Moviola

Moviola operates a unique Partnership model which shapes and influences our day to day operation. In each of our (currently 80) rural communities we have a Partner Group which chooses films and dates, books and prepares the venue, organises local publicity and sells tickets. The Partners also manage the show, which means they decide on the sort of... show they want: What time should it start? Would they like a supporting programme? How long should the interval be? Meanwhile the central Moviola team books the films, maintains links with film distributors, provides marketing materials and tickets and, most importantly, all the equipment and the Presenter for the show. Moviola has become an integral part of the life of each community it visits. Whilst we have to work with a variety of halls of different sizes, ages and acoustics, we are always looking for ways to improve the service and we are more often complimented than criticised. People see Moviola as good value and fun and they come back again and again. The spread of the service has been 'viral' - by word of mouth from one village to the next. We have never advertised our services and we do not go anywhere to which we have not been invited. The exponential growth in Moviola since 2001 illustrates the success of the model. In 2001-2 we put on 52 shows and had a total attendance of 2528. Within 3 years both these numbers had more than quadrupled and by 2008-9 we had settled into our current figure of over 700 shows per year, and an average annual attendance of around 45,000. This success is due to the hard work of Partners and core staff but is also down to the high standards of technical presentation and the showmanship we try to build in to every show. We play appropriate music before the start of the show. Most features are accompanied by a programme of short films and trailers to allow an interval where audience interaction (and also all-important refreshment sales) can take place. The picture is big and clear and perfectly positioned on-screen. The sound ...Read More