From backyard to big top bonanza By the River Thames, in an old TV studio, a fantasy land of movie-magic is screening modern hits and classics to spellbound audiences. Peter Knight learns about a ‘pop-up cinema’ that’s true to its roots.
U
NLESS YOU’VE BEEN LIVING as a cinematic hermit in a dark auditorium for the past decade (and in our industry that is possible…), you cannot help but have noticed the surge in the number |of pop-up cinemas that have been
sprung up in all sorts of innovative locations worldwide. I’m most familiar with the pop-up scene in London, which notably boasts a fantastical and interesting selection. Of all these, a handful are now quite well-known — Nomad, Luna, Skylight, Rooftop, Backyard, Secret Cinema to name a few. Each has a different style and approach towards the events they put on and each has a different backstory. One of the most intriguing, by a country mile, is Backyard Cinema.
The genesis of a great idea... As the name suggests, Backyard Cinema has its roots in an
With some investment, Backyard started to screen films
unprepossessing location, namely the backyard of Dominic
at Camden Market in 2011 as part of its night market. There,
Davies’ house. He would run movie screenings for his friends, in
Dominic met James Milligan who was events manager at the
the back garden, providing the food, the beer and other fun.
market and later became a business partner. Dominic admits
As it became more and more successful and the cost of
this experience taught him a lot. They made mistakes that
supplying refreshments for an expanding and appreciative
they learnt from, but there was a definite appetite, selling out
audience spiralled, Dominic realised there was an opportunity
all 140 tickets for each of the four nights they screened. In the
to take the idea to market commercially.
second year they ran three nights of three shows for six weeks
In a small local venue Dominic set up a screening with 30
— a total of 400 tickets a week. This grew to 840 in 2013, and
chairs bought from the back of Argos catalogue. While the
4,500 the year after, with tickets selling out two months ahead.
majority of that first public audience was made up of friends and family, a few members of the audience had heard about
A move to a new ‘permanent’ location
the screening by word of mouth and thought it might be fun
Continued success prompted a move in September 2019 to a
to come along. It was at this point that Dominic thought that it
new home in Capital Studios — the former film and television
might be possible for it to become something bigger.
studios nestled behind the Youngs brewery south of the
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Attention to detail and atmosphere: the hallmarks of Backyard Cinema’s experience
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14/02/2020 14:33
