Come to Summer Screening Days in Sheffield, the next in our series of four national events. Screening Days is the industry screenings event for programming, marketing and education staff of cinemas, film festivals, and film societies.
Get first-hand knowledge of upcoming film releases so you can select, market and get strong audiences in your venue. Our focus is on key art house and independent titles, and the summer event will showcase titles scheduled for release in August–November 2015.
See films that will help your programme stand out, meet and exchange ideas with colleagues and hear from industry experts on important developments.
Registration
This event is now over.
Find out more
For information about future Screening Days events, visit our upcoming events section, sign up to our mailing list or email info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk.
Terms and conditions
ICO Screening Days is an industry event open to people working or volunteering in an organisation whose primary purpose is the exhibition of films to the public. As all of the films that are being shown at the event are pre-release titles there is a press embargo on the event, which includes social networking sites and film forums.
Nearby Hotels (by distance)
Hotel Novotel Sheffield Centre
Approximate rate per night: £79 – £91
Distance to Showroom: 0.2 miles
Jurys Inn Sheffield
Approximate rate per night: £75 – £110
Distance to Showroom: 0.3 miles
Best Western Cutlers Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £55 – £75
Distance to Showroom: 0.4 miles
Mercure St Paul’s Hotel and Spa
Approximate rate per night: £79 – £119
Distance to Showroom: 0.5 miles
Premiere Inn Sheffield City Centre
Approximate rate per night: £35 – £82
Distance to Showroom: 0.6 miles
Ibis Sheffield City
Approximate rate per night: £53 – £81
Distance to Showroom: 0.7 miles
Copthorne Sheffield Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £76 – £91
Distance to Showroom: 0.7 miles
Holiday Inn Royal Victoria
Approximate rate per night: £96 – £109
Distance to Showroom: 0.8 miles
Sheffield B&B
Approximate rate per night: £30 – £45
Distance to Showroom: 0.9 miles
Harley Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £39 – £59
Distance to Showroom: 1.0 miles
Hilton Sheffield Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £89 – £134
Distance to Showroom: 1.4 miles
Sheffield Metropolitan
Approximate rate per night: £58 – £85
Distance to Showroom: 1.5 miles
Leopold Hotel
Approximate rate per night: £97 – £142
Distance to Showroom: 1.9 miles
Kenwood Hall
Approximate rate per night: £82 – £112
Distance to Showroom: 2.1 miles
Halifax Hall
Approximate rate per night: £75 – £105
Distance to Showroom: 2.6 miles
Endcliffe Residencies
Approximate rate per night: £44
Distance to Showroom: 3 miles
NB. The ICO does not endorse any of the above hotels.
Travel
ICO Summer Screening Days will be held at the Showroom Cinema which is on Paternoster Row in Sheffield’s Cultural Industries Quarter and is just across the road from the railway station.
It is 10 minutes walk from the main bus interchange on Pond Street.
To plan your journey by bus visit www.travelsouthyorkshire.com or call 01709 515151
To plan your journey by train visit www.nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 48 49 50
There is some on street parking on Paternoster Row and Shoreham Street and car parks in the vicinity include Q Park on Charles Street, Sydney Street Car Park and Sheffield Station Car Park.
For more parking info see www.sheffield.gov.uk/roads/travel/driving/parking/city-centre.html
FAQs
How do I register on the day?
Registration will be held from 8.30am each morning, at which you will be issued with a badge for the day(s) you are attending. This will be your entry pass into all screenings. The registration area will be staffed by the ICO throughout the event. We’ll be on hand to offer advice on topics including programming, distribution, audience development and much more.
Can I leave my luggage somewhere?
There will be a space were delegates can leave luggage. Please note this is left at the owner’s risk.
When do the screenings happen?
Screenings run between 9:00am and 6:00pm each day.
Where are the screenings held?
Screenings will be held in Cinema 1, Cinema 2 and Cinema 3.
Will there be any other activities in addition to the screenings?
There will be a drinks reception on Saturday evening for delegates to meet and network with fellow colleagues, to catch up on the all important films of the day.
Is there somewhere to get drinks and food onsite?
Yes! The Showroom has an award-winning restaurant on site. Click here to see their menu.
Opening hours:
Monday – Friday: 10.00am – 21.00pm
Saturday – Sunday: 11.00am – 21.00pm
How accessible is the Showroom?
All public areas of the Showroom Cinema and Workstation are accessible to people using wheelchairs and their staff are trained to provide assistance. The Showroom has an infrared hearing loop facility in the cinema for delegates with a hearing impairment. In-ear headsets and necklace amplification devices are available from the Box Office on request. For further details please visit Showroom’s website.
How do you select films for the programme at Screening Days?
We work closely with distributors to select independent, world and art house cinema that will be released in the following quarter. We focus on titles that are unlikely to have a vast marketing budget so need the keen curatorial eye and advance notice that a viewing at Screening Days can provide for your programme. We also occasionally include titles with higher profiles, particularly in the lead-up to awards season, which we believe delegates will be keen to see in order to assess suitability for their programmes. Our goal is to provide you with the opportunity to see the widest range of films so you’re able to broaden programmes in your venues, and we hope the Screening Days programme reflects that.
Why can't you release the schedule earlier? I want to make sure I see certain films.
We always try to finalise the schedule as soon as possible so you can plan ahead. Unfortunately, we are limited in how far in advance we can do so. Because distributors offering us their films often haven’t determined their schedule in advance, or are waiting on delivery of the materials, we often receive final confirmations quite close to the event. Then, in order to evenly space the films across the different screens, we need to carefully schedule the films, which takes time.
Why aren’t there more or longer breaks?
We try to give you as many breaks as possible between films and usually have morning, lunch and afternoon breaks, but are restricted by the availability of the screens and the length of the films. Most cinemas can’t take out their evening public screenings due to conditions set by distributors, and so they don’t disappoint their local (paying) audience. This means we can only screen films between 9am – 6pm. We try to keep in mind that the main purpose of the event is for you to be able to see as many films as possible.
Why can only organisers, marketers and programmers attend?
The purpose of Screening Days is to encourage strong audiences for a more diverse selection of films. Programmers, organisers (e.g. the most senior person in a community screen, members of the selection committee of a film society) and marketers are the people in a best position to both select films and advocate for these films in their venues. We are often oversubscribed, so this is the fairest way to ensure that key staff get the opportunity to attend.
Why can only five members of my organisation attend?
Following the sell-out of our spring Screening Days event in April, we are limiting the number of passes for any one organisation to five. This is to ensure that the largest number of organisations are able to attend the event. Attendees will also need to be engaged in one of the following roles within their organisation: programming, marketing, education, audience development, or on the selection committee of a film society/club.
How frequent do my screenings need to be for me to attend?
Our funders for Screening Days, in addition to the distributors that lend us their films, now stipulate that exhibitors must hold 12 or more screenings per year to attend.
Can I Tweet or share reviews or comments on the films in public?
No. While we appreciate your enthusiasm (or otherwise) for films you see at Screening Days, the terms that we receive the films under completely prohibit any social media or film forum discussion of films in the Screening Days programme. Distributors monitor social media channels for discussion of the films. Please do feel free to discuss the films in person with other delegates, and if you’d like to talk about the event in general on social media you can find us at @ICOtweets #ScreeningDays.
When will you be hosting the next screening days and where?
The next Screening Days event will be our autumn event in November 2015. Dates and location to be confirmed soon.
Why attend?
Exhibitors who have already attended Screening Days know the difference it makes. That’s why staff and volunteers of cinemas, mixed arts venues, film festivals, and film societies attend again and again. But if you haven’t come before, here’s five reasons Screening Days could be invaluable for you…
- Screening Days make your programming decisions easier: watching our amazing selection of the upcoming films lets you get clear on whether a film is right for your venue and how to make it work best in your programme.
- Screening Days are efficient: finding time to watch films in the busy and divided schedule of a film programmer is hard. Screening Days lets you cover a lot of ground with amazing access.
- Screening Days simplify marketing: knowing what audience you’re trying to target becomes much easier once you know the film directly and who in your community would want to come and see it.
- Screening Days gives you access to key industry players: we have representatives from the BFI, Cinema for All, Film Audience Network and Filmbank, as well as many major distributors in attendance. Screening Days is your chance to hear about funding, technology and opportunities that can mean just as much as what you put on the screen itself.
- Screening Days is a forum to share knowledge: gathering together this number of exhibitors in one place means you can keep up with developments from peers and learn from what is working for them.