Case Studies: Young Audiences – BFI FAN projects from across the UK

It is widely reported that young audiences (those aged 25 and under) are driving cinema admissions post-pandemic, with 16 to 24 year olds making up the most active segment of the audience, children and families increasingly turning to cinema for cultural outings, and the cult of Letterboxd inspiring young adults to seek out repertory titles on the big screen. However, with such a large demographic spanning different age ranges and certifications, and with streaming and social media competing for their attention, young audiences remain notoriously difficult for independent venues to engage and retain.

To help BFI FAN members navigate the various needs of young audiences and understand which types of programming and activities work for different age ranges, we have created a series of case studies detailing successful young-audience activities taking place across the UK.

Each case study focuses on a different young audience segment and details how the organisation approached the curation, scheduling, funding and marketing of their project. The series begins with a focus on Open City Documentary Festival’s experimental programme of shorts for under 7s; programming for 0 to 3 year olds with Discovery Film Festival’s Shorts for Tinies; exciting family programming and workshops at London’s The Garden Cinema; how to re-engage with family audiences at The Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford; and working with Young Programmers at the NI Science Festival.

As well as detailing the process, these Case Studies also highlight the biggest challenges each organisation faced in building a young audience, including issues with funding, staffing, building audiences from scratch, screening non-certified films, and the timelines required to prepare youth-focused activities.

Despite this, they all showcase an incredible breadth of programming and activities that truly engage young people. This includes screening experimental films to under-7s, shorts from around the world for babies and toddlers, and ambitious programmes of classic, independent, and world cinema for families and teenagers.

These case studies focus on different age ranges, types of activity, and venues. However, there are common factors in their approach that have led to the success of their programmes and reveal key learnings for working with young audiences.

Know the age of your audience

Knowing your audience underpins all successful programming. When it comes to young audiences, the most important factor is age. The Case Studies on Open City, The Ultimate Picture Palace, Discovery Film Festival, and The Garden Cinema all focus on different age ranges within the children and families segment.

The Discovery Film Festival realised their shorts programmes were increasingly popular with younger ages, so adapted their Shorts for Tinies to reach 0 to 3 year olds. The Ultimate Picture Palace learned from surveys that their audience was ages 4 to 8, younger than they had initially been targeting. Open City Documentary Festival recognised their experimental shorts work best for those aged 7 and under, and The Garden Cinema has learned that its family audiences are broadly aged 5 to 11 years. Getting a clear picture of your audience’s age range ensures the films screened are suitable in terms of content and certificate, but also that the type of added activity around the screening will fully engage that audience.

Pre and post activities are key

For young audiences, going to the cinema is an event, whether it be with your family or a social outing with friends. Creating more of an experience around a film screening with a pre or post screening activity not only actively engages young people in film but also shows that the venue cares about young people having a good time in that space and, in turn, builds a loyal audience. Each of these case studies explores different types of added activity that have been tailored to the audience’s age. From interactive introductions and handing out instruments and props during the screening, through to creating activity sheets and leading post-screening crafting and animation workshops, there are lots of ideas across these studies that can be recreated in your venue.

Creating the right environment

As well as added activity, make sure your venue speaks to your audience. Do children and young people feel welcome? Each of these case studies highlights things venues have done to adapt the cinema environment to suit their young audience, including introducing child-friendly snacks, having a regular host for children and family screenings, dimming the sound and turning the lights up for toddler screenings, removing trailers, and decorating the foyer.

Value for money

Being able to afford to come to the cinema is a driving factor across the young audience demographic. Whether it’s parents and carers buying tickets for themselves and their children, or young people being able to buy a snack with their ticket, they are all looking for value for money. Pre or post screening activities help signal to the audience that they are getting more for the cost of the ticket, and, as these case studies reveal, this is most successful when combined with a ticket offer. Each of these case studies explores a variety of approaches to pricing that have been effective in engaging young audiences, such as providing free events, introducing ‘pay what you can’ schemes, and directly surveying families to ask what they would be happy to pay.

Case studies