Grand Opening! Rotherham

The Grand Opening of A Small Cinema in Rotherham took place on the 21st April 2011 at the Old Market Gallery, and was attended by the Mayor of Rotherham.

A full set of the photos is viewable here on our Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/re-dock/sets/72157626551591512/

What makes “A Successful Small Cinema?”

Well, the bow-ties are off and the posters are taken down and now we are asking the question: What makes “A Successful Small Cinema”?

We held an evaluation meeting for “A Small Cinema in Kirkby” in our studio over in Liverpool and discussed the many the many different aspects out of which the most recent project – “A Small Cinema in Kirkby” – has been shaped.  Behind the many bespoke details there are some key components which go into making this kind of “A Small Cinema” project successful and we boiled these down to five essential elements:

1. transformation of a space (eg empty shop) into a bespoke cinema (this includes details like a cinema screen, tickets, promotional posters, seats, curtains etc.)
2. the commissioning of at least one new, locally or thematically relevant, short film
3. screening of archival film footage and material sourced directly from filmmakers
4. conducting research into peoples memories of cinema and creatively manifesting these memories within the overall event (e.g. as posters, within brochure, photographs etc.)
5. staging of cinema screening event (requires promotion, volunteer ushers, popcorn, tickets, trailers etc.)

A Small Cinema in Numbers

Ten film screenings took place over two days at the end of January 2011.  Two hundred and twenty-two members of the public attended these screenings as audience members consuming a total of four kilograms of popcorn.  Tickets cost twenty-five pence each (or an empty jam-jar) and six empty jam-jars were received in lieu of payment.

Audience Comments

We left out some simple comments sheets for audience members to write on as they exited our “A Small Cinema in Kirkby” events.  All of the comments are listed below and one young guy drew Mickey Mouse!

“Excellent, very good for all the family. Love the memory posters” Sarah & Jack

“It was great. Really good for kids. It was entertaining as well” Sarah

“It was boss. It was funny. I loved it.” Lily

Memories of Cinema

Silkscreen printed posters produced by Pingwood Art Group who are based at the Towerhill Community Centre, Ebony Way, Kirkby are viewable below (or over on flickr here!)

Your Guide to Good Buys at Kirkby Market

This short video was produced by Re-Dock as part of “A Small Cinema in Kirkby.” The idea was to speak with stall-holders and get a sense of the heritage of the market, the characters and the range of produce available in their own words.

Newspaper images kindly supplied by Knowsley Archive. (Rob & Lin)
Thanks to Mark & Adele and all the stall holders on Kirkby Market.
Music used under Creative Commons licence: Flutterspot “Take Care etc.” (Archive.org)

Fighting Chance – New Film Commission

We’re incredibly excited to have premiered “Fighting Chance” at “A Small Cinema in Kirkby.” This, specially commissioned, brand new short film by Tim Brunsden, brought a local story of Olympic proportions to our small-big-screen.

In a remarkable year-and-a-half, Kirkby local Kayleigh Hayes, formerly a dancer, has progressed from never having laced up a pair of gloves to winning the 2010 Womens Amateur Boxing (ABAE) National Senior Title. We catch up with Kayleigh in her preparations for an important International bout in Sweden and competition at international level has never been more intense: Womens Amateur Boxing is set to feature in the Olympic Games for the first time ever at London 2012 and there are still places on the GB team up for grabs!

Kirkby: Your Enthusiasm

Documentary filmmaker Tim Brunsden produced this short piece which gives an insight into how “A Small Cinema in Kirkby” was able to happen:

A Big Thank You from A Small Cinema

This is a simple message to say thankyou to everybody who worked to make this project such a resounding success… and there certainly were a lot of people involved: audiences, visitors, filmmakers, artists, archivists, technicians, volunteers, project team, commissioners – we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts!

“A Small Cinema in Kirkby” took place over the last weekend of January and if you had a chance to pop along you’ll have experienced two jam-packed days of short film screenings happening inside a disused shop in Kirkby Town Centre. Our magical cinema has since disappeared from view but while it was there, and in the build up to the event, it generated a great deal of interest amongst shoppers, traders and passers-by – it even popped up on the news!

An extra special thank you must go to our team of volunteer ushers for the weekend who worked tirelessly taking tickets, serving popcorn and making sure that no-one bunked in!

Thank You:
Jo Dry, Alison Riley, Dave Wycherly, Rob Jones and all the team at Knowsley Arts and Heritage Service
Kayleigh Hayes and everyone at 1st Class ABC
Steve Myers – Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council
Pingwood Arts Group (Ebony Way)
Mark Bingley, Adele Nesbitt and the stall holders at Kirkby Market
North West Film Archive at Manchester Metropolitan University
Claire & Sarah White and Emily Peters
Danny O’Shea
Hannah Pierce
Laura Pullig
Mike Wintle and Tesco Kirkby
Rob O’Brien & Lin Rice at Knowsley Archive, Kirkby Library
Space to Create
Arts Council England

Small Cinema on the Small Screen

Today, as we made final preparations for “A Small Cinema in Kirkby”, we had an impromptu visit from Paul Crone and the Granada Reports team.  Sam spoke to them about the programme of films we’re going to be showing Saturday and Sunday including matinee screenings of classic cartoons for children (at 11, 12 and 1pm) followed by rarely seen archive footage of Kirkby (on loan from the North West Film Archive) and a brand new independent short film commission “Fighting Chance” (on both afternoons at 2pm and 3.30).

It was down to John then to describe the background to the project – transforming an empty shop space into a cinema, the power of cinema in people’s memories, the discussions we’ve been having with local traders, and the role of Knowsley Arts and Heritage in making all it possible.

They filmed the inside our beautiful cinema and we gave them a special advance preview of “Fighting Chance” – a brand new independent short film by Tim Brunsden, specially commissioned for “A Small Cinema in Kirkby.”  The film, which has it’s premiere tomorrow at 2pm, tells the story of local dancer-turned-boxer Kayleigh Hayes whose progress in the sport of Women’s Amateur Boxing during the past two years has been meteoric.  It was a great experience for Kayleigh today – to have a taste of the media spotlight!

It’s a knock-out! – boxer Kayleigh Hayes and Paul Crone from Granada reports after their interview.

And finally…

The reporters also spoke with Billy and Cliff from Pingwood Art Group whose exhibition “Memories of Cinema” opens tomorrow at “A Small Cinema in Kirkby” too.

We’re very excited now – the report goes out this evening at 6pm on Granada News but don’t believe the hype – come down tomorrow and Sunday and experience it for yourself!

***Update: click to watch the Granada Reports broadcast***

“A Small Cinema in Kirkby” – Old Maze Shop, Unit 24 St. Chad’s Parade, Kirkby Shopping Centre.