About us

This website brings together the different elements of the collaborative Live Cinema Project.  The Live Cinema Project encompasses industry collaborations, a series of events, the development of a network of industry, advocacy groups, exhibitor networks, academics and creatives; and a series of research publications.  The project was formally launched in May 2016 through three significant events – the first ever Live Cinema Conference, The Arts Council England funded Live Cinema in the UK Report and a special issue of the online journal Participations.  Since then we have continued to collaborate formally with Live Cinema UK who are the key organisation advocating for and supporting the development of artistic practice in this area.   Together we have worked on events that have helped to establish the network and that continue to hold open a space for cross-sector dialogue, we have collaborated on projects that continue to test the aesthetic potential of live cinema events – in the UK and in Europe – with recent activity taking place at the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia and the Glasgow Film Festival.  We have collaborated on the commissioning and development of artistic work in this area through Live Cinema UK’s Associate Artist scheme – this year we are supporting 5 artists in the development of new experiences that will be showcased at our next Live Cinema event.  We are also currently collaborating on innovations in the design, development and evolution of live full-dome events with support from the AHRC and Innovate UK. 

The network continues to be the mechanism through which we establish symposia, a regular conference and other events to support the development of the experiential live cinema field. Although currently postponed due to COVID19, our third large scale event was due to take the form of a festival of research and innovation in this domain – originally planned for May 2020.   The research publications generated by the wider project are particularly concerned with understanding the shifts in audience experience signalled by innovations in the immersive cinema economy. We have published a number of articles (link to bibliography) that take Secret Cinema as their focus and offer new analytical tools for the consideration of these hybrid cultural phenomena.   We are currently working on the final draft of a full-length book that examines the shifts in the development of immersive experiential cinema through the lens of Secret Cinema’s evolution over the past 13 years.

We have most recently completed a short film on the subject of Live Cinema that features contributions from Royal Opera House, NT Live, Blast Theory, Katie Mitchell OBE and Hollywood legend Walter Murch and lead actor Woody Harrelson.  The film has been nominated for a Learning on Screen Award.