
Community Cinemas in Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire Get Set To Roll Into Action
A Glasgow-based travelling yurt cinema group, Glasgow Film Theatre and East Dunbartonshire Council are among 24 projects from the Orkney Isles to Galashiels, to have received support from The National Lottery through Screen Scotland’s Cinema Equipment Fund towards the purchase of new equipment to host accessible community cinema across Scotland.
In line with the Scottish Government’s latest Covid-19 guidance, all 24 projects can now begin plans to get up and running and welcoming audiences, as soon as they’re able, from Wednesday 15 July.
Mobile yurt cinema social enterprise, Cinemor77 are developing and expanding their inspiring and entertaining cinema screenings and events projects with communities, festivals and organisations across Scotland.
Neill Patton of Cinemor77 said “We’re delighted to receive this funding for cinema equipment from Screen Scotland, as it will help us grow as an organisation and will make our work with communities across Scotland more sustainable. It will also enable us to work with many more groups and organisations to help them develop screenings, festivals and other events for their communities.”
East Dunbartonshire Council are purchasing new film screening equipment to support a monthly series of film screenings led by The Spectrum Film Club, a committee of young film fans who share a diagnosis of an Autism spectrum condition and/or learning disability. The group will plan and prepare the screenings, welcome the audience, before hosting discussion of the film afterwards. The screenings will also provide a forum for the showing of films or animations made by the group members.
George Burt from East Dunbartonshire Council said: “A joint initiative of East Dunbartonshire's Health and Social Care and the East Dunbartonshire Leisure & Culture Trust, the Spectrum Film Club is creating opportunities for people with autism and other special needs to influence and take part in the cultural life of the local community.”
Glasgow Film Theatre are set to complete a 4K upgrade of screen 3 (all three screens will now have 4K capability). This will enable GFT to remain at the forefront of customer experience and offers state of the art cinema for all audiences to enjoy, while presenting filmmakers work as they intend it to be seen.
Allison Gardner, CEO of Glasgow Film said: “This fund has enabled GFT to have 4K capability across all our screens and to ensure a brilliant presentation of the huge range of films from around the world that we offer to our audiences.”
Screen Scotland’s Jennifer Armitage said: “This round of awards concludes the year-long programme of capital investment in cultural and community cinemas in Scotland. When we launched the Cinema Equipment Fund last year, we had no idea what 2020 was going to bring but investing in the resilience of Scotland’s film exhibition sector is more important than ever. When Scotland’s cinemas reopen, they will be able to offer high quality experiences, with varied programmes, and within local communities.”
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Cinema is a way of bringing people together, sharing our communities’ experience with others and increasing public understanding on a wide range of social issues and historical events.
“Now more than ever, it is important we support cultural organisations in communities across the country. This round of the Cinema Equipment Fund shows how we support and strengthen cinema throughout Scotland with new high-quality equipment.”
Contact Information
Notes to editors
- Cinema Equipment Fund
Total amount awarded through this round of the Cinema Equipment Fund is: £491,285
Funded projects:
Organisation |
Project |
Awarded Amount |
Local Authority |
Aboyne Arts and Theatre Development Group |
Aboyne Cinema Sound
|
15,613.00
|
Aberdeen City |
Atlas Arts |
Plural Futures Film Project |
24,962.00 |
Highland |
CinemaAttic |
New Cinema Equipment |
7,800.00 |
Edinburgh, City of |
Cinemor77 |
Cinemor77 Mobile Cinema Equipment |
14,505.00 |
Glasgow City |
Colintraive Village Hall |
Kyles Screen, Community Cinema |
24,845.00 |
Argyll & Bute |
Cousland Village Hall Association |
Replacement in-situ film screen |
1,660.00 |
Midlothian |
Dundee Contemporary Arts Ltd |
Cinema 2 projector replacement |
21,099.00 |
Dundee City |
East Ayrshire Leisure Trust |
Cumnock Town Hall Community Cinema |
12,612.00 |
East Ayrshire |
East Dunbartonshire Council |
Spectrum Film Club |
6,448.00 |
East Dunbartonshire |
Eden Court |
Projection Upgrade 2020 |
42,121.00 |
Highland |
Forgandenny Village Hall |
Community cinema – audio loop |
925.00 |
Perth & Kinross |
Glasgow Film |
GFT Technical Replacement Project Phase 2 |
30,171.00 |
Glasgow City |
New Picture House (St Andrews) Ltd |
Projection Upgrade |
25,000.00 |
Fife |
North East Arts Touring |
Mobile Screening Equipment |
22,438.00 |
Aberdeenshire |
Oban Phoenix Cinema |
Oban Phoenix Theatre (Untitled) |
22,436.00 |
Argyll & Bute |
Pavilion (Galashiels) Ltd |
Audio Upgrade 2020 |
67,951.00 |
Scottish Borders |
Pix in the Stix Community Cinema |
NEW AND REPLACEMENT CINEMA EQUIPMENT |
8,818.00 |
East Lothian |
Screen Argyll Limited |
Screen Argyll Network Equipment |
12,190.00 |
Argyll & Bute |
Strathearn Artspace |
Strathearn Arts New Cinema Equipment |
24,570.00 |
Perth & Kinross |
The Barn |
Upgrading to DCI |
25,000.00 |
Aberdeenshire |
The Iris Arts Ayr CIC |
The Iris Mobile Cinema |
10,223.00 |
South Ayrshire |
Universal Hall |
Dolby surround sound equipment |
7,739.00 |
Moray |
Universal Sounds (Arbroath) Limited |
Equipment Upgrade – DCI Compliant Projector and Associated Sound Equipment |
52,350.00 |
Angus |
West Side Cinema |
West Side Cinema Upgrade |
9,809.00 |
Orkney Islands |
- UK Cinema Association Guidance
The UK Cinema Association has published guidance to support cinemas to reopen safely. This guidance can be found here: https://www.cinemauk.org.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/guidance-for-cinemas/
3. Scottish Government Guidance
According to Scottish Government guidance cinemas in Scotland will be able to reopen from 15th July, however these are indicative dates with confirmation subject to relevant evidence reviews and phase criteria being met. Full details can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-framework-decision-making-scotlands-route-map-through-out-crisis-phase-2-update/
4. Screen Scotland is the dedicated partnership for screen in Scotland. Sitting within Creative Scotland, it is a partnership with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Funding Council, working in close collaboration with the sector to ensure its success. With funding from Scottish Government and The National Lottery, Screen Scotland is driving the cultural, social and economic development of all aspects of the sector in Scotland, through enhanced funding, services and support. For further information please visit: screen.scot, and follow us @screenscots on twitter and @screenscots on instagram.
5. The National Lottery
The National Lottery has raised more than £41 billion for more than 565,000 good causes across the UK since 1994. Thanks to National Lottery players, up to £600 million has been made available to support people, projects and communities throughout the UK during the Coronavirus crisis.
Media Contacts:
Eilidh Walker
Media Relations and PR Officer- Screen
M: +447545 402 064
Eilidh.Walker@creativescotland.com