Introduction to Non-theatrical Exhibition

Non–theatrical Exhibition is the term applied to public screenings of films which take place outside traditional cinema parameters. Examples of this kind of exhibition includes film societies, hotels, oil-rigs, hospitals, airlines and most recently even trains.

Any screenings of a film to a group of people requires licensing, regardless of whether they are a paying audience or not. The licensing for this sector is fairly complicated but the vast majority of films are available through two major gateway distributors, Filmbank and the BFI. It's a popular misconception that it is perfectly legal to screen films to a non–paying audience for free and this is simply not the case. There are clear legal channels for screening any film outside a home environment. Filmbank provides a number of different licenses to suit both commercial and non–commercial non–theatrical exhibition and provides clear guidelines as to which license is appropriate for any given screening.

Another issue which often confuses people is whether it is possible to screen any DVD to a public audience. Unfortunately, even when a disc is available to buy or rent for home use, this doesn't mean rights are automatically available for a public non–theatrical screening. The same stringent rights conditions apply to DVD screenings as for 16mm or 35mm screenings. DVD rights holders often only hold home entertainment licenses and are unable to grant public screening rights on their DVD titles. Clearing these rights for public screenings, particularly on older titles, can be a complex procedure sometimes involving liaising directly with a film's producer or international sales agent. However, having said this, the explosion in available titles on DVD has definitely increased access to a wider range of titles for the non-theatrical sector and thus expanded cultural programmers' pool of available titles.