Exminster Film Club

Our village hall installed a screen with an overhead projector, and a few like minded members of our community thought it would be a perfect chance to start a film club! The response we received from the village was really positive, we decided to proceed and the Exminster Film Club was formed.

Our first screening was of Fishermans Friends, which had a good attendance, was really encouraging as we didn’t really know what to expect! The response from our audience let us know we were off to a good start. We now have a committee of 7 people, who are all encouraged to submit programming ideas, and our members are regularly asked what they would like to see. We have a membership of over 40 people, with an option to pay on the door which usually increases our attendance by 15 people per screening.

From day one Cinema For All have been a great help in all aspects of setting up our club, including financially, and Abi and Ellie’s training has been enthusiastic and supportive. We found the workshops most helpful and well worth the time, they made us very aware of what we needed to become a successful film club and the start up bursary enabled us to start screenings with confidence.

Our advice for anyone thinking about starting their own community cinema would be to contact Cinema For All and visit another society or club for advice. Know that it’s not just a question of buying a DVD and putting it on, there is so much more that goes into it, but it is well worth the effort. Get a good committee with as many diverse skills as you can find, and don’t be afraid to go for it, you will really enjoy it!

We have enjoyed the whole process of setting up our film club. We’ve had a wonderful response from our audience and brought people together in our community.