I’m Will. I’m an independent filmmaker, website programmer, community organiser, exhibitor and founder of Smoovie, and this is the first blog in a series about Smoovie: how it came to be, how I built this platform and what I’m hoping to do with it now that it’s (mostly) built, but also more widely about filmmaking, cinema and audiences.
So, Smoovie... it's basically a passion project that I started in Jan 2025 that's got completely out of hand. What started off just as a way to block book screenings to get reasonable licencing rates from filmmakers slowly evolved into whatever it's become today. It came off the back of various other non-DCP projector, community cinema projects and collaborations over the years, and I’ve gathered my learning as a community cinema person, as well as an independent filmmaker, and my understanding of community venues like youth centres, community halls, climate action hubs, music venues and other non-theatrical, non-DCP venues.
I think my background does give me this unique perspective on community cinema, I feel, where I sort of have a toe, or two toes and a thumb, in each bit of cake. One in the venue side, with experience setting up a youth arts space, then one in the filmmaker side, having recently shot a film called Kiss and Be Friends for directors Ana Baldini and Roly Witherow (Idioma Pictures), as well as having programmed for venues throughout rural mid Wales and having also run my own not for profit in Wales called Stiwdio Dyfi CIC.
I think what’s really obvious to me from each corner of the cake (this is a square cake, OK) is that screening films is hard, and anything which makes it easier, more affordable and increases cinema-going audiences especially for indies, is really needed.
Another thing that is really clear to me is that the enjoyment of watching something in that communal way is always going to be wanted by some and it’s the type of experience AI simulations will drain power grids and oceans trying to emulate.
Sometimes people like watching stuff at home. Sometimes they like to get out and do it somewhere else where they can meet other people and talk about the thing they’ve just seen. It’s really not that complicated. And during a time where we are more and more forced into spheres of isolation, I think we crave communal experience as much as ever, maybe more so.
So Smoovie is obviously ticketing, a film programme on rates without upfront fees, equipment installation support, playout software and many more things like this. But more importantly, it’s a passion for getting people out of the house. For going and sitting in a semi-lit room with a bunch of other people they may or may not know, and sharing a potentially life-changing communal experience. One that might stick with them for the rest of their lives, or at least until the end of the week, which is pretty good going in today’s terms.
So amongst the challenges the “cinema sector” faces, I think the film screenings element, at least, is here to stay, but I also think we need to really look again at what the purpose of cinema is. Is it the thing we’re watching, the specific environment for film watching, the quality of the visuals/audio, or is that missing the point? Is the really important part something deeper and more historical, an evolution of ancient voyeuristic traditions which bring us together and help us reflect on our lives and world?
Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts on the matter, if you have any questions about anything, please send me an email at [email protected]. It would be great to hear from you and carry on the conversation. I’ll add another post again soon once I can think of something else to say.
Will Tremlett - Smoovie Founder