This Way Up 2016
THIS WAY UP 16, the UK’s film exhibition innovation conference, took place at Glasgow Film Theatre on Tuesday 29 & Wednesday 30 November 2016. We packed our bags and hopped on two planes to see what it was all about!
The keynote speakers set us up for the rest of the conference. Bobby Allen from MUBI spoke on the paradox of choice. He spoke about how audiences have a thousand distractions, but that the answer for them was through creating a smaller library of films in a ‘Managers Selection’ style. We love this idea of creating a carefully curated programme for our film clubs to choose from. The takeaway: “Be opinionated, curate, and care.”
Next Johanna Koljonen from the Nostradamus Project spoke about how the film isn’t the product - rather the social experience is. Looking at our community cinemas, this rang true to us.
Dawn Walton from Eclipse Theatre reminded us that it’s often not the ticket price that is a barrier to audiences, but the programming. Her formula for breaking through disengagement: go there, talk to people, make friends, have food (specifically Twiglets).
Our very own Claire Marshall was on the Rural Pathways panel, speaking about C Fylm and our network of film clubs. Claire agrees that the main motivation for community cinemas is the social event - it sometimes feels like we are interrupting when we put the film on!
Robert Livingston from Regional Screen Scotland said: “Rural areas are where the real innovation happens... the community comes first.” He spoke about how in Scotland there is a correlation between the lack of screening provision, and densely populated areas of high socioeconomic deprivation.
After a great panel, and a fantastic buffet lunch in the Theatre Royal meeting some very interesting people, we listened to some inspiring stories at the Building Audiences session, hosted by the Independent Cinema Office’s Catherine Des Forges. We heard great stuff from five women creating film events.
We met with the Rural Touring Cinemas network: The purpose of the network is to better represent the interests of charitable and arts organisations across the UK that promote and sustain large numbers of rural community cinemas.
We blew off some steam at a lively drinks reception at The Art School, scoffed some pizza, and got into our very trendy CitizenM hotel rooms for a movie and an early night.
Up bright and early for Day 2, we met Laura Rothwell for a one-to-one marketing session. She gave us some great tips on how to market our events, and how to help our film club organisers market too. We’re going to put together an online toolkit for our organisers with the advice she has given us. Watch this space!
We returned to the Glasgow Film Theatre for Oscar-winner Roger Ross Williams in Conversation. Inspiring, honest and emotive, we really hope to show his new film, Life, Animated, in Cornwall soon.
Our final session was Stephen Follows’ excellent Who Watches The Move Watchers? who had some serious data that he promised would help us understand our audience better. Funny, fast and full of facts.
After an amazing couple of days at This Way Up, it was time for us to get our two-planes-and-a-coach home to faraway Cornwall. With packed notebooks and lots of ideas, we can’t wait to return next year.
