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Barriers to Diversity in Film – A Research Review – Aug 07

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<strong>in</strong> Western style holidays, but UK travel bus<strong>in</strong>esses were not us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

appropriate channels and promotional methods <strong>to</strong> reach this<br />

community. The Asian community (20% of the population <strong>in</strong> Bradford)<br />

chose not <strong>to</strong> use ma<strong>in</strong>stream travel bus<strong>in</strong>esses (Klemm and Kelsey<br />

2004).<br />

The disabled market is not always unders<strong>to</strong>od properly by ma<strong>in</strong>stream<br />

providers. For example, disabled people are under-represented <strong>in</strong> all<br />

film audiences except DVD retail. Access <strong>to</strong> the c<strong>in</strong>ema may be a<br />

barrier and <strong>in</strong>itiatives <strong>to</strong> support disabled access <strong>to</strong> c<strong>in</strong>emas have been<br />

successful where <strong>in</strong>terventions have been carefully designed <strong>to</strong> meet<br />

disabled persons’ needs. To tackle the problems of access <strong>to</strong> the<br />

c<strong>in</strong>ema for people with disabilities, the c<strong>in</strong>ema <strong>in</strong>dustry with help from<br />

the UK <strong>Film</strong> Council, has <strong>in</strong>stalled subtitl<strong>in</strong>g and audio description <strong>to</strong><br />

meet the needs of deaf, bl<strong>in</strong>d and partially sighted people (Brandon et<br />

al 20<strong>07</strong>). Significantly more people with sensory impairments are now<br />

go<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> the c<strong>in</strong>ema. This example illustrates that audiences can be<br />

<strong>in</strong>creased, but they require nurtur<strong>in</strong>g and resourc<strong>in</strong>g, th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g<br />

carefully about specific needs and consult<strong>in</strong>g widely.<br />

The potential older audience is grow<strong>in</strong>g while the younger audience<br />

has reached a plateau. Few <strong>in</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dustry appear <strong>to</strong> have considered<br />

how <strong>to</strong> attract this sizeable chunk of the population <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> the c<strong>in</strong>ema.<br />

Screen<strong>in</strong>gs of differ<strong>in</strong>g films at different times of the day can <strong>in</strong>crease<br />

this audience but possibly c<strong>in</strong>emas need <strong>to</strong> be more sophisticated than<br />

C:\Documents and Sett<strong>in</strong>gs\mcorless\Desk<strong>to</strong>p\Intranet\<strong>Barriers</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Diversity</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Film</strong>_DS_RB 20 <strong>Aug</strong><br />

<strong>07</strong>.doc<br />

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