Digital developments

By late 2009, with the cinema industry moving towards digital distribution and exhibition, and recognising the imperative to have digital capability in order to ensure the timely programming of films and to allow it to offer alternative content, Saffron Screen decided to add a digital cinema system to their existing projection equipment. The cinema had originally opened after the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network had been set up and by 2010 the economic recession was at its height, with little prospect of new public sector funding being made available for such a capital project. In early 2010, Saffron Screen embarked upon a fund-raising campaign to raise sufficient funds for this project, with a target of £60,000. Through fundraising events, donations from individuals and trust funds, and corporate support, the cinema reached its target by November 2010, and began the installation of the equipment with a launch of live alternative content broadcasts in May 2011.