What we do
The ICO is the Film Hub Lead Organisation for the South East – Film Hub South East.
Film Hub South East is part of the BFI Film Audience Network (FAN), the Film Hub South East region covers the counties of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex.
In line with the aims of BFI2022, Film Hub South East is working to deliver a major four year strategy for the region aimed at helping cinemas, film festivals, film societies and local groups create a real impact in their communities, make great films available to everyone and diversify the audiences for film.
Specifically, our regional strategy aims to:
- Encourage more outdoor screenings
- Increase the diversity of cinema audiences in the region
- Support and strengthen film festivals
- Produce and promote New Towns, Our Towns: Stories on Screen, a new film heritage project seeking to increase the visibility of the New Town movement, one of the most significant shared stories of the South East
- Engage more young people to go to the cinema
- Increase the number of British, independent and world cinema titles shown in cinemas across the region
- Help filmmaking talent from the South East gain a national and international platform
If you’d like to learn more about how Film Hub South East works, browse our FAQs below.
You can also sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date with current Hub news and opportunities for exhibitors across the region.
To contact us, email filmhubse@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk.
Marketing initiatives
To support our members we have set up a number of marketing initiatives to encourage the sharing of ideas and to build a stronger, more connected region. This includes:
- A monthly newsletter, featuring all the latest news and opportunities taking place. Members are actively encouraged to share updates for this
- Developing the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels under @FilmHubSE
- Launching a closed Facebook group for members
- For filmmakers: launching the @networkfhse Twitter handle as well as South East Talent Connect, a Facebook group for emerging filmmakers in the region
- For young film programmers: launching a dedicated newsletter which showcases monthly news and opportunities and setting up Young Film Programmers – Film Hub South East, a closed Facebook group
FAQs
What is the BFI Film Audience Network?
The BFI Film Audience Network (or FAN) was originally set up in 2012, using funds from the National Lottery, to support a stronger and more connected approach to growing audiences for British and international film on the big screen. It divided film exhibition activity in the UK into regions, each led by a regional Film Hub.
From 2017, FAN has been part of the BFI’s five-year plan BFI2022 and central to BFI2022’s commitment to give everyone, everywhere in the UK the opportunity to enjoy and learn from the richest and most diverse range of great British and international filmmaking, past, present and future.
The priorities for FAN under BFI2022 are to:
- Increase access to a wide range of independent British and international film for audiences – especially those outside London;
- Extend engagement with BFI supported activities across the UK and enhance the quality and cultural depth of audience experience;
- Increase access to the UK’s screen heritage especially via the BFI’s National Film and TV Archive and those of the regions and nations;
- Enhance the quality of audience-facing activity, deepen knowledge and build capability in its membership, and;
- To do this with a particular emphasis on increasing the diversity of audiences and boosting the number of 16-30 year old’s engaging with film activity.
What is Film Hub South East?
Film Hub South East is the Hub region for the South East of England. Geographically it has grown from the previous iteration of FAN and now covers the following local authority areas: Bedfordshire, Bracknell Forest, Brighton and Hove, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, East Sussex, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Luton, Medway, Milton Keynes, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Peterborough, Reading, Slough, Southend-on-Sea, Suffolk, Surrey, Thurrock, West Berkshire, West Sussex, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.
Since 2018, Film Hub South East has been managed by the Independent Cinema Office (ICO), the UK’s national agency for the development and support of independent film exhibition.
What does Film Hub South East do?
Like all of the regional Film Hubs, Film Hub South East works on behalf of the BFI and in partnership with its members to deliver specific outcomes in its region against the priorities listed above.
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