Bute Street
manifesto
The main goal of Bute Street Festival is to promote independent film and visual and digital art, creating new audiences in an area and demographic which for a long time has been neglected in this regard. Bute Street Festival is based in Luton, a region which for a long time has been neglected in this regard. Meaning that the commercial potential in this area is completely untapped. In a town that has recently received an inward investment of £1.5 billion and over £3.8 million in direct arts funding, the local arts market place is young, healthy and unsaturated. Bute Street Festival stands as the fastest growing and most recognisable arts brand in the Bedfordshire area.
Bute Street Festival’s commercial reach is not just local as our content throughout the year is now shown across 12 Cineworld Cinema sites, up from one in 2018. Cineworld enjoyed 275 million customers across their combined UK sites in 2019. Our programming is also supported by BFI Network an affiliate of the British Film Institute, the University of Bedfordshire as well as The Culture Trust Luton.
Benefits of Supporting Bute Street Festival:
- An increased brand awareness and presence amongst a motivated customer base.
- Thousands of pounds worth of brand marketing through our existing partners.*
- An association with an established, growing and well-respected brand.
- Free access to our events.*
- Exclusive discounts on merchandise.
*Terms and conditions apply.
Key Partners:
Luton Rising
Thameslink
The Culture Trust Luton
Bute Street Arts Festival
Youth Film Programme
Film Nights
The Bute Street Arts festival, a 5 star rated festival on Filmfreeway, takes place in April each year in Luton. For three days we take over the whole of the Hat Factory and transform it into a creative cocktail celebrating and showcasing film, music and art. Filled with Q&As, seminars, live performances, awards and an after party. With creatives joining us from as close as Luton and as far as LA, Bute Street Festival was this year (2022) described by a visiting filmmaker as:
“A great festival that puts Luton on the map for supporting indie content creators.”
Our Youth Film Programme was commissioned by the Independent Cinema Office. The purpose of the project was to offer the young creatives (16-22 years old) of Luton a backstage pass into what it really takes to organise a film based event. Although this is huge learning in it itself we wanted to introduce our new students to how mainstream films are licensed and how independent film nights can come together and how to build an experience.
Over the course of the 8 weeks the students curated their two film nights, planned and marketed their event.
For our first cohort 2022 we had 25 students sign up for this programme, which was an unprecedented success. For our 2023 cohort we will be developing it out to include a practical filmmaking element bringing in established Directors from agencies such as PrettyBird, as well as Script Editors, Producers, Camera Operators and Editors to facilitate these sessions.
The aim is to give these young people a holistic experience and crash course in filmmaking as well as in film curation and event management. With the purpose of increasing their employability skills and real world experience in the industry.
Our main objectives are to develop a larger, more diverse, confident and sustainable audience across all our offerings. Part of that is our alternative cinema nights which we host once a month showcasing all the cool titles our local commercial cinema misses out on.
Screening out of our really modern (yet still oozing with so much character) venue the Hat Factory with a fully stocked bar, with snacks on tap and amazing hospitality, it is a really cool way to experience cinema differently.
becoming a sponsor
We have an ambitious mission and we would love for you to be a part of that journey. We offer a number of sponsorship options with some really attractive perks, to put yourself and or your business at the forefront of a festival which is quickly becoming a real force in the arts scene. As well as helping to ensure that we can reach and help as many young people taking their first steps in the art scene as possible. Whilst also securing a legacy of cultural and artistic access.
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To discuss sponsorship options in more detail please contact Benjamin Cyrus-Clark at benjamin@butestreetfilmfestival.com
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Donations
Thank you for showing interest in donating to Bute Street Film & Arts Festival and reading into what we stand for and our mission. We are an independently funded festival so all the support we can get matters! When making a donation it contributes to spreading the word, bring in well known guest speakers, and to help support the event days. If you wish to donate hit the PayPal button below.
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Thank You from the Bute Street Film & Arts Festival team
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