1. INDEPENDENT
CINEMAS
B Y M A I S I E S M I T H

2. WHY DO INDEPENDENT CINEMAS
EXIST?
They exist to bring a wider range of films to a wider range of audiences.
There primary aims are to promote diversity in exhibition content,
audience and location. To develop a culturally-led approach to an
economically sustainable independent exhibition sector and to provide
access to industry leading exhibitor training.

3. MAIN ACTIVITIES OF AN
INDEPENDENT CINEMA
• Film booking and programming for cinemas.
• Training and events for cinemas, festivals and film society staff.
• Distribution of films that would not otherwise find an audience.
• Consultancy and providing advice.
• Developing audiences for world cinema and artists’ film.

4. THE INDEPENDENT CINEMA OFFICE
• The Independent Cinema Office (ICO) is the national support organisation for independent exhibitors of all kinds including
cinemas, film festivals and film societies.
• We act as programming advisors, distributors, consultants, development agents, and providers of training and other
services. We have spent almost a decade developing successful models in this sector, building capacity to bring a wider
range of films to a wider range of audiences.
• In the last 9 years 87% of the exhibition sector has engaged with at least one of the ICO’s services. We have delivered
partnership projects with some of the biggest arts centres in Europe, for example the London Children’s Film Festival at the
Barbican, as well as some of the smallest festivals and film societies in the UK.
• Complementing our wide ranging connections with the exhibition sector, we also have excellent working relationships with
all UK distributors (including a sub-licensing archive deal with Studio Canal), a range of international sales agents and a
number of independent producers. We have worked in partnership with organisations such as the FDA, First Light, BAFTA,
Europa Cinemas, the Guardian Culture network, Cineworld, Frieze, and the Tate. We have extensive regular contacts in both
the film and art press and all our distribution projects have received extensive national press coverage. Our training
programmes include speakers from organisations as diverse as the Royal Opera House, Radio 4’s Front Row, the Berlinale
and Warner Brothers. Our relationships have thrived through our reputation for delivering high quality, successful projects.
• The ICO is a unique organisation in specialised cinema – our business model is based on an integrated approach whereby
our work with distributors allows us to secure previews for screening days; our consultancy work enables us to gain insight
into different business models which we can then share in our one to one surgeries; our training programmes draw on our
relationship with the commercial industry and our distribution projects benefit from our relationship with cinemas, film
festivals and film societies.
• Our distribution projects have achieved growth of 300% over 8 years for specialised film in the UK, success achieved through
experimentation and experience – understanding what tools are required at the beginning of projects to make them
succeed.

5. TEN INDEPENDENT CINEMAS
• Genesis, London
• The Rex, Berkhamsted
• The Corner house, Manchester
• The Electric, Birmingham
• The Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• Haringey Independent Cinema
• Shortwave Cinema
• Movie Starr
• Independent Cinema Office
• The Rio Cinema

6. INDEPENDENT CINEMA LISTINGS
• Independent cinemas normally show films of the action genre, and most of the
films I have listed are rated 15, which shows that the audience is mainly
teenagers. Some do show the blockbusters to produce money to create more
films as all of the profit goes to creating more films of better quality. Also they
show older films from the 80s (relating back to the older audience), this creates a
larger target audience so the cinema create more income.

7. HOME CINEMA IN MANCHESTER

8. A BIGGER SPLASH
• A Bigger Splash is a 15 and was directed by Luca
Guadagnino.
• Synopsis: A sensuous portrait of desire, jealousy and
rock and roll from the director of I Am Love, A Bigger
Splash concerns a recuperating rock legend whose
holiday is interrupted by the arrival of an iconoclastic
record producer and former flame. Featuring terrific
performances from Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton and
Dakota Johnson, it’s also a work of great visual beauty.

9. RAMS
• Rams is a 15 and was directed by Grímur
Hákonarson.
• Synopsis: In a remote Icelandic farming valley, two
brothers who haven’t spoken in 40 years have to
come together in order to save what’s dearest to
them – their sheep. This funny, beautifully moving
and stunningly shot festival highlight (it won the
Cannes Un Certain Regard prize) is one of those
increasingly rare delights, a film that makes you
re-appraise what is most vital in life.

10. KING JACK
• King Jack is a 15 and was directed by Felix
Thompson.
• Synopsis: Jack is a scrappy fifteen year-old kid stuck
in a run-down small town. Trapped in a violent feud
with a cruel older bully and facing another bout of
summer school, Jack’s got all the problems he can
handle. So when Jack’s aunt falls ill and his runty
younger cousin must stay with him for the weekend,
the last thing Jack wants to do is look after him. Set
over a hazy summer weekend, King Jack is a tough
and tender coming-of-age story about friendship
and finding happiness in rough surroundings.

11. THE REVENANT
• The revenant is a 15 and was directed by
Alejandro González Iñárritu.
• Synopsis: Deep in the unchartered American
wilderness, hunter Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is
severely injured and left for dead by a
traitorous member of his team, John Fitzgerald
(Hardy). With sheer will as his only weapon,
Glass must navigate a hostile environment, a
brutal winter and warring tribes in a relentless
quest to survive and exact vengeance on
Fitzgerald. Inspired by true events, The
Revenant is directed and co-written by
Mexican Academy Award winner Alejandro G.
Iñárritu (Birdman).

12. BONE TOMAHAWK
• Bone Tomahawk is a 18 and was directed by S. Craig
Zahler.
• Synopsis: When a group of cannibal savages kidnaps
settlers from the small town of Bright Hope, a team of
gunslingers, led by Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell),
sets out to bring them home. But their enemy is more
ruthless than anyone could have imagined, putting
their mission – and survival itself – in serious jeopardy.
A sharply scripted synthesis of Cannibal
Holocaust via The Descent, Bone Tomahawk is a
complete riot. Violent, irreverent and funny, it’s a
genuine cult item.

13. SPOTLIGHT
• Spotlight is a 15 and was directed by Thomas McCarthy.
• Synopsis: Spotlight tells the riveting true story of the
Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that
would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the
world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the
newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters
delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church,
their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long
cover-up at the highest levels of Boston’s religious, legal,
and government establishment, starting a wave of
revelations around the world. Directed by Academy
Award-nominee Tom McCarthy, Spotlight is a tense,
investigative dramatic-thriller, tracing the steps to one of
the biggest cover-ups in modern times.

14. ROOM
• Room is a 15 and was directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
• Synopsis: Based on the Booker-shortlisted bestseller by Irish-
Canadian novelist Emma Donoghue, Room is a tale of
survival and endurance that is by turns harrowing,
suspenseful and wondrous. Recounting the story of a mother
and child escaping from the captivity in which they have
been held for several years, this visionary drama explores the
trauma of being stolen from the world – and the marvel of
discovering it for the first time. Rigorously adhering to the
novel’s subjective point of view, Roomshows us only what
the captured child himself sees, brilliantly contrasting
extraordinary suffering with the equally extraordinary beauty
– and challenges – of ordinary life. A triumph for director
Lenny Abrahamson (Frank), the film also features exemplary
performances.

15. MAINSTREAM CINEMA- ODEON
• Ticket Price (adult): £9.95
• Standard Seats, similar
building, roughly 7
screens.
• Food and drink: Costa,
Popcorn, Tango ice blasts,
Pick and mix, soft drinks,
chocolate etc.

16. INDEPENDENT CINEMA- HOME
• Ticket Price (adult): £8.50
• Bigger, sofa-style seats,
glass building, live theatre,
art, bookshop.
• Food and drink:
Restaurant, snacks.

17. CRAMPHORN THEATRE
• The Cramphorn Theatre is situated in the heart of
Chelmsford's West End, programming a wide variety
of entertainment including: concerts, plays, ballet,
pantomime, opera, jazz, dance, musicals, comedy,
film and live music. Below is an image of the theatre,
the listings of movies showing and the website.

18. CHELMSFORD FILM CLUB
• Chelmsford Film Club was founded in 1987 and aims to
show some of the best in independent, art-house and
world cinema.
• All films are screened at the Cramphorn Theatre in
Chelmsford, and start at 8pm (unless otherwise
indicated). The theatre has a licenced bar, available from
7pm, and a modern, fully-digital projection system.
• Each season’s programme is led by members’ choices,
and provides a selection of new releases and reissued
classics across a variety of genres and themes. The
season runs from September through to May.
• Chelmsford Film Club welcomes members and guests.
• Our success and continuation is dependent on the
loyalty and enthusiasm of our members.