Future Cinema is a London-based events company specialising in the creation of immersive and social cinema experiences as an alternative to the multiplex.
Background
Conceived in 2005, Future Cinema set out to share a cinematic experience by staging large cinema screenings that incorporate aspects of immersive events. Founder of Future Cinema Fabien Riggall described the idea behind Future Cinema as, "creating an immersive experience in which the audience becomes part of the narrative. It's about creating a social cinema experience where the audience can connect with each other online and at the event." It has been suggested that the popularity of alternative cinema experiences in general is due to the banality of the multiplex cinema experience.
Subsidiaries
Future Cinema as an umbrella brand comprises several subsidiary brands that deliver live, immersive cinema experiences worldwide. Future Cinema's online community is continuously growing and to date encompasses 350,000 Facebook and Twitter followers who are highly engaged with all brands.
In 2007, Secret Cinema pioneered the form ‘Live Cinema’ by introducing site-specific, immersive cultural experiences. Breaking films – and recently music albums – into their constituent parts and marrying narratives with play-along action, Secret Cinema is a unique participatory social experience. Fuelled by a desire to fill the void left by an over-saturated technological world, it invites audiences to lose themselves in serendipitous, imaginary environments that challenge the way we perceive culture and social interaction. The first event was a screening of Gus Van Sant's classic Paranoid Park which screened at Southwark Playhouse in London. Recent screenings include The Third Man in 2011, Prometheus in 2012 and Terry Gilliam's Brazil in 2013. Making use of abandoned or disused buildings, Secret Cinema explores narratives as well as space in its productions.
Future Shorts
is a short film label founded in 2003 to create a platform for new filmmakers to showcase their work. As well as hosting a monthly short film festival, Future Shorts created an online community that screens short films by filmmakers from all over the world. Anyone, anywhere can get involved in hosting their own short film event by signing up on the website. In 2013, Future Shorts are screened on 6 continents, in 90 countries and over 300 cities worldwide, including Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Greece, Lebanon, Mexico, Palestine, Scotland, South Korea and Vietnam.
The Other Cinema is a global network of pop up cinemas that aims to bring back a sense of community and a social experience to cinema-going. For its launch, The Other Cinema screened David Lean’s Brief Encounter on Valentines Day 2012 which was held at The Troxy in the East End of London. Audiences were encouraged to dress in black-tie and to carry a flower for a lover or a stranger. Creator and Founder of Future Cinema Fabien Riggall described the intention of The Other Cinema, "to bring back the idea of local cinema and allow the most important films both old and new to get seen and talked about.”
Secret Screenings
Secret Screenings is a new film club happening bringing back mystery films to the UK for one night only. Focussing on the sense of community, discovery and collective experience to cinema, it gives audiences access to incredible unseen films combined with one of a kind unforgettable experiences. Secret Screenings re-launched in July 2012 with one of the most remarkable unseen films of the year – Searching for Sugarman followed by an incredible performance by the subject of the film - Rodriguez - and continued its success with the screening on Bart Layton's The Imposter in August 2012.
Secret Restaurant
The latest project from Future Cinema, Secret Restaurant was launched in conjunction with St John, a Michelin Star Restaurant, for Secret Cinema's run of The Third Man. Originally started as part of Secret Cinema, there are plans to expand Secret Restaurant into other artistic fields.
