Audiences beyond the multiplex: understanding the value of a diverse film culture

Programme Schedule

(All times are GMT)

DAY ONE: 2nd March 2021

9.00 - 9.10 Welcome and Introduction
Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

9.10 – 9.30 The formation of film audiences in English regions: overview of the dynamics
Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

9.30 - 11:00 - Opening Keynote Panel
Chair: Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

Prof. Martin Barker (Aberystwyth University)
Engaging with … the new paradigm?

Prof. Daniela Treveri Gennari (Oxford Brookes University)
Diversifying cinema communities

Mark Cosgrove (Watershed Cinema, Bristol)
Cinema: where culture, curation and community meet

11.00 - 11:15 Break

11:15 - 12:15 Session 2 - Beyond the Multiplex research findings
Chair: Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

Prof. Bridgette Wessels, Dr. Matthew Hanchard, Dr Peter Merrington (University of Glasgow)
How audiences develop relationships with film: introducing ‘Personal film journeys’

Prof. Simeon Yates (University of Liverpool) and Dr. Matthew Hanchard (University of Glasgow)
Survey findings: Identifying socio-cultural profiles

Dr Peter Merrington (University of Glasgow)
Inequalities in Regional Film Exhibition

Dr. Matthew Hanchard (University of Glasgow)
Five types of film audience experience

12:15 - 13:00 Lunch Break

13:00 - 14:00 Session 3 - Beyond the Multiplex research findings
Chair: Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

Dr. David Forrest (University of Sheffield)
The pleasures and labours of the specialised cinema experience: Exploring the findings of the film elicitation groups

Prof. Andrew Higson (University of York)
Audiences in context: the film industry and film policy

Prof. Bridgette Wessels and Dr Peter Merrington (University of Glasgow)
Working towards audience development policy recommendations

Michael Pidd (University of Sheffield)
Beyond the Multiplex website, search tools, data visualisations demo

14:00 - 14:10 Break

14:10 - 15:10 Session 4 - Audience choice, programming and digital platforms
Chair: Anna Kime (Audience Development Consultant)

Paul McEvoy (BFI Research and Statistics Unit)
‘Pick and Mix’ – cultural access, screen engagement and film appetites in the UK’s nations and regions

Prof. Mattias Frey (University of Kent)
Film and Series Choice in the Age of Netflix: Results from an Empirical User Study

Dr Vejune Zemaityte (Tallinn University), Prof. Deb Verhoeven (University of Alberta) and Dr. Bronwyn Coate (RMIT University)
Programming foreign films: Analysing cultural diversity in the global exhibition sector

15:10 - 15:20 Break

15:20 - 16:35 Session 5 - Audience development in practice
Chair: Sally Folkard (Film Hub North)

Dr Lavinia Brydon and Dr Dominic Topp (University of Kent)
A Town and Gown Cinema: Developing Audiences at the Gulbenkian, Canterbury

Dr Anna Blagrove (University of East Anglia)
Teenage Flicks: A Study of the Specialised Film Consumption and Cinema-Going of Norfolk-based Young Audiences

Duncan Carson (Independent Cinema Office)
Data-Driven Marketing to find, engage and develop ‘niche’ audiences

Justine Atkinson (University of Glasgow and Aya Films)
Curatorial Equity in the Digital Age

16:35 - 16:45 Break

16:45 - 17:15 Session 6 - Beyond the Multiplex Q&A
Chair: Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

DAY TWO: 3rd March 2021

09.25 - 09.30 Welcome and Introduction - Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

09.30 - 10.30 Session 7 - Film fans and film personas
Chair: Prof. Andrew Higson (University of York)

Dr Tatiana Styliari (Independent)
Illustrating contemporary cinemagoers’ journeys through personas

Aysegul Epengin (University of Portsmouth)
The film fan: the Cinephilia

Dr Swati Bute (Jagran Lakecity University)
Exploring everyday life experiences of diverse cultures and change in film consumption patterns in the digitally connected world

10:30 - 10:40 Break

10:40 - 11:40 Session 8 - Changing patterns of film consumption
Chair: Prof. Simeon Yates (University of Liverpool)

Prof. Philippe Meers (University of Antwerp), Prof. Daniel Biltereyst (Ghent University) and Dr Aleit Veenstra (Independent)
‘Minor’ cinema cultures from the analogue to the digital: Film consumption of Belgian-Flemish youth audiences in the 2000s and 2010s

Dr Antonina Anisimovich (Independent)
Cinema-going memories in a Hastings: the role of a small cinema in the local community

Dr Peter Turner (Oxford Brookes University)
Memories of illegal underage film viewing in 1980s Britain

11:40 - 11:50 Break

11:50 - 13:00 Session 9 - Audiences, accessibility and responding to the pandemic
Chair: Dr. Matthew Hanchard (University of Glasgow)

Julia Lamaison (BFI)
On again, off again’ – how a global pandemic impacted cinemas and audiences and shook up the future

Dr Andy Moore (University of Edinburgh)
Digitally Present: Watch-a-longs and “The Audience Effect” in the Online Space

Megan Mitchell (University of the West of England)
Industry Case Study: Matchbox Cine

Dr Polina Zioga and Dr María A. Vélez-Serna (University of Stirling)
Interaction Design for Audiences: A Proposition for Building Resilience and Recovery for COVID-safe Independent Cinemas

13:00 - 13:45 Lunch break

13:45 - 14:30 Session 10 - Distributing documentary
Chair: Dr. David Forrest (University of Sheffield)

Alice Quigley & Dr Steve Presence (University of the West of England)
Documentary distribution: making it work in an ever-changing landscape

Dr Huw D. Jones (University of Southampton)
Achieving an intimacy of knowledge and effect? The impact of documentary films in Europe

14:30 - 14:40 Break

14:40 - 15:50 Session 11 - Independent film exhibition support and development
Chair: Anna Kime (Audience Development Consultant)

Robert Livingston (Regional Screen Scotland)
Developing diverse audiences in Scotland

Yasmin Begum
Decolonising (D)evolving Film: Notes from Scotland and Wales

Monika Rodriguez and Michael Pierce (Cinema Nation)
Imagining Cinemas as Eco-Systems

Rachel Hayward and Andy Willis (HOME, Manchester)
Celebrating Women in Global Cinema: Curating a year-long programming initiative at HOME, Manchester

15:50 - 16:00 Break

16:00 - 17:30 Session 12 - Understanding and developing audiences beyond the multiplex

Chairs: Anna Kime and Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow)

16:00 – 16:10 - Introduction, outline and questions - Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow) and Anna Kime

16:10 – 16:40 - Group discussion

16:40 – 17:00 - Group discussion feedback

17:00 – 17:30 - Discussion: Ian Wild (Showroom Cinema, Sheffield), Anna Kime and Bridgette Wessels.

Conference closing remarks – Prof. Bridgette Wessels (University of Glasgow).