FIFTEEN Annual Report 2017-2018 FILM FORWARD FILM FORWARD FILM FORWARD Introduction Contents Introduction 3 Programming 4 Training 12 Screening Days 20 Film Hub South East 24 Dorothy Wilson Catharine Des Forges Chair of Trustees, Independent Cinema Office Director, Independent Cinema Office Advice & Information 28 Independent Consultant, Coach and Producer Consultancy 30 Every so often, you meet someone who This year the ICO was fifteen years old In training, 81% of participants on our tells you cinemas will be dead in the next – for us a great cause for celebration as Women’s Leadership course have been Distribution 32 ten years, that streaming services are we have grown substantially over that promoted to a more senior role either in going to kill off the big screen experience time and yet are still working to the their original organisation (a number of The Future of Cinema 38 just as TV, VHS and more threatened to. same end: to bring the widest possible them becoming CEOs) or in a new post But ask anyone who has a world class range of films to the widest possible since completing the programme. Lifetime Statistics 42 local cinema in their village, town or city range of audiences. what they think about the death of cinema It was also fabulous to see new voices About the Independent Cinema Office 46 and you’ll hear the ultimate rebuttal. We chose to celebrate in a number in the room at our recent I.D. Screening Cinema will never die, as long as people of ways, one of which was to survey Day, an event partly generated by the want to come together to share work our sector to produce a report on legacy of our FEDS trainee scheme. In that is beautiful and thought provoking. ‘The Future of Cinema’, anticipating particular, it was wonderful to see so and reflecting on how the wider many of our former trainees bringing Film is an art form for everyone, industry will change over the next energy and passion to the conversation and cinemas at their best live up to 15 years. The report gives a snapshot about inclusivity in the industry. that. They include everyone in their of the challenges and concerns that community, are spaces for invention, exhibitors face today as well as a We are very much looking forward discussion and debate, and push the glimpse of the passion, enthusiasm to the next fifteen years and as ever, boundaries of what is ‘allowed’ on and diversity that have developed in are immensely grateful to all our screen. Of course, cinema is not the the sector in recent years; and we’ve funders, partners and friends for their only place to see great stories and have included some of its key findings here. continued support and collaboration. nourishing cultural experiences. But it never has been. As with every other Speaking of diversity, this year the supposedly existential crisis they’ve faced, ICO has continued to champion cinemas that are going to survive for women in film – both with our national the next fifteen years and beyond need tour ‘Revolt, She Said’, a partnership to have a clear vision of the experience with Club des Femmes celebrating they are offering and whom they exist to female filmmakers inspired by ‘May serve, as well as who gets to make those 68; and our release of a new 25th decisions. I’m proud to work with the ICO anniversary restoration of Jane to help cinemas answer those questions Campion’s The Piano in partnership and I’m delighted that so many people with StudioCanal; this last one of are energised by the debate, as you’ll a number of key titles we brought read in our Future of Cinema report. back into distribution. 2 — CONTENTS INTRODUCTION — 3 Our ambition for ICO programming is to encourage audiences to be more adventurous. Programming Ambition in programming is what sets truly independent cinemas apart. We help cinemas everywhere in the UK – from major cities to rural communities Introduction – to access the best of cultural cinema through our unique network. The ICO runs one of the UK’s largest independent cinema networks. Working in collaboration with venues’ in-house staff we programme 22 cinemas, film festivals and community screens across the country; using ICO programmers’ industry expertise to help select the best films for local audiences. Our overarching goal with ICO programming is to drive audiences to be OUR NETWORK more adventurous. We are focussed on PROGRAMMED 922 FILMS long-term audience development and FOR OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE; on building a meaningful relationship GENERATING NEARLY £6.5 with audiences, so that when they visit MILLION IN BOX OFFICE one of our client cinemas, they trust we REVENUE are showing them the very best films on offer. We are able to offer our services at a very affordable level for clients thanks to our funding support from the BFI. We act as a true network and pool knowledge across our sites. We are always working in partnership with our clients, relying on local knowledge and expertise, as well as feeding back insights from the heart of the UK film industry. PROGRAMMING — 5 The year in cinema The wider diversity conversation While onscreen representation is still far from ideal, this year more and more Hollywood films put marginalised voices centre stage. Films such as Black Panther and Love, Simon placed people of colour and LGBTQIA people respectively at the forefront of their narratives, with both titles proving hugely successful. Having been long-time champions of films that celebrate and explore inclusion, we are thrilled to see more diverse representation within mainstream as well as independent cinema. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is just one such title. A significant film that performed exceptionally well in independent cinemas all across the UK, it passed the £5 million box office mark after three weeks of play with two ICO client venues, Watershed and Depot, among its top sites; due to their having steadily built audiences for this type of film year on year. Healthy admissions for Streaming services Female representation on screen foreign language cinema Streaming services created more exclusively available through their In 2018, we saw the #MeToo and performance of many female-directed The last 12 months have seen a number controversy than ever before in 2018 platforms, it's still disappointing #TimesUp movements in Hollywood releases at UK independent cinemas of encouraging developments in thanks to their divisive release strategies. that audiences are being given rise up against sexual misconduct after including Sally Potter’s The Party, Lynne admissions for independent cinemas. This year, Cannes Film Festival banned limited opportunities to see films the Weinstein scandal; galvanising Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, Pleasingly, we've seen some very films without theatrical distribution such as Paul Greengrass’s 22 July the wider industry as well as society Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch and positive results for foreign language from playing in Competition, despite the and Alfonso Cuarón's Roma on the at large. With a renewed commitment Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, which saw cinema, with Cold War grossing over fact that Netflix titles like Okja and The big screen, especially when many to push female representation and its director justly nominated by the £1.1 million at the UK box office to Meyerowitz Stories had been included independent cinemas have previously filmmakers to the forefront of the Academy for Best Director. date. Many other foreign language in the previous year's official line-up. built audiences for this kind of conversation, strong female voices films thrived this year too with a In contrast, other festivals such as the work. While Netflix takes a different have been seen on screen in films as The work of Agnés Varda was also diverse range of titles including Venice and BFI London Film Festivals approach, other platforms such as different as Jeune Femme; I,Tonya; celebrated with a 'Directorspective' Loveless, A Fantastic Woman and have continued to feature films produced MUBI or Amazon Studios continue to Funny Cow and Ocean’s 8. at the BFI and ahead of the release Mary and the Witch's Flower gaining by and primarily for streaming platforms. give their content a theatrical release of her latest film, Faces Places, her strong reviews, good word of prior to its becoming available on their Having always supported and back catalogue was re-issued (by mouth and screening in considered While it's clear that companies like VOD platforms, which suggests that highlighted films showcasing women Curzon Artificial Eye) and screened programmes to reach as wide an Netflix can win more subscribers there's still a great deal to be gained behind and in front of the camera, across a number of UK sites including audience as possible. by keeping their premium content by granting films a cinema outing. we were delighted by the exceptional many of our client cinemas. 6 — PROGRAMMING PROGRAMMING — 7 Success across the CASE STUDY ICO Programming Network Over the past 12 months, our client cinemas have made fantastic contributions to the success of numerous independent films – from achieving strong grosses on indie hits such as Call Me By Your Name, The Florida Project and God’s Own Country through to giving more specialist titles such as Zama, The Breadwinner and Apostasy the greater exposure they deserved. We’ve worked with many UK distributors to arrange select Q&A previews of films such as A Ciambra, Yardie and Dogman at our client cinemas; which helped raise the profile, build word of mouth and extend the theatrical life of these films.