The final day of the Bologna Lab consisted of a workshop for participants to plan their return strategy, helping them plan how they will bring the inspiration found over the past four days back to their cinemas as practical, easy to implement ideas. The Europa Cinemas Team also presented further support available for Network members including Next/Change and the LUX Audience Award Young Talent Programme, both of which foster networking and exchange.
Other Europa Cinemas programmes
Salomé Monnet from the EC Team presented Next/Change, a Network initiative that enables exhibitors to learn first-hand from other exhibitors within the Network, through visiting other cinemas and sharing knowledge and best practice. Isabella Didonna Valverde, also from the EC Team, then presented the Network’s LUX Audience Award Young Talent Programme and LUX Audience Award. A training programme for young exhibitors, YTP enables selected talent to attend a fully funded programme in Strasbourg where they will engage with industry stakeholders and film organisations. More information can be found on the Europa Cinemas website.
Lab debrief
Final reflections on the past few days spent together in Sala Cervi at Cineteca di Bologna included fresh ideas on how to present classic films, and a fighting passion for the future of film exhibition, which is clearly not only alive and well but thriving in cities and towns all across Europe. Focusing on interactive engagement with audiences was the Lab’s biggest takeaway: through both online engagement and with in-person events. Audiences everywhere are responding to active participation in cinema culture. “Don’t create distance between you and your cinema-goers,” Adrianna Skórnicka from Kino Pałacowe in Poland said, “We can create a programme with them.” Conversation and collaboration are not only the best way to engage audiences, either: it’s essential in connecting each link in the film value chain, from rights holders through to exhibitors and their audiences.
Comms and marketing continue to keep their place, high on the agenda, as exhibitors seek to distinguish themselves and their brand identity from the often overwhelming time and attention economies. And the most important way of building a trusted brand continues to come back to the importance of community building, whether that’s through ethical programming choices or a more inclusive roster of social events: “You are giving them their second home,” Nestor Molinero de la Fuente from Odeon Multicines in Spain said, speaking to power and impact of cinema venues.
Return Strategy
Returning from their work in groups, participants had plenty of ideas to bring home with them, from working more systematically on events to having more personal conversations with customers. Speed-friending, Letterboxd HQ, and using an AI assistant as an administration tool were among some of the practical ideas that participants were keen to set up. Longer-term projects relating to collaborative work practices included new approaches to presenting political cinema programmes, working in partnership with local businesses and groups, along with taking inspiration and the non-hierarchical practices of volunteer-led cinema and community cooperative models.
Adapting activities and initiatives without extending cinema staff capacity and resources to their limits, risking burnout, the inspiration and energy need to be converted into practical tasks that can be implemented in a systematic way. Mathias Rutner from Øst for Paradis in Denmark felt optimistic about the ideas shared and relationships built over the past five days: “You come up with really concrete ideas that you can implement in your cinema,” he said. Even Thunes Jensen from Kongsberg Norway agreed, “We will definitely implement some sort of subscription system,” he said, while Ignė Smilingytė from Kino centras Garsas in Lithuania said she was looking forward to continuing the working relationships that had been built this week at the Lab for future collaboration and exchange. “Meetings like this make you realise that there’s more of us,” Skórnicka said. Alexander Lang from Kino Toni in Germany agreed: “That’s what made the Lab so special, that there are so many different cinemas.”
Further information on future Audience Development & Innovation Labs can be found on the Europa Cinemas website, as well as information on this year’s Network Conference, which will take place in Barcelona, Spain from Thursday November 26 to Sunday November 29.