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Bristol marries new technology and creativity with its industrial heritage Watershed reflects the city s reputation as a media capital. The Guardian Watershed shows a wide range of mainly indie films from all over the world and has a reputation as one of the best run arthouse cinemas in the country. The Independent Watershed, the UK s first dedicated Media Centre, opened its doors in 1982 as a two screen cinema and café/bar. It stands at the gateway to Harbourside at the heart of Bristol, home to some of the world s leading creative producers (Aardman Animation, BBC Natural History), prolific bands including Massive and Portishead and artists such as Banksy. 2
21st Century Watershed? Key to our modernisation was a successful 3 year 3.5 million Capital Development programme. 3 state of the art cinemas, improved conferencing spaces & better access Larger Café/Bar with free /fast broadband access. Cinema 1 is equipped with the Digital Screen Network set-up c/o the UKFC. Plasma screens promoting the programme While the cinemas bring world cinema to local audiences, the dshed.net and other online platforms allow us to: project local talent to the world showcase what happens in the building to a wider audience & contextualise our cultural offer invite our users to participate beyond using the cinema and the café/bar 3
A diverse programme of features, shorts, digital work from all over the world Intense Intimacy: The Cinema of Claire Denis A UK wide touring retrospective tied in with the release of White Material Albanian Film Season: A New Wave in Cinema European classics you've never seen. So Albanian film is the next big thing? The Guardian A Watershed season which uncovered this burgeoning, yet little known cinema, its filmmakers and stars. In partnership with Bristol University. Slapstick Bristol s Silent Comedy Film Festival Most of the films on show were rarely screened archive prints with live music - 4,000 people visiting over the 4 days of the festival. Hosting Internationally renowned festivals such as Encounters International Film festival, Afrika Eye and Wildscreen and touring seasons from the BFI and UK venues such as Manchester s Cornerhouse (Viva!), Sheffield s Showroom (Docfest), Edinburgh s Filmhouse (Cinema China) 4
Watershed is a prime example of a highly connected, flexible, porous piece of cultural and creative infrastructure, of which there are too few examples. Watershed is more than just an arts cinema. It is at once a cultural centre, a business broker, a social networker, a research and innovation facility, a café/bar, and a cultural tourist attraction Department for Culture Media & Sport Creative Economy Programme 06 5
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Writer/Director Hazel Grian (Licorice) lives in Bristol Watershed user - she loves the films & often hangs out in café/bar Participation - Entered short films into DepicT! - Watershed s 90 sec competition - made it to the shortlist twice with Big Career and Donut Networking - Meets Matt Groening at Animated Encounters at Watershed - he now describes her as a funny film-making genius Creative business opportunities - Gets a placement at HP Labs, funded by Arts Council, managed by Watershed - creates a very successful Alternate Reality Game Meigeist played by an online audience of 30,000 world wide. The future Development of a feature which may find its way to our screens? 10
Electric December - electricdecember.org Watershed s online digital advent calendar showcasing 24 films by the UK's freshest young filmmaking talent from across Europe. 11
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Watershed total income, revenue funding and SWScreen project funding 70 full-time staff annual turnover apx 3million. 3,000,000 2,500,000 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000 0 93/94 94/95 95/96 96/97 97/98 98/99 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 Total Income Revenue Funding SW Screen Project In addition to the box-office income, and the support of a wide range of funders, the work of the Trust is supported by profits from the trading company (conference and café/bar). A 6.4 million investment from the South West of England Regional Development Agency, recently enabled Watershed to buy its home, the historic dockside E&W sheds, and created a new fund to support the creative media sector in Bristol. 13
Working with a range of partners to deliver a diverse and at times challenging cultural programme that reaches many different niche audiences Universities, Colleges, Schools, Youth Work organisations International Festivals, Museums & Libraries Independent Cinema Office, Distributors, Sales Agents Arts organisations / venues Community organisations Media & technology companies Film makers, Media producers, Designers & Artists 14
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Watershed Media Centre Values: Consistency - Engagement - Enjoyment - Diversity - Participation 22