The Cineplace Blog- January 2019.
ECA Slate Day 2019
On Thursday 17th of January, the Event Cinema industry descended on Vue Leicester Square, for the 2019 ECA Slate Day. With slate presentations from more than 10 distributors, we were looking forward to which big names, events and icons we can expect to see on the big screen across 2019. The European arm of the industry was out in full force with a large number of distributors and exhibitors from across Europe and beyond, crowding into Screen 7, making it a pretty full house.
The day was hosted by Hayley Donaghy from Cameo and kicked off with a keynote speech from Brian Message, Artist Manager & Partner at ATC Management. With clients including Nick Cave, the day got off to a good start, discussing the value Event Cinema can bring to the music industry and the opportunities it can offer.
The day in its entirety was a valuable mix of upcoming content that will release across 2019; interwoven with presentations from the likes of Comscore, Powster, Showtime Analytics, Screen Moguls and ourselves, Cineplace. Discussions revolved around the marketing data and insight that can be gathered via these systems and platforms to assist with marketing strategies. There’s a lot to be gained from a deeper understanding about potential audiences and their journey pre- & post-visit. Naturally, a portion of the day was spent celebrating the successes of 2018, the biggest year for the Event Cinema industry on record in the UK. And events such as Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Cliff Richard, BTS and of course André Rieu, grabbing the headlines.
The slate was probably one of the most diverse that we have seen, the wealth of content presented superbly, and, notably, with less time taken to discuss what has always been seen as core content such as theatre, opera and ballet. There was, decisively, a much bigger focus on art & exhibitions, music events, religion and esports.
The selection of content shown was as engaging as ever, with far too much to mention on an individual basis, but as eOne exclusively showcased their trailer for Pavarotti, there was some tear-wiping when the culminating scene ended with Luciano singing the age-old spine-tingler Nessun Dorma. It’s set to be an undoubtable success and is due for release later this year.
Chuckles rippled through the auditorium as we heard from Trafalgar Releasing what will be in store as “extra value” for cinema-goers, when one of their currently embargoed events, releases at Easter. A bit of toe-tapping was even witnessed as Shania Twain, Diana Ross and Ella Fitzgerald filled the big screen and minds whirred as people wondered which British personality was set to have the illustrious role of interviewing “His Holiness” the Dalai Lama in November for a live broadcast.
All the content shown once again played on the intrinsic themes that make this sector such a pleasure to work in, offering the ability to enjoy content in a communal environment. Whether it’s stunning art exhibits from Rome, emotion-evoking moments with Pavarotti, League Of Legend fans banging their thunder sticks in excitement or André fans gathering together to enjoy a record breaking Maastricht concert once again.
Grainne Peat, the ECA’s new Managing Director, gave the penultimate presentation of the day as she outlined her vision for the ECA for 2019 and the marketing, data, networking and tech support that she is working towards being able to offer the industry. She ended her presentation announcing two new board members, Trafalgar Releasing’s Marc Allenby and Former UNIC President Jan Runge who have now joined the current team, with the teasing suggestion that there will be more newbies to be unveiled soon.
As the core presentations finished, the day was wrapped up with the ECA awards, celebrating the success of some monumental moments of 2018. Trafalgar Releasing, CinemaLive, More2Screen & Royal Opera House scooped the 2018 ECA Awards: the full results list can be found below. We then all descended on the bar to enjoy what our industry undoubtedly does well: networking with a drink in hand.
Highest Performing Opera Title of 2018: Carmen: Royal Opera House — Trafalgar Releasing & More2Screen
Highest Performing Theatre Title of 2018: King & I: Live From The London Palladium – Trafalgar Releasing
Highest Performing Ballet Title of 2018: Swan Lake: Royal Opera House — Trafalgar Releasing & More2Screen
Highest Performing Music Title of 2018: Burn The Stage the Movie – Trafalgar Releasing
Highly Commended Event of 2018: Cliff Richard Live: 60th Anniversary Tour – CinemaLive
Highly Commended Event of 2018: Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – More2Screen
Without a doubt, new MD Grainne and her fellow board members did a great job bringing the event together, providing insightful content and pulling in more exhibitors than ever before. This made the event extremely valuable for all that attended and we are not alone in this opinion.
Helen Budge, our Cineplace podcast host, caught up with Grainne this week for a debrief and chat about the event. Grainne comments, “I was so overwhelmed by the level of attendance and that people stayed for the whole day which was hugely encouraging [when people aren’t always able to stay for the full session].”
Helen’s podcast with Grainne will be available from next week, as well as another special episode covering chats and insights she had with several attendees on the day, as our Cineplace mobile podcast reporter.
Cineplace looks forward to the ECA conference in September which it seems is set to take place in Brussels this year. No doubt Event Cinema will feature between now and then though, in some of the other industry events that will take place over the next 6 months.
So a successful event all round, and the only disappointment of the day (certainly for Team Cineplace) was that we were shuffled out of Vue by 6pm and couldn’t loiter to see Bradley Cooper come in for a later Q&A!
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Michelle Stevens
