BFFS News - June 2008

The top item this month is a success story from Denbigh Film Club – selected from hundreds of applications the film club has reached the semi final of the National Lottery Awards. This is fantastic news for Denbigh Film Club and highlights the invaluable work film societies do in their local communities.

Please show your support for Denbigh Film Club by taking a few moments of your time to vote for them – details of how to vote are below.

BFFS National News

Denbigh Film Club in the running to win a National Lottery Award

Some time ago BFFS circulated information on the National Lottery Awards 2008. The Awards were open to any organisation that had received Lottery funding. We are delighted to announce that Denbigh Film Club, in North Wales has reached the semi-final of the competition in the Best Arts Project category of the Awards.

Set up in December 2006 by local resident Vesi Jones, Denbigh Film Club is a bilingual organisation that has helped to bring film back to Denbigh. The Club presents monthly film shows to members and guests at the Theatr Twm o'r Nant in Denbigh. Lottery funding contributed towards a portable projector and an electronic screen, which has enabled the film club to travel to neighbouring villages, showing films in local halls. As a result of the project, the people of Denbigh are benefiting from something completely new and they now have access to cultural experiences that were not previously available.

Vesi Jones from Denbigh Film Club says: “We're delighted that Denbigh Film Club has reached this stage in the National Lottery Awards, it really shows how much the project has benefited the people of Denbigh. It would be great for us to win an Award, so we're hoping that the public really get behind us!"

The club will compete against other 9 other Lottery-funded projects from across the UK for the chance to win £2,000 to spend on their project and the opportunity to star in a special prime-time BBC1 TV show.

To register your vote for Denbigh Film Club log on to www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards or call 0845 386 0145. Voting ends at midday on Friday 04 July

Once you’ve registered your vote for Denbigh, don’t forget....

Reminder: 2008 BFFS Community Exhibitor Survey

Weblink: http://www.bffs.org.uk/Content/advice_and_support/community-exhibitor-survey-instructions.htm
Deadline: Friday 11 July 2008

Reminder: Film Society of the Year Awards 2008

Weblink: http://www.bffs.org.uk/Content/bffs_awards/awards_enter.html
Deadline: Friday 01 August 2008.

Industry News

Vanilla Still Not Flavour of the Month

Thanks for all your responses to the item in April’s NR on substandard DVDs. Following on from this we met with Filmbank – one of the largest suppliers of DVDs to film societies and community cinemas – from which some interesting and useful points emerged:

  • Vanilla copies (pre-commercial without extras) supplied by Filmbank in the early window are taken from the best master made available to them and this may be in the incorrect aspect ratio, without full Dolby sound, with distributor logos etc.
  • It is likely these DVDs will be burned discs rather then pressed discs, giving ‘DVD-R’ copies, since in the early window pressed disks are not available for many titles
  • Even after commercial copies of a film are available to buy in the shops the early window copies remain in Filmbank’s stock and could be sent out to any organisation booking the title
  • If a faulty or damaged DVD is discovered you must contact Filmbank immediately for a replacement (see below for Rachelle Peterson’s contact details) and ensure a Faulty Film Form (download from the Filmbank website) is completed to enable the copy to be removed from stock.

BFFS concludes:

  • You should be rigorous in ascertaining the quality of the DVD you are booking and if you have any concerns that the copy you will receive will be vanilla/substandard and will not meet your audience’s expectations, then you should not book that title
  • If you have been led to believe a title will be commercial quality it is as well to have your own copy to hand in case you are forced to use it due to a damaged or substandard copy being supplied (NB always contact the supplier before using it to ensure your licence is not invalidated)
  • It is vital you check DVDs in full before you screen to your audience – this will enable those disks damaged in transit to be replaced.

Where next?

  • BFFS is working with the ICO to continue to bring these issues to the attention of parent distribution companies who supply Filmbank with film titles
  • BFFS is advocating on your behalf for a single title licence that will allow you to screen from your own DVDs, in the same way as schools, care homes and churches currently can
  • BFFS will be repeating its survey of Filmbank customers and share results with the company to help it identify areas for improved service.

Rachelle Peterson, Director of Commercial Sales at Filmbank can be contacted regarding issues related to faulty or damaged DVD's by email: rachelle.peterson@filmbank.co.uk

BFFS Interactive

About BFFS Interactive

Research by BFFS estimates that there are over 800 community cinema providers in the UK. This includes all types of film societies and clubs including those in schools, Higher and Further Education colleges and universities, community groups, social clubs, youth clubs, small-scale film festivals, mobile and touring screen networks, mixed used venues that screen film and independent cinemas who run active programmes of community engagement. This markedly different collection of organisations shares a common vision: providing ‘Cinema for All’.

There’s a wealth of intelligence across the sector and in the spirit of cooperative engagement we’d like to invite you to share your resources, knowledge, expertise and experience. For example:

Do you.......

  • want to buy, sell, or hire 2nd hand film equipment?
  • want to screen a film but can’t locate the distributor?
  • know a handy tip that other organisations may benefit from?

E-mail us with your request and we’ll post it here.

Please note that this service is exclusively for use by not-for-profit community cinema providers.

Dates for Your Diary

Dates Venue Event
27-28 Sept Sheffield BFFS National Conference for Film Societies and Community Cinemas and Film Society of the Year Awards 2008
11 October Belfast

BFFS/Northern Ireland Screen: Networking and Viewing Session

18 October

Bracknell BFFS/Screen South: Networking and Viewing Session
26 October tbc

BFFS South West: Viewing Session
08 -10 Nov Edinburgh

ICO Screening Days