Escape to the cinema.
Escapes is a multi-year project designed to grow cinema engagement in the UK, supported by the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding.
“Just wanted to say a big thank you for organising the free screening. We had 40 people through the door tonight who had never been here before.
We've had some lovely comments about the cinema, it's been really nice.”
What is Escapes?
Escapes offers regular free screenings on the big screen as part of a nationwide effort to develop new cinema audiences and increase engagement with film and cinema.
Selected films need to meet a set criteria for Escapes, which includes offering accessible screenings to all.
Escapes aligns with National Lottery funding principles: equity, diversity, inclusion, UK-wide reach, and environmental sustainability.
Escapes aims to reach 12.84 million people in the UK across the multi-year project period. Of our 840,000 predicted admissions, 75% will come from outside London and the South East.
Inclusion targets are in place for disability, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQIA+, and there are targets relating to accessibility.
What’s in it for cinemas?
Ongoing hyper-local targeted paid social media marketing campaign: Bringing you new audiences via paid advertising, targeting hard to reach audiences within a proximity of your cinema.
Connection to an ambitious nationwide marketing campaign for cinema, in collaboration with well known media and brand partners, creating publicity for all venues involved.
Targeting audiences that don't currently engage with cinema, or traditionally aren't marketed to for independent film, through the appropriate marketing channels.
Increased food & beverage sales: Research shows that free or reduced price screenings are accompanied by a F&B purchase from up to 75% of audiences.*
Marketing reach: Audiences given multiple options to opt-in to your cinema newsletter and social channels pre and post screening.
New future customers for your cinema + the opportunity to make them a returning audience member at your venue. Research has identified the lifetime value of a new customer in cinemas between $1,100 and $3,300**
These audiences will be attracted by our Escapes branding, positioning and the lure of “taking a break” for FREE.
Audience data: Escapes will be ticketed through our external ticketing platform, Cinematik, designed to collate and share detailed audience data.
Regular regional newsletters for audiences that have claimed free tickets, promoting your cinemas + paid screenings and events.
Assistance with developing accessibility provision and audience development for your cinemas, through the provision of best practice toolkits and sharing of data and information between participating cinemas.
All with a long term aim to build a sustainable audience for cinema in the years to come.
* MASSIVE free screenings saw F&B purchases from 75% of the audience, National Cinema Day 2023 saw F&B purchases from 67% of the audience.
**lifetime value of a cinema customer according to DX Tech (valued at $3,300 in 2021), Celluloid Junkie (valued at $1,136 in 2015)
Do you want to be a part of this ambitious national campaign?