This project explored how the Glasgow Film Theatre could strengthen connections with new communities while building on existing relationships to support its long-term financial sustainability.
Client
The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) is an independent cinema in the heart of Glasgow. Specialising in independent and international films, the cinema’s tagline is ‘Cinema For All’ as the GFT aims to remove barriers to cinema.
Challenges
The GFT is a social enterprise, operating as both a business and a charity. Their income from ticket sales, along with grant funding, subsidises their accessible screenings. While the cinema is valued by regular audiences, they struggle to attract new people from across the city. The GFT aims to expand their community reach and build partnerships in Glasgow, but they face financial pressures and have limited capacity, with just one Community Engagement Co-ordinator to manage this work.
Process
Working in a team of five, we used a range of service design methods to understand the GFT’s primary stakeholders (audiences, staff, and volunteers):
Working in a team of five, we used a range of service design methods to understand the GFT’s primary stakeholders (audiences, staff, and volunteers):
Depth interviews with staff to explore internal perspectives and challenges.
Observation of how people interact with the cinema space.
Audience engagements, including interactive boards to spark conversations:
“What’s your GFT story?” board, inviting visitors to share personal connections to the cinema (self-guided)
“What’s your cinema type?” board, a large wooden display with pegs and yarn, designed to explore audience behaviour patterns and encourage people to talk with us about their cinema experiences. (facilitated by team)
Service safari included spending time alongside volunteers to experience their roles first-hand.
Outcome
The proposed service looks both inward to the cinema and its existing customers, and outward to communities not yet connected to the organisation
Friends of the GFT
This initiative leverages the connections GFT’s audiences have across the city, building on trusted relationships with other institutions. It supports the cinema’s financial sustainability by encouraging ticket sales and venue hire, generating additional revenue.
Community Noticeboards
Managed by GFT’s volunteers, these noticeboards extend the cinema’s reach into communities that may not yet know about its work. Volunteering at the GFT is already very popular, often attracting more people than the cinema can accommodate. This initiative offers volunteers a meaningful role with real ownership, while not adding to staff workload. By leading the project, volunteers actively invite new audiences in and create a platform to promote GFT’s accessible screenings, many of which are low-cost or pay-what-you-can.
Public engagement: 'Discover your cinema type'
We set up an interactive board in the GFT lobby to invite visitors to share their cinema experiences. Participants chose a cinema snack that matched their personality traits, which determined the colour of yarn they used to trace their cinema journey. Our team was on hand to guide the activity, making it easy for people to take part while creating opportunities for conversation.
Insights: the data gathered offered valuable insights into audience behaviour and helped us better understand different types of cinema-goers.
reflections: this was a good tool for starting the conversation with the GFT's customers, it was eye-catching and lots of people were interested in the board. However, capturing the data was time consuming (unwinding the yarn) and there were some questions around accessibility due to the physical nature of the board. This activity would be difficult for the cinema to replicate, which means it's not a sustainable method for the cinema to capture audience experiences in future.
Public engagement: Share Your GFT Story
This board asked four questions about connection/experiences at the cinema:
what made you choose the GFT?
what's your favourite memory of the GFT?
what's special to you about the GFT
what was your first impression of the GFT?
This board was low-maintenece and allowed people to share experiences with the cinema,
insights:
Reflections: this engagement would have worked better in the cafe, it wasn't possible due to health and safety regarding crowding risks. Leaving it over a short period of time didn't make sense, works better as a long-term, permanent engagement
