Day 1, Panel 1 - You talking to me? Cinema facts, figures & strategies

Really interesting panel to kick us off, giving an overview of the Industry view and experience of Black film.

Left to right: Grace Carley (MD, All Industry Marketing/AIM), Bryony Duncan (Audiences London), Peter Buckingham (Head of Distribution, UK Film Council) and Justin Marciano (MD of distributor Revolver)

The panel discussed recent experiences with successes with Black film such as Kidulthood & Adulthood and the explored the reasons that other high quality films, such as the recently released 'Secret life of Bees'  have not had the public response or distribution hoped for.

See the trailer for Secret Life of Bees below:



Of particular interest to me was the Geo Demographic Profiling  discussion which explored using precise population data and audience research to enhance marketing strategies.

Generally I thought that the panel was extremely useful, however there were certainly times that I became aware that there is still a lot of work to do in order to really see change in the mainstream industry towards a more proactive and consistent take up and support for black product.

Yes, I think we all acknowledge the economic argument, in that distributors, cinemas and funders need to feel confident that the product will be financially successful - in order to justify the investment; however, I felt the case for investment needs to also acknowledge the 'what you put in you get out' argument, in terms of development investment, marketing etc, plus the need to consistently offer a more sophisticated approach and understanding of target audiences and marketing strategies in order to build and maintain audiences. 

I hope to be able to post up & share the full video recording of the panel (all two hours) soon - check the links on the right regularly.

What did everyone else feel about panel 1?