Jo attended Opening our Doors: Inclusive Cinema in Glasgow 2019 to run a workshop on marketing diverse titles for audiences.

“One of things I enjoy most about working on grassroots and outreach marketing on film projects is the sheer diversity of campaigns you can be involved with as well as the creative freedom you can exercise on the below the line activity associated with these projects.

“As cinemas, community cinemas or festivals its imperative you treat grassroots/outreach marketing as an integral part of your audience development programme – you’ll need to nurture and cultivate these relationships over time.

“Look at your programme at a whole and find the common links between films  – look at I, Daniel Blake and Nae Pasaran! for instance, there is definitely a crossover in terms of the politics or looking at young empowered female led films like Patti Cake$ and Skate Kitchen. Be as strategic as you can with your programming.

“Organisations and individuals you engage with will become your ambassadors and champions so its important you keep the conversations with them going even during your quieter periods or between events.

“Also as local organisations you’re a unique position to understand the sensitivities and culture of your community, this is a massive advantage – think of all the knowledge you have and how it can be best used!”

Top 10 Tips

  1. Start with a SWOT – identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your upcoming film programme and events.
  1. Positioning – think about how are you positioning your films and events, does it ‘speak’ to your audience?
  1. Identify your audience – customers are only loyal to brands up to a certain point, don’t make the assumption they will come to your venue, engage, engage, engage!
  1. Assets – distributors spend budget on creating sharable assets for social, make sure to keep in touch with them to get up to date content to keep your messaging to audiences fresh!
  1. Data – depending on your CRM/Box Office system can you analyse your audiences by what they watch? If so, do you have permission to contact them (GDPR!) or do you have specific mailing lists e.g.; opera/ballet or kids season.
  1. Outreach – film releases can be so singular but try to identify common themes in your programme line up well ahead of time, e.g. youth audiences, political audiences and build a relationship with these audiences – how do they ‘consume’ their news?
  1. Partnerships – look at recent release of Nae Pasaran!, this film had a ton of support from local union branches, which created audiences (and demand!) for the film ahead of its release.
  1. Research – find out who your audience are with exit polls, not only is it an opportunity to get some key demographics on them but also to find out how they interact with your brand plus get them signed up to your mailing lists. (TIP: Have chocolates on hand for gentle coercion!)
  1. Eventise – not everyone likes Q&A panels, Patti Cake$ had battle raps and spoken word sessions on its opening night.
  1. Think outside the box – creativity sparks ideas, could you run a ‘strategy hack’ with all staff and your youth reps? Could the distributor provide financial support for some one off activity – Tyneside Cinema had a fire-eater for the release of The Girl Who Played with Fire.

FDA Yearbook 2018

The 2018 edition contains 128 pages of data and generic comment on the past year’s cinemagoing in the UK and Ireland, some of it specially commissioned and not published elsewhere. The book offers insights into how film distributors drove consumption by bringing a wide range of 874 releases to UK cinema audiences. There’s also an … More

A practical workplace guide for the prevention of bullying and harassment in the screen industries

This workplace Guidance has been produced to complement the Set of Principles for the Screen Industries. It offers practical support to help those in the industry to tackle workplace bullying and harassment and includes recommendations aimed at both employers – such as productions, festivals, studios and organisations of all sizes, including SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles) … More

National Inclusion Week – toolkits

By registering for National Inclusion Week, you’ll be the first to receive new fact sheets, tools, helpful information and lots more! To get you started, five Daily Challenges offer practical actions for you to help make inclusion an everyday reality. Fact sheets give you some great practical tips and knowledge on inclusion. And webinars and … More

Mental Health Toolkit for Employers

The ambition of this toolkit is to help your organisation – whether business, public sector or charitable – support the mental health and wellbeing of your employees. It will help you take positive actions to build a culture that champions good mental health and provide a greater understanding for how to help those who need more support.

[VID] How to engage new young audiences in experiencing theatre

To encourage new young audiences to experience theatre, the Arts Council’s A Night Less Ordinary scheme in association with Metro offered over half a million (618,000) free theatre tickets to anyone under 26 at more than 200 venues throughout England. In this video Jane Finnis, Culture 24, Jake Orr, www.ayoungertheatre.com, Susan Whiddington, Mousetrap Theatre Projects … More

Building a culture of youth engagement

‘Youth voice’ and ‘youth participation’ has been a growing movement in a number of sectors for a long time. But the phrase ‘youth engagement’ is often overused and misunderstood. Effective youth engagement is one of the most critical priorities for organisations working with young people. With everyone keen to ‘do it’, many are considering how … More