Open Cinema

April 2016 - Platform launches with Ping Pong Screening at Impact Hub Westminster

Posted on 10th Apr
Category: Blog

Open Cinema International's new digital platform for community cinema powered its first ticketed screening, at the Impact Hub Westminster. Ping Pong (2012), directed by Anson and Hugh Hartford, tells the story of eight participants of the World Over 80s Table Tennis Championships. The screening was preceded by an exhibition match - and open challenge! - by members of the Veterans English Table Tennis Society (VETTS), and followed by a Q&A with the players and producer Beadie Finzi.

March 2016 - Open Cinema presents at the RSA on the Sharing Economy

Posted on 10th Mar
Category: Blog

On 15 March, The Royal Institute of Arts Manufacturing and Commerce held a packed gathering on the ultra-live topic of the sharing economy. OC CEO Christoph Warrack was there to present on Open Cinema as a sharing economy platform alongside great social ventures Lend and Tend, LiftShare, Library of Things and GrubClub. The RSA's senior researcher in the economy, enterprise and manufacturing team Brhmie Balaram was there to summarise research they have recently published (here) into developments in this area.

February 2016 - Creative England invest in Open Cinema International

Posted on 10th Feb
Category: Blog

OC International is currently raising its seed equity round, and was glad this month to confirm Creative England as the first investor, through its Strategic Partnerships Fund, with funds originating in the BFI Lottery Film Fund.

OPEN CINEMA: TESTING PARTICIPATORY DIGITAL CINEMA AS AN AMPLIFIER OF CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIETAL CAPITAL (2015)

Posted on 24th Jan
Category: Impact

In October 2015, Dr Clive James Nwonka (see Team) joined Open Cinema as its first Impact Director. In November, he presented a paper on Open Cinema at the Salford Media Festival.

This paper develops the work - within a rigorously academic framework - of mapping the contours of our work as a catalyst for community development. More reports in this line of enquiry may be expected in 2016.

Download Report

December 2015 - OC meets the Prince of Wales

Posted on 10th Dec
Category: Blog

Open Cinema, a supported venture on the Business in the Community arc programme, was featured in a showcase to celebrate the creation of 1,000 jobs through the programme. During the event, HRH the Prince of Wales stopped to ask our CMO Ben Hirsch about our work, the kind of centres we work in and the pricing we're able to offer community members, and concluded that our work was "fantastic".

September 2015, Part 2 - OC Features in The Key Fund 2015 Impact Report

Posted on 10th Sep
Category: Blog

The Key Fund have published their Impact Report for 2015, which discloses a record-breaking year of lending to social businesses, and the fact they are now the UK's biggest social investor by deal volume. Open Cinema was supported by the Key Fund through the Dotforge Impact accelerator, and was subsequently the recipient of second-stage investment by the fund. You can view or download the report here, and the feature on OC on pp23-4.

September 2015, Part 3 - OC's Legal Team Win 2015 Lawyer of the Year Award

Posted on 10th Sep
Category: Blog

At a glittering ceremony on 24 September, a brilliant, multi-field team of lawyers from international practice Latham & Watkins LLP's London office have been awarded the top Lawyer of the Year award for their work with Open Cinema. Hyo Joo Kim, Aoife McCabe, Katie Peek and Frances Stock were honoured for their focused and complex guidance of the evolution of Open Cinema over a two-year period from a non-profit structure to a group comprising a charitable foundation and a for-profit digital company. Open Cinema will be presenting at their office in the City of London in late October on the latest developments and the impact the collaboration has had.

September 2015, Part 1 - Is September the Busiest Month?

Posted on 10th Sep
Category: Blog

Non-stop action at OC HQ this month. Christoph signed the Founders Pledge at Founders Forum, committing 5% of personal revenues from any future exit to frontline development causes. We also presented on Open Cinema's participatory filmmaking programmes at the international Visual Methods Conference in Brighton. Later OC took part in a social innovation brainstorm hosted by the brilliant Swarm for Macmillan.

July / August 2015 - Hiring and Scaling

Posted on 10th Jul
Category: Blog

The summer of 15 has been spent building the team, further developing the forthcoming digital platform, and preparing our first international market entries (beyond the UK and Ireland). We've been receiving amazing support on these developments from the Impact Hub Scaling Programme.

June 2015 - Bloomberg Demo Day, Key Fund Investment

Posted on 10th Jun
Category: Blog

At the conclusion of the Dotforge Impact accelerator, Open Cinema was one of ten ventures presenting prototype platforms to investors at the super-swish London headquarters of Bloomberg. Subsequently Open Cinema received a seed funding commitment from the social investor The Key Fund.