Machars Movies was established at the Isle of Whithorn in early 2009 as a voluntary community association to promote the moving image in the Machars peninsula of SW Scotland. This distinct geographic area comprises two small towns and several villages, with the rest of the population scattered in small communities and around farms. Newton Stewart, just over 20 miles to the north to the north is the principal market town in the area and has a 200-seat community-run cinema, operated on a conventional, commercial basis (and which has just been equipped to run 2K digital cinema).
We are an independent voluntary association, currently with a committee of ten drawn from all around the peninsula. We work very closely with the Isle of Whithorn’s community-led regeneration charity Isle Futures, who have been responsible for taking over management of the local authority-owned St Ninian’s Village Hall, accessing finance to completely refurbish it and, through Scottish Screen’s digital equipment funding programme, equip it to provide a community cinema facility. None of what follows would have been possible without that initial kick-start.
Machars Movies is the principal organiser of cinema events – and operates on the lines of a film society. There is an annual programme, and an enthusiastic membership. We hire the building and cinema facilities from the St Ninian’s Hall Management Committee, who hold the appropriate cinema licensing from the Local Authority, as well PRS, PPL registration and all legal compliances. We also assist other local associations with film events as part of their own activities. Three members of Machars Movies committee have been trained or are training to operate the projection and audio facilities to professional standards. The hall is multi-use, and on show nights the committee will ‘pitch in’ to deal with rigging/de-rigging seating and staging for the cinema mode. The Village Hall team provide a non-licensed catering service as part of their ongoing fund-raising activities.
Organisation’s aims
To advance the education of the public in the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of film (and allied audio-visual techniques); to encourage interest in the moving image as an art form and as a medium for communication. We also want to promote artistic and technical creativity in audio-visual techniques within the communities in our area. We also actively cooperate with other events in the region (film, book festivals etc) to complement and help build these events.
How we are funded
• Scottish Screen Digital Projection Fund: cinema
equipment.
• Scottish Arts Council: stage lighting,
sound and vision facilities as well as multi-purpose staging for raked seating
facilities
• Dumfries & Galloway Council funding was
accessed under the Village Hall Improvement Scheme: new heating and auditorium
lighting.
• Isle Futures, community regeneration
charity: match-funding for the Village Hall project.
• Machars Movies received a small start-up grant for website development, programme brochure printing etc.
Routine income generation
• Membership – Season Tickets, which entitle holders to reduced admission charges to screenings;
• Guest admissions on the film nights.
In the future we may look at other forms of diversification in funding, such as printed programme sponsorship/advertising.
The routine income pays for cinema hire fees; film hire charges; printing and publicity; annual membership fees (BFFS) etc.
Our Film Programme
Is still very much in its early days. Our committee is drawn from a wide range of age groups and interests, and providing an attractive, balanced programme over a season is not always easy. We have to take into account that our audience is predominantly an older age group – we sell more Concession-rate Season Tickets than full price. Consequently, their tastes do need to be recognised, but that doesn’t mean that they do not like the odd challenge! It is proving difficult to attract younger people. We have solicited what they would like to see, and had screenings that should have proved popular (Mamma Mia; Ice Age 3; Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for example). Turnouts were dismal, to say the least.
Our 2009 programme (8 screenings from May-December) drew on Contemporary and Classic cinema; World cinema and animation. Because it was our first season, the programmes were selected by the committee. We seek feedback at every screening from the audience, and we circulated a questionnaire at our very first show to get their reaction to the screening environment as well as an idea of their particular film interests. At the end of the first season and in preparation for the 2010 programme we circulated a voting form, comprising 24 titles shortlisted by the committee. The members were asked to delete 8 films that would not interest them. From a mix of contemporary and classic, with more emphasis on world cinema, their responses determined the final mix of sixteen features. One evening is being devoted entirely to short films.
We promote the programme primarily through a printed brochure which is designed by a committee member, and commercially printed. 2000 of these were produced in December and circulated by means of dispensers in hotels, pubs and retail outlets throughout the area. We’ve been helped by local newsagents who have inserted copies into local newspapers, as well as a local postman who volunteered to do a leaflet drop to some of the more outlying areas. Committee members are based around the area and each take on their particular ‘beat’ to make sure that these are distributed, as well as poster material for each show. We try and get additional publicity by feeding stories to our two local newspapers – and they are usually quite responsive to this. We have a dedicated website with the year’s programme in view, and this is also linked to the Isle of Whithorn’s main community website. We don’t, as yet, undertake any form of online booking, but we do circulate all participating Season Ticket holders by e-mail of upcoming films and club news. We’ve increased screenings this year to 16, dividing these into two seasons of eight with a summer break. That still leaves us an opportunity to use the interval for films that might attract holiday visitors.
Our most successful cinema activity
Without doubt, the holding of a themed night – essentially a film with food – pulls in a capacity audience. In cinema mode we can hold 80. But having a meal as well brings that number down to the 60-mark. We changed from cinema format to restaurant mode in 15 minutes, with a local delicatessen providing a full curry meal to follow Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2009). In a similar style, this year we are having a ‘Forties Night’ – recreating a wartime cinema experience; and the autumn will bring an Italian Night. These styles of event have done much to increase the overall social experience that cinema can and should provide. What’s more, people talk about it, and it promotes the enterprise.
Perhaps the most surprising screening for us was Battleship Potemkin (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925). We decided to show the silent film without the usual Shostakovich music track, and play the Pet Shop Boys album ‘Battleship Potemkin’ along with it. It also was one of the best-attended screenings.
And most challenging
It’s a little early to reflect on any particular challenge – other than right at the outset, the Sargasso sea-like bureaucracy that we faced in the takeover of St Ninian’s Hall. Dealing with officialdom can be frustrating at the best of times, but nothing prepared us for the three long years of prevarication by an authority faced with a decaying asset and virtually no budget for repairs. There were times when volunteer-led refurbishment work virtually collapsed, disillusioned by official ineptitude/indifference. To those facing a similar challenge in taking over a local community asset – you have been warned – prepare for a long hard slog. All the other challenges that will come later will pale into insignificance.
Our Tips
If you are equipping your community hall as a cinema from scratch do be very particular about technical specifications and quotations. If you can, get a professionally prepared equipment specification that will include equipment and installation, and which reflects your needs, current and into the future. Use this as a base from which to get competitive tenders. Insist that potential suppliers come to see the site at the outset. If they don’t, ignore them. The lowest bidder is not necessarily going to be the one that will work out to be the best for you. Small community cinema operations in remote locations are not always financially attractive to the suppliers and installers. You’ll soon get the vibes of an outfit that you will be comfortable with, or whether they are just box-pushers. We chose to go down the do-it-yourself route and self-install because we had people on our team who understood the technology that’s involved really well. If you don’t have this, it will more than pay you to have a professional to undertake the job, and make sure all aspects of legal, health and safety etc, are complied with. There’s a lot more to it than the domestic scenario of hooking up a DVD or Blu-ray player and a projector!
Look at what other film societies and clubs are doing – many of them have websites that will give you a notion of their programming and management methods. If you haven’t joined the British Federation of Film Societies – do so now to access their valuable resources, including ‘Community Cinema Handbook’.
Be prepared to be incredibly frustrated when dealing with some of the major non-theatric film licensing sources. They are well documented around the film society movement, and always make sure that you have your own back-up copy of a chosen film –just in case. You will be paying good money to screen films in the way that they were originally produced. All the stories you will hear about wrong aspect ratio discs (airline, pan and scan etc instead of true widescreen), wrong sound format (2.1 instead of 5.1), burnt-in idents, inexcusably long lead times in acknowledging bookings etc are true.
Our programme/website:
For further information:
www.isleofwhithorn.com: comprehensively covers the Isle of Whithorn community and its various activities.
Contact:
Mike Marshall,
Machars Movies,
Isle of Whithorn,
Wigtownshire
DG8 8JD
Tel: 01988 500284.
And my favourite film/director is C’était un Rendezvous (Claude Lelouche, 1976)
(9 minutes long, one take, and I’m still not quite sure how they did it!)