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The Tyneside Cinema is an independent cinema in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
. It is the city's only full-time independent cultural
cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...
, specialising in the screening of independent and world cinema from across the globe. The last remaining Newsreel theatre to be in full-time operation in the UK, it is a Grade II-listed building. The Tyneside's patrons are filmmakers
Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work in ''Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers o ...
and
Mike Hodges Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), ''Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (1974 ...
, and musicians
Neil Tennant Neil Francis Tennant (born 10 July 1954) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and music journalist, and co-founder of the synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys, which he formed with Chris Lowe in 1981. He was a journalist for ''Smash Hits'', and a ...
of the
Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo i ...
and Paul Smith of
Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band, formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band consists of Paul Smith (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), and Tom English (drums). The band have released seven studio albums: '' A Certain Trigge ...
. Its cultural remit is set by the trustees and is a requisite for continued funding from sponsors such as the BFI and the Arts Council. Alongside its core programme of cultural cinema, the newly refurbished Tyneside Cinema holds daily free screenings of archive newsreel footage and guided tours. The cinema also allows budding producers and digital artists to network and present their work. A £7m restoration and renovation project occurred between 2006 and 2008, and the venue now boasts digital projection and 3D facilities alongside traditional film projection.


History

The Tyneside building was conceived, designed and built by Dixon Scott, a local entrepreneur and the Great Uncle of film directors Sir Ridley and
Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as ''Top Gun'' (1986), ''Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''Day ...
. Scott had travelled in the Middle and Far East, and his experiences influenced the décor of the first floor landing and foyer of the Tyneside building. Scott decorated the building with his own take on Art Deco, as influenced by his Eastern travels. The Tyneside Cinema was opened as a
news cinema A news cinema or newsreel theatre is a cinema specialising in short films, shown in a continuous manner. However, despite its name, a news cinema does not necessarily show only cinematographical news. Timeline The first official news cinema, ...
, the Bijou News-Reel Cinema on 1 February 1937, and was commonly known as the News Theatre. Screenings would include a mixture of travel, sport, and news films, as well as cartoons. In 1937, the cinema became the home of the Tyneside Film Society, the origin of the Tyneside Cinema itself which, by the late 1950s, had grown into the largest film society in the UK outside London. The popularity of television led to a decline in audiences and consequently the cinema was closed in 1968. After a brief period it was reopened as a film theatre by the BFI. The cinema closed again in 1975. A case for re-opening the cinema, then known as the Tyneside Film Theatre, was put together by the Tyneside Filmgoers Group and it was re‐opened in 1976.


Restoration and reopening

The cinema had occupied its Pilgrim Street site since 1937, and had by 1999 declined to a critical state, with many believing it would eventually be forced to close. The cinema required a number of improvements, and despite its history and prime location, the cinema had a serious financial deficit. A significant investment in the structure was required, and following a survey of the building, the cinema's board of trustees realised that a capital investment of about £7m would be necessary. The project secured the support of organisations including One North East and the
Northern Rock Foundation Northern Rock Foundation was an independent charity and company limited by guarantee in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1997 when the Northern Rock company was floated on the stock exchange. Following the near-collapse of the bank and its na ...
Seats removed from the Classic screen were sold in 2006, raising more than £5000 for the restoration project. The stated aim of the project was to celebrate the cinema's heritage as a newsreel theatre and also look to its future in the digital age. The £7m restoration and renovation project was undertaken between November 2006 and May 2008. Original features inside the building had to be protected during the project, and the work uncovered a pair of original stained glass windows and mosaic floor tiling which had been hidden for years. Expanding the cinema in its town centre location was difficult due to the limited space available. Building works proceeded upwards, and the area between the cinema and its neighbouring building was also used. The cinema obtained a temporary lease at Gateshead's
Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...
, which allowed the cinema to screen films in a single theatre under the Tyneside Cinema brand. Themed screenings were held across Newcastle to allow the public access to the Tyneside Cinema experience as work on the restoration project continued. These included a screening of ''
It’s a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern self-published in 1943 and is in turn loo ...
'' at the
Discovery Museum The Discovery Museum is a science museum and local history museum situated in Blandford Square in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It displays many exhibits of local history, including the ship, '' Turbinia''. It is managed by Tyne & Wear Archives ...
with
mulled wine Mulled wine, also known as spiced wine, is an alcoholic drink usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and sometimes raisins, served hot or warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas. It is us ...
and
mince pies A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in the United States, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet. The pies are traditionally served during the ...
for attendees, and a screening of ''
Monty Python's Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It ...
'' at St. Mary’s Church. The Tyneside reopened in May 2008, following the major restoration of its original auditorium, alongside a modern extension and redevelopment of the upper floors designed by Fletcher Priest Architects and consulting engineers Cundall. The work added a new level to the building with two new screens, the Roxy and the Electra, housed on top of each other. A single projection block behind serves all of the cinema's screens. The increase in screens enabled more flexibility to respond to demand and created space to move films around. A new bar, and a film learning centre called the Tyneside Studio, partly designed by filmmaker
Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work in ''Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers o ...
, were also installed. Following the redevelopment, the site's Venue Manager was Leigh Venus, who went on to re-open the former Bede's World heritage site as
Jarrow Hall Jarrow Hall is a grade II listed building in Jarrow, Northeast England, and part of the larger Jarrow Hall museum site. It was built around 1785 by local businessman Simon Temple; he later went bankrupt in 1812 after a series of poor investment ...
in 2016. In 2014 the cinema was further expanded by the addition of the Tyneside Bar Café in an adjoining premises which had previously been occupied by a bank. The site also included a new purpose built dual space ('The Gallery'), functioning as a Gallery for artists' moving image during the day and as a Cinema in the evening. The Gallery, curated by Elisabetta Fabrizi and funded by ACE, commissioned and showcased projects by both established and emerging artists including John Akomfrah, Aura Satz,
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
, Rachel Reupke, Ursula Mayer, John Smith and Oreet Ashery. In March 2020, the cinema announced that it would be closing indefinitely due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. The cinema started a donation campaign to offset their financial losses, but CEO Holli Keeble said it was at risk of permanent closure. In June 2020, the cinema began redundancy consultations for its entire workforce.


Controversies

In November 2019, following an
employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...
, Tyneside Cinema was found to have discriminated against a former employee who lived with mental health disabilities, and had not made reasonable adjustments to protect them. Following a remedy hearing in January 2020, in accordance with the
Equality Act 2010 The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-d ...
, they were ordered to pay compensation to the employee. In June 2020, allegations of sexual assault, bullying and harassment emerged on social media. In response, CEO Holli Keeble and chair of the board Lucy Armstrong issued a statement saying that they took "the safety and well-being of our team at Tyneside Cinema very seriously, and strive to cultivate a culture of equality and inclusivity in the workplace". Following this, over 200 current and former employees issued a counter-statement condemning the official response, stating:
We feel strongly that existing training policies, grievance procedures and mechanisms for whistle-blowing are not fit for purpose. We take this view based on substantial anecdotal evidence from colleagues and former colleagues. We do not feel that Tyneside Cinema is a safe workplace for everyone.
Following this, the board of trustees announced that a review by a "high-level independent consultant", later named as Turning Moment, would take place. The cinema also reported itself to the
Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...
. It was reported on September 6 that another former employee, who complained to the Cinema that she was raped by a former employee, would be taking the cinema to an employment tribunal. The report stated that Northumbria Police had interviewed a man in relation to the alleged incident, but released him without any further action taken. On September 24, a joint statement issued by the cinema online announced the resignations of both Keeble and Armstrong. In the statement, Armstrong said: "We both recognise that in order to give the Tyneside Cinema the best opportunity for future success it is right that we both move aside and allow a new team to take over." On October 19, the board of trustees at Tyneside Cinema received the 297-page report from Turning Moment into the allegations. A 15-page
executive summary An executive summary (or management summary, sometimes also called speed read) is a short document or section of a document produced for business purposes. It summarizes a longer report or proposal or a group of related reports in such a way that ...
was made public on October 21, which described the review team's overall conclusions regarding the culture at the Cinema:
*
Sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
has persisted over many years and has not been properly addressed. *
Bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
and a lack of respect were endured, sometimes daily and for long periods of time. * Some staff have lost trust and faith in the higher leadership. * Staff have been exposed to unnecessary safety risks in the course of their work. * Because of the combination of factors highlighted, staff have suffered pressure and stress. * Some staff and managers have not experienced any issues or difficulties compared to others.
On October 22, the board of trustees issued their own statement in response, in which they accepted "all the findings and conclusions" in the report:
First and foremost, we apologise profusely to anyone affected currently or previously by the culture and behaviours that have been identified as being systemic at the Cinema over the last seven years. The report makes clear how difficult some of the 100 participants found the experience, and we thank them for their courage in coming forward and bringing the issues to light. No one should work at or visit an organisation where they are either unsafe or feel unsafe.


Awards

The Tyneside Cinema won the Building Conservation and Tourism and Leisure categories as well as the overall accolade Project of the Year at the 2009
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is a global professional body for surveyors, founded in London in 1868. It works at a cross-governmental level, and aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the val ...
North East Renaissance Awards at
Newcastle Civic Centre Newcastle Civic Centre is a local government building located in the Haymarket area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the main administrative and ceremonial centre for Newcastle City Council. Designed by the city architect, George Kenyo ...
on 25 April 2009. Judges described the Tyneside Cinema restoration as “an excellent example of a building conservation project”, calling the cinema “a successful commercial venture that has employed creative and innovative design to breathe new life into a leisure facility that is rare and in many ways unique, a project that is playing a regenerative role in the widest sense of the word”.


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{coord, 54, 58, 25, N, 1, 36, 43, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Cinemas in Tyne and Wear Culture in Newcastle upon Tyne Buildings and structures in Newcastle upon Tyne Shorty Award winners