A Community Screen Network

In 2022, Stiwdio Dyfi received funding to pilot a project called Creative Spaces and Outlets in the Dyfi Biosphere, North Powys.

Our most popular project within the piloted activity was our community cinema initiative called Sos Coch Sinema, which commenced with funding in September 2022 and ultimately extended until June 2023 to continue R&D. The project aimed to bring people together in the Dyfi Biosphere through a shared digital cinema experience, create opportunities for young people in the locality, and make people feel more connected to each other post-pandemic through shared digital cinema experiences.

Sos Coch Sinema experimented with various exhibition modelling to show films in a typical rural area with poor public transport links and where local cinema provision is only available via a 30 min + drive.

The project was awarded funding from the UK Government’s Community Renewal Fund administered by PAVO via the Powys Localities Initiative, Cinema 4 All, The Shared Energy Scheme, and the National Lottery Community Fund.

Over 900 people attended the 60 screenings over the project’s lifespan. The screenings took place in 15 different venues ranging from village halls to old chapels and concert halls. In total, 35 independent films from across the globe were exhibited in a varied and exciting program which aimed to cater for the diverse local demographic.

Our proposed project builds on the learnings from this localized pilot and responds to the overwhelming enthusiasm from local people to have regular cinema screenings in their community buildings.

To understand the USP of our Community Screen Network, it is necessary to understand how community buildings can currently make screening events available to their community.

The Cinema Models

There are two cinema models…

1. The Theatrical Model: Cinemas use this model, they receive new release films in an old-fashioned digital format that can only be used with a digital cinema server and cinema projector which cost upwards of £50,000. However, they pay a percentage of ticket sales back to the distributor giving daily reports and this is what makes it affordable for cinemas to show films regularly.

1. The Non-Theatrical Model: This is the model currently available to community buildings and is used by film societies, Flix in the Stix, and other community cinema initiatives. As we did not have access to a cinema server or projector for our pilot project, this was the model we used, at least to begin with.

Our Powys Localities Initiative project enabled us to test out the non-theatrical community cinema model with the critical lens of how cinema can regenerate rural communities post-pandemic.

Challenges with the Non-Theatrical Model

A significant finding whilst piloting Sos Coch Sinema was that the non-theatrical community cinema model does not serve community buildings particularly well. The model is a significant barrier to community buildings facilitating regular screen events for the following reasons:

• There is an expensive upfront (flat) license fee of approximately £120 for a single screening.

• The purchasing of a blu-ray DVD is required, which we found both expensive and unreliable, furthermore, there is no ability to screen pre-film content when using a DVD which we have found people enjoy. This pre-show is also a valuable space for local adverts for local businesses, local talent, and an opportunity for organizations and councils to reach people in an impactful way via screen-based messaging.

• Importantly, the model did not allow us to screen the new release content that people actually want to see. We were often asked if we could show a specific new release film but were unable to respond due to imposed limitations by the non-theatrical model.

Bluntly put, the non-theatrical community cinema model doesn't work for community buildings or the film industry, this isn't surprising since it hasn’t seen much development since DVDs were invented.

Over the two months of screening during the two month pilot we spent over £2000 on film licensing and blu rays. Needless to say, this is not a sustainable way to screen films in community spaces.

A New Community Cinema Model

Based on our findings from the Powys Localities Initiative, we arrived at the conclusion that the only way to respond to community need and facilitate low-cost (and ultimately sustainable) cinema and other screen-based provision to our local area will be through the development of a new screening model that places the needs of rural communities and community buildings at its heart.

Over spring and summer 2023, we have researched and developed a new community cinema model which has the support of leading film industry representatives such as Phil Clapp, Chief Executive, UK Cinema Association. We also have the ongoing support of many major UK based film distributors we have been working with to date, such as Curzon Cinema, Dogwoof, Dartmouth Films and Exhibition on Screen, to name a few, all of whom are excited to see the emergence of the Mid Wales Community Screen Network. Industry interest fundamentally supports the concept of any endeavor bringing films to hard to reach areas and uncovering new audiences.

Engaging Communities

During our R&D, we had dozens of informal conversations with community building members in Wales and England to discuss ideas and understand their needs. Our key learnings were:

• That each community and each community building is different and a blanket approach would fail to engage local communities, therefore thorough community and stakeholder engagement was important.

• That community buildings are run almost entirely on a voluntary basis and they simply do not have the “capacity” to operate additional operational activity such as a film society or other screen events.

• That many community buildings already have projection equipment purchased with grants secured through evidencing community need to a funder. All of the community buildings we spoke to who have equipment with the view of having a cinema in their town or village stopped as the non-theatrical community cinema model was unsustainable for them.

Our model works as a network where one central body books films and other content for multiple screens. A centralized booking system is then used, and daily figures are reported back to the content creators daily with a small percentage of ticket sales being paid back instead of a one-time licensing fee.

We solve the capacity issue by training and hiring a local person to operate the screens, providing the community building with a hire fee and a person to run the screening event. This provides local training and jobs for young people (digital natives) in rural areas where there are few opportunities, ensures a safe and convenient high-quality experience for local people, and deals with the community venues' capacity shortages.

A Sustainable Model

What this model means is that community buildings can now show new release films, TV, concerts, and more, with low-cost consumer-level equipment which has become so good it’s almost impossible to see the difference. No upfront licensing fee, no more Blu-rays, no more old films (unless specifically curated/programmed), and most importantly, there is virtually no risk to the venue.

This isn’t to say that community buildings are now all going to be turned into cinemas. Screening Events are a great addition to any community building's activity and can be operated alongside existing activity and even spark increased interest and activity in community buildings as a consequence of increased footfall.

What this model is built on is the needs of local communities and the community buildings putting them first.

However, for the model to be sustainable, we need enough participating community buildings to make sense of our core costs. By having centralized overheads, the small amount of revenue from each screen builds up into enough to make the project financially self-sustaining. Meaning that to meet community need in our locality which entails providing regular and dependable screening events locally that cater for the diverse demographics that live here, we need to expand the project to other areas of Mid Wales to ensure economies of scale.