Geoff Greaves is Director and Film Programmer at Merlin Cinemas, which consists of a string of sites in Penzance, St Ives, Redruth, Falmouth, Helston, Torquay, Ilfracombe, Okehampton, Tiverton, Kingsbridge, Coleford, Cromer, Prestatyn and Thurso (almost Land’s End to John O’Groats). Recently, Greaves won the Exhibition Achievement prize at the Screen Awards and here we catch up with the man to hear a bit more about his life in cinema and why he got into the business. Read more
The Weekend Round-up
Doctor Strange is the latest Marvel behemoth and kicked off its run with £9.3m. After opening on Tuesday, it added £3.8m from Tuesday to Thursday, but its Friday to Sunday total of £5.5m is the biggest for an original, non-sequel Marvel title, eclipsing Guardians of the Galaxy, which opened with £5m in 2014. Read more
Marvel’s Doctor Strange was released in cinemas this week (Tuesday 25 October) and promises to add something different to the collection of superhero movies already on offer with mind-bending camera tricks and effects to support the story which focuses on the complex character played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Read more
The annual Screen Awards took place last week (Thursday 20 October) at a ceremony held at The Brewery in East London. The competition honours and celebrates the best of marketing, distribution and exhibition in the film industry and eight cinemas on DCM’s estate were up for a prize in the Cinema of the Year – 24 Screens or Under category, with four other sites making up the shortlist of 12. Read more
Digital Cinema Media worked with McCann, Xbox and a host of other parties to bring the first 4DX ad campaign to cinemas in September which allowed cinemagoers to experience the multi-sensory technology at several Cineworld sites for video game Forza Horizon 3. Read more
Dentsu Aegis Network’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) employee network, &PROUD, launched in July, is to hold its first fundraiser as part Stonewall Season, a series of events held by charity, Stonewall. Read more
It’s been a busy month for DCM and our latest podcast proves it, taking a look back on the highlights with Head of Film, Tom Linay, and Marketing and Insight Director, Zoe Jones, discussing the second annual Digital Cinema Media Awards and the BFI London Film Festival 2016. They also preview our Upfronts event, which takes place at the end of November. Read more
The Weekend Round-up
Trolls lived up to its billing as the big half-term film, topping the box office with £5.4m. That figure includes £2.4m from previews and bodes very well for the rest of the week with all the kids off school. Last year’s big half-term animation, Hotel Transylvania 2, opened with £6.3m, but that figure included £3.5m from two weekends of previews, so Trolls’ Friday to Sunday debut of £3m is bigger. Hotel Transylvania 2 managed to crack the £20m mark, which is something Trolls will be aiming to do. Read more
The BFI London Film Festival came with another packed programme featuring some of the most exciting film content we have to look forward to in the cinema in the coming months. As usual, DCMers attended a range of screenings throughout the event and we’ve highlighted six of the best. Read more
The Girl on the Train stayed in the top spot for a second week, holding off the challenge from a host of literary adaptations. The Emily Blunt thriller fell just 34% to £3.4m and after its second weekend has now banked £13.7m. If it continues on its current trajectory, it will beat Gone Girl’s final total of £22.6m. Read more
The winners of the 60th annual BFI London Film Festival were announced on Saturday night at a dinner held at Banqueting House. Highlights this year included Certain Women taking the best film prize and Steve McQueen being handed the Fellowship award Read more
This summer, DCM collaborated with Leffe and Picturehouse to deliver two pop-up cinema screenings in remote locations of South London. The events entertained consumers with food, blankets, seating and samples of the beer as part of the brand's ongoing Rediscover Time campaign. Read more
