Film Camp

Calling all film exhibitors. Film Camp is your chance to connect, swap stories, and spark new ideas on how we can bring audiences to the big screen.

Film Camp has been bringing the Midlands film community together each year for nearly a decade, collectively exploring new approaches to programming and audience development. Expect bold thinking, lively discussions, and best-practice sharing.

Whether you’re a seasoned exhibitor or just starting out, Film Camp is open to all.

SCHEDULE

11:00-11:30 Registration (Arena Bar)

FAN Broader Screen Content
11:30-12:30 Workshop 1 (Cinema)
Join Near Now’s Lee Nicholls and Displace Studio’s Dr. Kerryn Wise as they demystify the ever-evolving world of VR, AR, and XR. Discover the game-changing opportunities these immersive technologies offer for film exhibitors and learn how to integrate them into your programming.

Lee & Kerryn will be joined by a representative from The Space, who will provide an essential introduction to funding and how it can support innovative screen-based projects.

touch screen: Accessible Cinema
12:30-13:30 Workshop 2 (Cinema)

Imagine a world where film isn’t just seen, but touched, heard, smelled, and tasted.

Join Sarah Hamilton Baker as she takes you behind the curtain of touch screen, sharing its incredible journey from concept to creation. Discover the challenges, innovations, and creative breakthroughs that have shaped this one-of-a-kind cinema experience.

The workshop will be followed by a relaxed screening, where you’ll dive into a multi-sensory world in which a film isn’t just something you watch, it’s something you experience.

13:30-14:30 Networking Play Space (Deloitte Room)
Back by popular demand, the Play Space is the networking event where work and play collide. Leave the business cards behind and get ready to network in the most creative way possible. Activities include:

• Monster Movie Collage with Maz Hussain. Get your hands messy and create some wild, cinematic creatures.

• Model Making with the legendary Wilfred Wood. Bring your weirdest designs to life, one little sculpture at a time.

• Digital Music-Making with Antonio Roberts, new media artist and curator. Craft soundscapes that’ll make your ears dance.

Crafting a Killer Marketing Strategy
14:30-16:30 Workshop 2 (Pinsent Mason 1)
Putting on a screening is one thing. Getting people to show up is another. Whether you’re a community cinema, pop-up screening series, or multi-screen independent, this hands-on workshop will help you build a killer marketing strategy that actually works.

Screen//Space: Rethinking Cinema for Communities
14:30-16:30 Workshop 3 (Pinsent Mason 2)
Cinema For All will lead this collaborative session exploring bold new approaches to film exhibition where equality, democracy, and sustainability shape the spaces we create.

Hear from speakers with radically different approaches to film exhibition: one bringing interactive mainstream screenings to new audiences, the other using cinema as a tool for political and community action. Through discussion and debate, we’ll explore how exhibitors can rethink film spaces and shape a more accessible, engaging and forward-thinking cinema landscape.

16:00-17:00 Networking Drinks (Arena Bar)
Wrap up the day with a well-earned drink with your fellow Film Campers. You’ll be able to swap ideas, share war stories, or just kick back after a packed day. Either way, this is your chance to chat, connect and raise a glass to great cinema. See you at the bar!