Finding your audience for film
Sponsored by Belfast Media Festival
Location: The Factory
Time: Thursday 17th November, 3pm
The end goal of most film productions is getting the film seen by audiences in cinemas. Through development stage and right through to your work hits the big screen, it is vitally important to be aware of the audience who will make a decision to part with money and make time to see your film - trying to stand out in a very overcrowded market place is hard. What does a distributor look for when deciding which films to work on? What strands will attract audiences in? How does film exhibition actually work?
Join three experts in independent film exhibition, audience development and distribution to hear how you should approach defining your audiences for film, what exhibitors look for when programming films and what the theatrical landscape looks like across the North.
Síle Culley - Audience Designer
Joan Parsons - QFT
Sara Gunn-Smith - Film Hub NI
Síle Culley
Audience Designer
Since 2019, Síle has been working as an Audience Designer by supporting, consulting and advising producers, directors and production companies on the best way to position their projects and/or slate. She does this through script notes, brainstorms and workshops and has helped over a hundred projects find their selling points and move confidently on their film's outward journey with an audience in mind. Prior to this, Síle held Distribution positions at Altitude Films, CinemaLive and Pulse Films in London, UK.
She is an industry expert for Eurimages' Co-Production Fund, as well the Director of The Audience Design Lab for the International Screen Institute in Vienna.
Síle is an alumni of Berlinale Talents, Torino Film Lab, LIM Less Is More and the NFTS. She is a member of the European Film Academy and the founder of The Breakfast Club, a peer-to-peer network for women working in the Business of Film in Ireland.
Joan Parsons
Queens Film Theatre
Joan Parsons is an experienced cinema professional currently leading the Queen’s Film Theatre, Northern Ireland’s only full-time cultural cinema.
As the current guardian of QFT Joan has delivered organisational, financial and cultural change and successes.
Joan relishes the challenges of the cinema industry and bringing incredible films from around the world to audiences
Sara Gunn-Smith
Marketing & Audience Development
Officer, Film Hub NI
Sara has been working in the creative industries in NI for over 20 years and has been looking after marketing and audience development for Film Hub NI (BFI Film Audience Network) since 2014.
With a particular interest in connecting films from across the island of Ireland to local audiences, Sara manages FHNI’s Collective initiative, which aims to align film production, exhibition, distribution and audiences more closely together.
