The Live Cinema Conference 2016 brings together artists, practitioners, producers, commissioners, exhibitors and academics to explore the realised and potential impact of collaborations in the emergent area of Live Cinema. In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward the creation of a cinema that escapes beyond the boundaries of the auditorium through which film-screenings are augmented by synchronous live performance, site-specific locations, technological intervention, social media engagement, and all manner of simultaneous interactive moments including singing, dancing, eating, drinking and smelling. Such instances belong to the emergent area of ‘Live’ or ‘experiential’ cinema, and include all events inspired by the moving image with additional theatrical, sensorial, musical, spoken word or dance experiences. The conference includes speakers involved in the production, delivery and attendance of outdoor screenings, drive-ins, sing-a-longs, sensory augmentations, fully immersive experiences and event-led distribution, spanning the independent to the mainstream. The conference will capture the over-arching current state-of-the-field, as well as offering unique and in-depth insights into the various manifestations of live cinema economies and cultures.  The day will include live panel debates, workshops and masterclasses addressing some key emergent challenges identify in current research.

The Conference forms part of a research project funded by the Arts Council England Grants for the Arts led by Lisa Brook of Live Cinema UK, in collaboration with Sarah Atkinson (King’s College, London) and Helen W. Kennedy (University of Brighton).