me, check here for a list of its achievements, along with the number of jobs the industry creates, the huge growth of the UK box office over the past decade and the amount of money (£1.2 billion) the nation’s film industry pours back into the Exchequer’s coffers each year.

The flip side though is a couple of nagging questions. Firstly, does the UK need two national film organisations? The BFI is a charity and protected by Royal Charter so the DCMS can’t touch it. But is it, as an organisation, ready/fit for purpose to take back on the work the UKFC took off it ten years ago and drive the industry forward through its difficult, but unavoidable, transition into the digital era?

The second question is where is the sustainability of the British film industry? Don’t get me wrong the industry is well deserving of public funding and more than returns its investment back to the public purse. But do proposals such as PACT’s new business model for UK film producers offer a feasible and bureaucratically cheaper alternative?

Tim Bevan, Chairman of the UKFC, has reacted to today’s news by claiming that the government’s decision is a bad one, “imposed without consultation or evaluation… driven by short-term thinking and political expediency." And that the British film industry deserves better.

He’s right, which is the crux of why the UKFC will not rest in peace. Knee jerk cuts will only stunt the industry’s growth and fuel resentment amongst those who will be denied access to opportunities within it, whose stories will never be told on the big screen and whose local cinemas are at risk. All of which will only make for a small society.

Edinburgh Fringe: at a cinema near you

2010-07-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

What’s happening to cinema? According to the BBC, cinema is ‘good for theatre’ as audiences attending live screenings of the National Theatre’s performances of Phedre, are supposedly more emotionally engaged in the production than those who were actually there. Read the full story here.

And, moving outside of London and up to Edinburgh, live performances of the Traverse Theatre’s Impossible Things Before Breakfast, part of their Fringe programme 2010, are to be simultaneously broadcast into Picturehouse cinemas around the UK.

I love this blurring of the boundaries between theatre and cinema and the mixing of audiences. Not least of which because of the two very different experiences of one event this allows. I like the idea that I can choose to see the show ‘in the flesh’ at the Traverse Theatre, or ‘on the screen’ down the road at the Cameo cinema.

At the other end of the film chain, Ridley Scott has announced plans to crowdsource a new documentary called Life in a Day via YouTube. Upload your footage of a moment in your life on 24 July for a chance to be part of the film. Anyone whose footage does make it into the final feature will be credited as co-director. Find out more here.

What is this? A cheap way to make a film whose profits will stay firmly out of the pockets of those who contributed the footage? A unique chance to shine on the big screen without having to bash your way through a long line of industry gatekeepers? An honest attempt to give everyone the chance of being a star and have a snippet of their story seen on the big screen? Maybe all three.

From an industry point of view, the equally interesting factor will be the free screenings of this film on YouTube. Surely cinema figures will stay buoyant as the project is so unique, but what will viewing figures reach on YouTube? And what seeds for the future of film exhibition does this plant?

Ever more interesting times and ever more challenges and opportunities for cinemas.

Not fighting piracy, but obscurity

2010-04-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

This bold statement was raised at the recent Northern Lights Film Festival Industry Day dedicated to crowd sourcing and digital frontiers.

A keynote speech delivered by Liz Rosenthal of Power to the Pixel raised questions on how storytelling will evolve in the digital age that is no longer restricted by format. And how filmmakers, working across platforms can extend audiences and increase finance. This blog will share some of the success stories raised during the speech and also take a side step and look at how cinemas can learn from/join forces with filmmakers in opening up new ways of engaging audiences.

In the traditional model of filmmaking, the storyteller is not in control of how the story is told – this is managed through the distribution and exhibition network and arguably, this model has little connection with the audience. Now fragmented platforms are appearing for moving image work and audiences are watching film and experiencing stories in many different ways. All of which are giving audiences more choice and more control.

Examples cited include documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald and his Brave New Films who have built up a large database of email subscribers who receive information about films as they are being made and often even make donations to ensure that the films are financed. Therefore when the films are produced, there is already a large audience who know about the film, want to see it and are stakeholders in it. In addition, under the banner of Brave New Theaters, Brave New Films is promoting a people powered movie revolution. When you buy a DVD from Brave New Theater you also get the rights to screen it wherever you like and they will even give you tips on how to plan a successful screening.

Wreck a Movie is the world’s first internet film studio. Anyone can join and contribute to films that are already being made or upload their own film idea and invite people to join in. This way of working completely turns around the usual model of passive fans who are marketed to once a distributor has picked up the film. This model offer fans the chance to be part of the life of the film.

Indie GoGo is another organisation using collaborative working to fund ideas and encourage innovation. While Four Eyed Monsters develop a community around their films and then mobilise fans to ask cinemas to screen their work. Thus cinema turns into a social event online as well as in a physical cinema.

Another example worth a mention is filmmaker Nina Paley who rejected an offer from a distributor to buy the UK rights for her film Sita Sings the Blues and instead gives them out for free through a Creative Commons licence and encourages anyone to screen her film. Nina sells a range of collectable merchandise related to the film from which she makes a profit – a bit like the way multi plexes make money through popcorn sales. By keeping control over her film, and not selling the rights to a distributor, Nina has made more money and the film has been seen by many more people than if she had gone down the traditional route.

So what has this got to do with cinema? Lots! Firstly we can learn much from the possibilities of a film having a life beyond a screening and an engaged fan base. Many filmmakers have found that folk online spend 30% of their time watching the film and 70% engaged in conversation about it. Cinemas and festivals need to join in the conversation and not just passively wait for its release date before giving a film any marketing attention or spend.

Filmmakers and cinemas both complain about the amount of control distributors have and the dominance of major studios. So we should be seeking ways of joining forces. Offering more than monthly film clubs for a few local filmmakers to get together and chat and read each other scripts. Let’s really start working with filmmakers and engaging with their fan base, negotiating screen time for them, make time for conversation, investigate new models, get involved with the life of their work and in doing so refresh cinema.

With the huge capitol outlay of converting to digital which threatens to cripple independent exhibitors, or lock them into rigid VPF deals, it is time to seize the day and dip our toes in the waters of shared culture. Filmmakers are making inroads into developing new models and so should cinemas, because we too are not fighting piracy, but obscurity.

Go Kathryn and the Regent in Leven

2010-03-08T15:35:00.000-08:00

Fantastic news on International Women’s Day, finally a woman wins the Oscar for best director. Well done Kathryn and about time too. Also a victory of 2D over 3D as Avatar fails to be awarded best film. Although many are now saying that 3D is spreading fast and the days of 3D drama are on the way. We’ll be talking Wallace & Gromit in 3D next.

Good news also for the old Regent cinema in Leven in Fife, West Scotland. Opened in 1922, the like many old cinemas, the Regent had been running as a bingo hall, but after being leased to the Leven Community Cinema Group this old Art Deco gem has been given a new lease of life and plans to open in a few days. Go Leven, the Regent and all who dream in her.

Oscars and cinemas in need

2010-02-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

As the nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards are announced it’s no surprise that Avatar has made its presence known. Does its success at both box office and award nominations prove that 3D is here to stay? Or merely that Mr Cameron knows a thing or two about creating best selling features?

In terms of 3D, its presence is starting to be felt outside of the multiplex experience as Sky announces it will launch this format in pubs soon. More here. And if you have ever wondered how regular films are converted into 3D, here’s all you to know.

The story that caught my eye this week is that UK supermarket giant Tescos are venturing into the world of film production - how things are changing in production as well as distribution and exhibition. It’s a move that I find both inspirational and appalling in the same breath.

On a much sadder note, comes the news that many beautiful old cinemas are under threat. These grand old ladies of Art Deco are incredible, historically important buildings that need long sighted planning and care, not short sighted demolition. It was a fight to keep Miami’s incredible Art Deco and where would South Beach be without it? Councils are merely thinking quick profits and easy solutions and in the process quietly, but definitely, destroying an important part of our social heritage. If they were castles where kings had slept, those that rule might think differently. But these are the palaces of the people where dreams are born, romances blossom and personal histories forged. Shame on those who let this be reduced to rubble.

Muppets and Avatars

2009-12-11T04:40:00.000-08:00

Yes it’s finally coming soon to a cinema near you. The much hyped, much anticipated, much banged on about 3D sensation Avatar. Read the first reviews here. Love or hate 3D, you have to go and see it. Will it be a triumph of spectacle over narrative and CGI over character development? Or simply a darn good film. Either way its anticipated box office revenue will ensure a profitable end to a very profitable year at the UK box office.

This year has also proved that smaller independent cinemas can no longer delay converting to digital. With a slate of 3D titles lined up for 2010, and, at least in the short term, serious profits to be made with this format, no venue can afford to ignore the winds of change any longer. And at the other end of the artistic spectrum, with only one 35mm print of The White Ribbon in the UK, even those cinemas who balance their books on specialised titles, can’t afford not to convert.

So what deals are on the table for the cash strapped UK indy? Well the UK Digital Funding Group has gathered pace and screens are joining together to barter for a favourable VPF deal for all. And the light of public funding is shining from Europe for all those cinemas who screen European titles, as the European Commission prepares a funding stream that aims to help cinemas acquire digital projection. Read the full story here.

On a wider note, I’ve just hot footed it back from the Future Projections conference in London which explored new ways of presenting the moving image. As pubs and restaurants start to use film as a bait to bring in more custom and the traditional separation of leisure activities crumble away, new business models and new ways of presenting film are beginning to emerge. And as student numbers decline in the UK, bums on cinema seats are set to also decline on week day nights unless venues start thinking creatively about how to fill them.

But you know, as excited as I am about the change in the air and the brave new future of the moving image, right now I’m more excited about heading off to my nearest and dearest old art deco cinema and sinking into that old red velvet seat to watch, what I’ve no doubt will be a sold out screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol in glorious 2D.

Football on the big screen and fifty top films for 2010

2009-10-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

What was watching football in a cinema really like? It was easier to get a ticket and the seats were more comfortable according to this Guardian article. And there was the added bonus of a happy ending for England.

Alternative content such as this is touted as integral to the future of cinema. However, the news that the Movie House Cinemas chain is to bring ticket prices for 3D down to the same level as every other film is a sign that the novelty value is already wearing thin. And in order to maintain an audience, 3D films have to be treated the same as every other. Audiences don’t want to pay extra, this article argues and if 3D is to survive this time, other cinemas should be paying heed and following suit. Especially now that 3D is migrating over to the small screen on a mobile phone near you.

The most noteworthy new story for me this week is the opening of the first HMVCurzon cinema in Wimbledon. If this partnership proves successful then you can expect state of the art cinemas to be rolled out at other HMV stores. Multiplex chains and independents alike should be concerned.

For those who like to plan their cinema visits far in advance, the Times online has published a list of the top fifty films most likely to dominate the UK box office next year. Surprise, surprise the 80s rule and you can expect remakes of 80s classics alongside adaptations of TV shows from the decade. Read more here.

The final story this time harks back to birth of cinema in the UK as a campaign is launched to revive an old cinema on London’s Regent Street – now a lecture theatre for the University of Westminster – where pictures first moved before British eyes.

On there other side of the screen, it all looks so easy

2009-10-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Recognise the quote anyone? Of course you do – a classic line from a 1982 classic film Tron. The news this week that Disney has revealed a 3D sequel kind of made me feel old. Jeff Bridges has been inside that computer for a quarter of a century!

Cinema news this week includes the smallest and one of the oldest. The world’s smallest cinema has just been unveiled. Check out this converted rickshaw for the tiniest big screen experience going. And the good news for many cinema lovers in Scotland is that Historic Scotland has announced that the former Odeon in Edinburgh’s southside is to be saved. In a city that is already over screened it’s going to be a tall order making a restored version of its amazing auditorium profitable.But the hope coalition is high for this grand old lady of the city's cinemas.

4D, facelifts and the best Sci-Fi ever

2009-09-10T04:18:00.000-07:00

It'll come as a surprise to no one that when the trailer for Avatar went online on Apple's site it broke the download record with over 4 million streams. Cinema audiences will finally be able to view this much hyped epic, first conceived by James Cameron over 14 years ago, in full 3D glory when it hits the big screens on 18 December. You can catch Cameron sharing his views on 3D here. And fans of 3D will be thrilled with the news that 3D adverts are on the way.

However, as the engaging, intelligent, beautifully shot, thoroughly thought proving and deliberately low tech Moon proves, it takes more than good CGI to make a good sci-fi movie.

My favourite film related story of the week is the announcement of a new "digi-novel" - a combination of book, movie and website and a taste of things to come as traditionally separate mediums of entertainment start to have fun together. Check out the full story here. While although not cinema related, the slightly unnerving prospect of a digital advertising system that watches you also caught my eye.

Back to cinema and there's plenty of news pouring out of the UK. 4D cinema hits the headlines as the London Eye opens a new 4D cinema attraction, which they've billed as the greatest cinema attraction in the world. And plans are afoot to merge the UK's two flagship film bodies - the UK Film Council and the British Film Institute. Full story here.

UK independents worried about the cost of digital and the very real prospect of going out of business if they don't find the cash to convert, have been thrown a possible lifeline by the Cinema Exhibitors' Association. The Association has confirmed its plans to establish a funding group that will seek the finance to aid the UK's smaller cinema operators to survive the big switch over. Closer to home my much loved local - the Cameo - is asking its cinema goers to help them raise the cash to fund a facelift for this historic old gem.

And to end where I started, in the realm of good sci-fi, Blade Runner has recently been voted the greatest sci-fi film of all time.

3D – third time lucky

2009-08-02T15:53:00.000-07:00

The first half of 2009 has seen bumper takings at the UK box office – is it the bad weather, good content or 3D? Every major studio now has a 3D release out there and according to the BBC it’s third time lucky for this twice failed wonder format. This week the BBC have also rather helpfully explained just how 3D works. While elsewhere plans are afoot to create Europe’s first 3D TV channel.

What the long term future of 3D actually is, no one knows and it’s almost an aside as it’s the power of 3D to drive forward the digital conversion that everyone is really interested in. Latest estimates claim that 20% of the world’s cinema screens will be digital by 2012. While the recently published UK Film Council’s Statistical Yearbook details that the UK currently has the most digital screens in the Europe – thanks largely to its Digital Screen Network.

What’s really caught my eye this week though is A Pilgrimage. Mark Cousins, Tilda Swinton and a band of 40 fellow adventurous cinema lovers are travelling with a mobile cinema across Scotland and taking in some fabulous scenery and rather splendid films along the way. Follow their progress here.

And finally, the top cinema story of the week is that the ghost of Norwich’s Cinema City has finally been caught on film.

3D and The Unsung Joe

2009-07-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

I’ve been so engrossed in the Tour de France these past three weeks that I’ve neglected this blog. So now it’s all over and while the riders are getting wasted in Paris, my focus is back on the world of cinema.

The news that’s caught my eye this week is that Real D are bringing a 3D cinema to a big London hotel. The screening room at London’s May Fair hotel will soon be converted to digital and ready for 3D action. This is set to be one of the most luxurious 3D screens in the UK. And this conversation comes on the back of a 400% increase in European cinema screens converting to digital.

My other news story of the week is that 80% of the UK’s online population visited a social networking site in May 2009. And they were not just young Internet users. The over 55s made up 67% of this figure. These statistics, and the mind shift they represent, is proof to me that you can’t separate the world of digital cinema from the bigger picture of digital development.

However, without doubt the best cinema discovery I’ve made in a long time is The Unsung Joe. A fascinating blog following the lives of those bit part actors from the darling days of cinema and just what else happened to them before they died. Brilliant reading.

Wii ain’t seen nothing yet

2009-07-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

A wii snippet of news this time………
Promoting itself as the opportunity to have a ‘Wii bit of fun on the big screen’, Wii is making the giant leap from the cosy world of our front rooms, to the pubic arena of a digital cinema near you, courtesy of Game Cinema. The much anticipated cinematic gaming experience is planning to brand itself wiicinema.com and is to be piloted in Europe and North America. Read the full story here.

Shift happening and sexy popcorn

2009-07-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

Last week tickets to the live streaming of the National Theatre’s production of Phedre flew out of digital cinema’s box offices around the country. In doing so the boundaries and conventions between theatre and cinema blurred and a good time was had by all.

A few days later I attended the Shift Happens conference and watched Pilot Theatre live stream a performance of their production Catcher in Their Eye via the internet. In essence what cost the National £50k, cost Pilot Theatre next to nothing. And it was great watching a live show in York that people in other parts of the UK, Canada and Australia were watching, and commenting upon, at the same time.

The novelty factor of this type of event is short lived. Conversion to digital has cranked up to warp speed and live streaming will be old news sooner than you can learn how to pronounce Phedre. Most of the high profit screens in the US are digital bound and last week Norway announced that all of its cinemas will go digi as soon as funds are raised. And of course Lord Putman has recently been championing the Olympics in 3D at a cinema near you. Check it out here.

All of this said and done my fav rave cinema news of the moment is that popcorn increases your sexual performance. If the Guardian says so it must be true. Read all about it here.

Change or die!

2009-06-22T02:58:00.000-07:00

I’ve just been sent this article about the change in TV watching habits in Canada. At the risk of sounding old, I remember the days when you would dread anything happening to the telly before Christmas just in case it wasn’t back from the TV repair shop in time to enjoy all that top quality festive TV. Now, who cares? I watch more programmes on BBC iPlayer than I do on conventional TV.

I’ve also been reading Tom Fleming’s new report Embracing the Desire Lines – Opening Up Cultural Infrastructure – download here. I quote: For many theatres, cinemas, galleries and other types of culture house; and for pretty much all such venues with a strong dependence on public investment; this wholesale renovation is born out of an urgent requirement to change or die, and it is just the beginning.

To change or die – that’s a harsh ultimatum. But the tools of change are emerging. The Digital Britain report has finally been published, more and more cinema screens are converting to digital and funky new ways of engaging and giving audiences added value are appearing. A much needed breath of fresh air all round!

For me the mind set change is more important than the technology change. Stick a digital projector into a cinema that’s managed by a 35mm mindset and you’ve just wasted £65K. I work with a number of mixed arts venues and independent cinemas all of which are gasping at cost of conversion and seriously worried about the future of their cinemas. But I know that the ones who have made the digital conversion in their heads, and see the possibilities contained both within and without their venues, are the ones that are going to stay relevant and as such stand more chance of survival. I’m not going to make the obvious Darwin reference, but let’s face it, where are TV repair shops now?

Power to the People's Cinema

2009-06-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Cambridge Film Trust are turning a former Habitat building into the venue for the first People’s Cinema Shopfront Screening. Check out the full story here. I like this idea of cinema heading out into empty buildings and have been thinking about all the old closed up cinemas and wondering if this type of project could breath new, if brief, life into them.

While attending the recent Clicks or Mortar? symposium at Newcastle’s Tyneside I watched filmmaker Paul Emery’s outdoor projection onto Pilgrim Street’s old Odeon cinema. This nostalgic piece projected heritage film footage from the Tyneside film society onto the façade of this decaying old beauty of a cinema.

The mix of old and new worked – or maybe old and old done in a new way. The cinema looked beautiful again for one night only, reminiscent of Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. It, like so many boarded up old cinemas, have been ready for their close ups for a long time. But the truth is that if new ways of thinking about cinema, film and all the possibilities of digital culture enabled through a digital projector don’t rescue these crumbing recluses, they will either be demolished, burn down or turned into boutique hotels.

On which note we eagerly await the fate of Edinburgh’s old Odeon, currently being decided upon by Scottish ministers.

RIP Glasgow's Coliseum

2009-05-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

Some sad news from Scotland. Glasgow’s former Coliseum which opened in 1905 (originally as a music hall), screened Glasgow’s first talking picture in January 1929, was Scotland’s only Cinerama whose opening was covered by British Pathe News and closed as a cinema in 1980, suffered a very bad fire in the early morning of 25 May. The damage to the building was so bad that demolition work is underway.

In finding out more about this fire I had a skim through the Scottish Cinemas and Theatres Project’s website and browsing through the long list of cinemas at risk and demolished cinemas in Scotland was sobering reading. This prompted me to feel even more anxious for those cinemas who can’t afford digital and could be facing the same fate as so many of the cinemas listed on this website.

The bright side of this blog is the undeniable shift in attitude about digital by many independent cinemas in the UK who are now really getting to grips with this format’s benefits and possibilities. But the shadow of the hefty price tag simply won’t go away.

Can VPF deals and extra revenue from alternative content save the day? Well many UK independents can’t consider 3D as they are too close to a multiplex that already offers, or plans to offer, this content. And do many independent venues want to encourage the 15 – 24 year old audience that most 3D films seem to be aimed at? (feel free to disagree with me here!) Of course live opera, theatre and sporting events can make a difference – I’m eagerly awaiting the Tour de France in 3D – but even if this can generate an extra £5,500 per screen per year, where does the initial capitol outlay come from?

As for Virtual Print Fee (VPF) deals... to me, and many others, they simply reinforce the old model of domination by the major studios and completely smother the flexibility, independence and creative potential of digital. And they could ultimately be all talk and small print.

Since starting this blog Jim Huskey, Outside Sales Manager for Sonic Equipment Company in the US has got in touch. He’s working to encourage independents in the US to seize the day and act now with digital and in doing so embrace the bottom up way of working this format allows. To quote: “The day is arriving where studio content is not the only game in town…. theatres must begin thinking laterally. The seats, screen, sound system, and concessions are already in place. The heating and A/C are keeping the environment comfortable. The restrooms are clean. But without digital equipment, morning seminars, educational programs, or other content is not an option. Without digital, LAN parties lasting from the last showing until noon the next day are not in the mix. Exhibitors need to walk into their houses during off times and ask themselves, "how can I get more mileage from this facility NOW?"

I also like this from Jim: “Independents have to be creative and also must forge a relationship with their markets. Some donate free passes to be given away by disc jockeys - in return for on air recognition. Some deal directly with area schools to build interest through marketing campaigns. One manager shared with me how she got involved with the humane society, dyed a white cat pink, went out to area schools. She raised money and publicity for the humane society and packed her house for the pink panther movie”.

This is the glass half full attitude towards digital. The ‘We Think’ of digital cinema that I blogged about earlier. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sad to see the old cinemas derelict. The image that accompanies this blog is of the old Odeon cinema on Clerk Street, Edinburgh, an old art deco purpose built cinema that the Cinema Theatres Association have described as "the best surviving example of architecture of its time in the UK". Catch the story from the BBC here.

Now I’m as much in love with the golden era of cinema that this building embodies as the next person. And I hate to see these fabulous old buildings derelict, under threat and falling apart. But I know that they can never be what they were and that cinema as an industry has moved on. Digital is forcing us all to move again in a big way and perhaps this leap to the future can save some of old relics from the past. As we move from deco to digital perhaps creative thinking around this new format can breath new life and potential into the countless old cinemas whose dark auditoriums are currently filled with nothing but dust and memories. If it doesn’t there are going to be a whole lot more demolition of old cinemas in Scotland and beyond.

I’m thinking digitally

2009-05-10T10:15:00.000-07:00

So, I am feeling differently about digital after the Cinema Exhibitors Association roadshow last week. Not least of which in how independents might afford the switch and keep some options open around alternative content and Virtual Print Fee deals. Even if it does mean that working with VPF prevents the full potential of digital being unlocked.

The other reason I’m feeling so positive about digital is that I feel confident cinema will survive despite the changes brought to our lives by the wider world of digital development and web 2.0. Let’s face it, cinema has reinvented itself many times already, did anyone ever expect it wouldn’t in the digital age? And this time the possibilities open to those exhibitors who recognise the full potential of digital are far greater than those offered by any of cinema’s other incarnations.

I came across this online interview with John Knell from the Intelligence Agency chatting to Bill Thompson the other day – in which Knell makes the (tongue in cheek) suggestion that all cinemas should be operating with a sense of impending extinction.

My grandmother was a cinema usherette in Coventry during the war. From an early age I was feed stories about GIs, gas lit auditoriums, nicotine stained cinema screens, mothers who let their children wee on the floor as they didn’t want to take them to the toilet and miss the film and the times they ignored the air raid sirens to stay in the cinema as the bombs that destroyed the city fell all around them. The cinema she knew was different to the one I grew up with – the worn out, divided up auditoriums of the late 70s and early 80s. Pressed up against bingo halls and British Legion social clubs with minimal sound proofing, smokers on one side, intermissions and usherettes with ice cream trays around their necks.

And these faded cinemas, where those of us who are old enough remember the first time Star Wars revitalised their tired screens, are different again from the modern multiplexes that screened the digitally shot Attack of the Clones with glorious Dolby surround sound.

All of these lives are a world away from cinema’s first silent incarnation where people flocked to see the news as well as films. So Knell is right when he claims that cinemas should be operating with an impending sense of extinction, but then they always have. Cinema has become extinct many times and digital is just another reincarnation – if anything one that harks back to cinema's roots and allows ‘alternative content’ to be screened alongside films.

All that’s ever stayed the same in cinema, and ever will, is a dark auditorium, a big screen, a magic lantern and a deep seated desire to momentarily escape from the real world.

You can think too...

2009-05-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Hot on the heels of HMV and Curzon Artificial Eye announcing they are teaming up to set up cinemas in selected HMV stores, Manchester's Cornerhouse made public The Art of With – an eassy by Charles Leadbeater that explores what open source ways of working mean for the arts. Download the essay and enter the debate here.

I'm off to another Digital Cinema event tomorrow and taking with me the unanswerable question of how can independent cinemas afford the switch? Merely saying this is the future and that venues can't afford not to is not enough. As the golden era of capitol funding for the arts becomes something we reminisce about at dinner parties, the stark reality of a £65K bill for a digital projector is the uninvited guest of any film exhibitor's business plan.

Maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow....

I'm re-thinking

2009-05-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

.. the whole definition of cinema.

Digital projectors allow a whole range of alternative content such as live shows, sporting events and gaming to be shown on the big screens traditionally reserved for the feature films. So where does the definition of being a cinema begin and end in a venue whose big screen experience could be anything from Gone With the Wind to live ballet to mass gaming? And why should venues be tied into block booking anymore, or long programming periods when there are no physical prints to book or cart around the country? Are distributors still relevant in a system when expensive 35mm no longer have to be struck and directors/producers could go straight to bookers and venues with their films?

3D anyone? Well, for me the whole notion conjured up thoughts of bad 50s cheesey films or family friendly shows at Universal Studios. I was firmly entrenched in the frame of mind that the whole thing is a cheap gimmick with limited shelf life. All singing all dancing 3D titles maybe rolling out of the major studios, whether there’s the screens for them or not, but is it really the future of cinema? (If you want to find out more check out this story from the New York Times). Well some are saying big budget movies are the tip of 3D iceberg and that one day all films and all TV will be 3D. Meaning that this in your face format is the future and good old 2D will, like dear old black and white, be banished to the realms of nostalgia.

One last thought to add to this blog entry. If/when Britain opens up and invests in digital and the day arrives when films can be downloaded into venues in the blink of an eye – what will this mean to the way we all, as exhibitors and programmers, work. Death of the programmer? Festivals curated through facebook polling? And if a venue can upload just as much content as it downloads, can it also embrace the roles of producer and distributor. And if we do, what happens to the industry when these three separate roles, which define the way we do business, start to disintegrate?

More importantly, how do I draw this down into a three year business plan?

I'm remembering...

2009-05-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

I remember the day that two rows of awkward looking lumps of plastic with slightly scary dark screens appeared in a little used classroom near the drama studio at my school. These mysterious contraptions were introduced to us as ‘computers’ and we were informed that they were somehow connected to ‘the future’ and ‘saving time’. My first experience of this new cutting edge technology was a programme that taught me how to touch type – which all my teachers assured me would be far more useful when I left school, than anything creative I might be getting up in the drama studio.

However, after spending two days at an Arts Council Ambition road show and the Clicks or Mortar? symposium, at Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle I’m trying to get to grips with the fact that those awkward looking lumps of plastic in the little used classroom and the drama studio aren’t as far removed from each other as I was once lead to believe.

For those of you who weren’t at either event and who might now be worrying that all art will soon exist only in the virtual world, don’t panic. The clear consensus was that the core of what we do i.e. art and getting people to experience it, will remain the same.

But change is a foot. Funding streams are drying up, producers and distributors are pushing for us all have digital projectors and the ways in which we communicate with those people ‘formally known as our audience’ (to quote Bill Thompson) are changing.

Despite all the talk from these two events, tangible suggestions of what we in the world of independent cinema can do to embrace change are still few and far between. And it’s arguably harder for those cinemas without digital projectors to get to grips with digital development as those who are part of the UK Film Council's Digital Screen Network. But, the other clear message to come out of both events is that we are all in a position to do something, whether it’s using social networks to attract audiences, getting our Wikipedia entry written before someone else does it for us, or seeking out new ways for audiences interact with what we do.

And there is information out there to start sparking ideas; see the Get Ambition website and related north east regional ning network to get the ball rolling. Plus of course the Tyneside’s the Pixel Palace.

It’s not the easiest leap for anyone like me who was forged during the Thatcher years to embrace the infinite possibilities of bottom up ways of working and sharing not owning. But finally I can see that in the brave new future the arts is clawing towards, touch typing and messing round in the drama studio really aren't as far removed as my teachers told me.

I'm thinking.......

2009-05-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

I’ve had my head buried in Charles Leadbeater’s We-Think and thinking about how film exhibition will adapt to digital development.

We-Think explores the growing possibilities of mass collaboration that the web has unlocked for us and how this is changing the way we think and do business. For us in the business of showing films to the masses, this way of thinking and working opens up possibilities for whole new ways of programming and engaging audiences. Especially when married to the flexibility of digital cinema. So now I’m sat here faced with the challenge of writing five business plans for very different cinemas around the north east and trying to grapple with the practical realities of digital.

Here’s the quote from We-Think that has got to me the most so far.

…the move from a society dominated by mass print and broadcast media to the age of interactivity is at least as dramatic as the move from feudalism to capitalism.

Netocracy, (2001) Alexander Bard, Jan Soderqvist

Now of course I'm still going to pour over statistical analysis and a part of me thinks hell as long as the industry keeps on churning out Mamma Mia’s and millions still want to see them, what are we worried about? But I am worried. My whole thinking about film exhibtion is being shaken up. Along with the future of those large dark rooms with big screens and surround sound that we are in the business of programing, making a living from and escaping from reality in.

fell Good Cinema Story

2009-04-12T02:30:00.000-07:00

After all the doom and gloom news of funding cuts to the UK Film Council, this little feel good cinema story from the beeb brought a smile to my face.

Digital a go go

2009-01-15T02:39:00.000-08:00

I’ve just come back from a digital cinema Training Day run by the Independent Cinema Office and my head is swimming. I’ve worked at a venue that’s part of the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network so I thought I knew a thing or two about dear old digital. However, what’s put me in a spin is not the practicalities and costs of this wonderful new format – it’s the possible potentials it holds. The flexibility of digital means that all the old systems we’ve been working with for decades could start breaking down.

For example, the definition of a cinema. Digital allows a range of alternative content such as live shows and sporting events, gaming on screen. So where does being a cinema begin and end in a venue whose big screen experience could be anything from Gone With the Wind to live ballet to mass gaming? And why should venues be tied into block booking anymore, or long programmes when there are no physical prints to book or cart around the country? Are distributors still relevant in a system where expensive 35mm no longer have to be struck and directors/producers could go straight to bookers and venues with their films?

3D anyone? Well, for me the whole notion conjured up thoughts of bad 50s cheesy films or family friendly shows at Universal Studios. I was firmly entrenched in the frame of mind that the whole thing is a cheap gimmick with limited potential. All singing all dancing 3D titles maybe rolling out of the major studios, whether there’s the screens for them or not, but is it really the future of cinema? (If you want to find out more, check out this story in the New York Times a few days ago). Well some are saying big budget movies are the tip of the 3D iceberg (no bad James Cameron puns will be made at this point!) and that one day all films and all TV will be 3D. Meaning that this in your face format is the future and good old 2D will, like dear old black and white, be banished to the realms of nostalgia. Thoughts on this please you lot!

One last thought to add to this blog entry. If/when Britain opens up and invests in digital and the day arrives when films can be downloaded into venues in the blink of an eye – what will this mean to the way we all, as exhibitors and programmers, work. Death of the programmer? Festivals curated through facebook polling? And if a venue can upload as much content as it downloads, can it also embrace the roles of producer and distributor? And if we do, what happens to the industry when these three separate roles, which define the way we do business, start to disintegrate?

Digital or bust

2009-01-06T02:35:00.000-08:00

Those of you who check out The Pixel Palace website on a regular basis may have already seen this blog detailing Pete Buckingham's (Head of Distribution and Exhibition, UK Film Council) belief that all cinemas without a digital projector will be doomed to closure in a few years time. And that we all need to start redefining what cinema actually is.

This is my favourite quote from the blog:

There is a wave of creativity to be unleashed if we accept that while our current cinemas were built to serve the interests of film exhibition they are no longer tied to that purpose.

Discuss..........

About Lesley Anne Rose

2000-01-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Cinema Development & Film Programming

Lesley Anne has worked in cinemas and film exhibition for many years. She is an experienced Cinema Development Advisor and has written business plans for a number of independent cinemas with the aim of making them more profitable and culturally viable.

Lesley Anne has also worked as a freelance Audience Development Manager for Northern Film & Media. She has a raft of training from the Independent Cinema Office under her belt and has keenly participated in the Arts Council’s Ambition programme. Lesley Anne is also an external assessor of lottery funding applications for Regional Screen Agencies.

While Film Programme Manager for the Dukes' cinema in Lancaster, Lesley Anne was responsible for the organisation's monthly film programme. She developed a series of annual seasons and one off events around a core programme of specialised film. She also fundraised, developed a film education programme, created one off community projects and over saw the cinema's inclusion into the UK Film Council's Digital Screen Network.