Beyond the Multiplex: Audiences for Specialised Film in English Regions
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: College of Social Sciences
Abstract
The aim of the project is to understand firstly how to enable a wider range of audiences to participate in a more diverse film culture that embraces the wealth of films beyond the mainstream; and secondly how to optimise the cultural value of engaging with those less familiar films, identified here as 'specialised' films. We will do this by investigating how audiences engage with and form around specialised films in four English regions. Audience formation is here understood as the processes of engagement with films that generate audience experiences. Drawing on industry definitions, specialised films are understood as films outside the mainstream, including small scale UK films, foreign language, documentary, archive and hard-to-pigeonhole films, and films with unconventional narratives, themes or cinematic techniques. Provision of mainstream film is good across England; however, provision of specialised films is low across the English regions outside London, which limits the opportunities for people to experience a more diverse film culture. We need to know more about the provision of specialised films in those regions, and how audiences form in relation to specialised film provision. Although audience reception studies have made audiences increasingly visible within academic debate and although the industry and policy makers also gather intelligence about audiences, little attention has been paid to the specific contextual relationships and interactions between media and people that generate and sustain audiences in English regions. Audience policy for specialised films takes a regional approach in attempting to improve provision and create a more diverse film culture. Our project aims to provide a firm evidence base for such policy developments by establishing a detailed understanding of how audiences form in their engagement with specialised films, the extent to which they are committed to film cultural diversity and the role that regional identity plays in that process. To achieve these aims requires an holistic approach that addresses the details of consumption and the opportunities to consume, namely the provision of film at a regional level, including online. The goal is both to advance scholarship and to provide concrete recommendations about how UK audience policies can be improved.
This focused, comprehensive and impactful project will explore the relationship between audiences and specialised films by examining the practices of venue-based and online film consumption, how different audiences experience specialised films, and the value of venues in the regional provision of film. It will also address the provision of specialised film by examining the industry processes of funding, production, distribution and exhibition (including online) of specialised films in four English regions. The audience research will involve a multilevel comparative study of audience formation in relation to specialised films in four English regions, collecting data that is in depth and at scale and using innovative digital humanities analytical methods. Following an earlier pilot study (http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/fhn), we have developed a highly experienced interdisciplinary team to undertake this project, comprised of academic experts in film studies, sociology, cultural policy, digital humanities and partners from film policy and the film industry. Through a partnership with the British Film Institute's (BFI) Film Audience Network and the Film Hubs (which organise provision of specialised film and foster audience participation regionally), the project is designed to have direct impact on the BFI's efforts to improve regional audience figures, widen film choice, and enhance the cultural benefits of specialised film. The project will therefore establish a strong relationship between the scholarly understanding of audiences and the development of official audience policies and industry practices in the context of regional provision.
This focused, comprehensive and impactful project will explore the relationship between audiences and specialised films by examining the practices of venue-based and online film consumption, how different audiences experience specialised films, and the value of venues in the regional provision of film. It will also address the provision of specialised film by examining the industry processes of funding, production, distribution and exhibition (including online) of specialised films in four English regions. The audience research will involve a multilevel comparative study of audience formation in relation to specialised films in four English regions, collecting data that is in depth and at scale and using innovative digital humanities analytical methods. Following an earlier pilot study (http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/fhn), we have developed a highly experienced interdisciplinary team to undertake this project, comprised of academic experts in film studies, sociology, cultural policy, digital humanities and partners from film policy and the film industry. Through a partnership with the British Film Institute's (BFI) Film Audience Network and the Film Hubs (which organise provision of specialised film and foster audience participation regionally), the project is designed to have direct impact on the BFI's efforts to improve regional audience figures, widen film choice, and enhance the cultural benefits of specialised film. The project will therefore establish a strong relationship between the scholarly understanding of audiences and the development of official audience policies and industry practices in the context of regional provision.
Planned Impact
We aim to achieve impact within the British film industry through a programme of research that directly supports the work of the British Film Institute (BFI) Film Audience Network (FAN). FAN is composed of the nine Film Hubs which cover the whole of the UK. The aim of FAN is to position 'specialised film' as a recognisable, valued and important part of people's cultural lives. FAN seeks to achieve this by a) developing a larger, more diverse and sustainable audience for specialised film and b) creating a more confident sector for the distribution and exhibition of specialised film. Our project will help FAN and the industry sector address these two objectives by providing evidence (raw data and research outputs), tools for conducting their own analysis of the data (the online interface), and a methodology for conducting similar audience studies involving quantitative and qualitative data (the ontology). If funded, the project is timely because its findings will feed in to the BFI's next round of planning for the continuation of FAN beyond 2017. Our pathway to impact is targeted at the strategic level and the applied level.
The project is thus designed to have a direct impact on the BFI's efforts to improve regional audience figures, widen film choice, and enhance the cultural benefits of specialised film. More generally, the project is designed to inform and influence the specialised film sector, industry leaders and stakeholders through a series of impact activities that make use of the audience data and the search and visualisation tools and assist them with their decision making processes at regional and national levels. One aspect of the impact plan will be to run a series of workshops that use the project's digital deliverables as part of a Delphi Methodology to influence policy development. The project will thus establish a strong relationship between the scholarly understanding of audiences and the development of official audience policies and industry practices in the context of regional provision.
The project is thus designed to have a direct impact on the BFI's efforts to improve regional audience figures, widen film choice, and enhance the cultural benefits of specialised film. More generally, the project is designed to inform and influence the specialised film sector, industry leaders and stakeholders through a series of impact activities that make use of the audience data and the search and visualisation tools and assist them with their decision making processes at regional and national levels. One aspect of the impact plan will be to run a series of workshops that use the project's digital deliverables as part of a Delphi Methodology to influence policy development. The project will thus establish a strong relationship between the scholarly understanding of audiences and the development of official audience policies and industry practices in the context of regional provision.
Organisations
- University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (Lead Research Organisation)
- British Film Institute (BFI) (Collaboration)
- Kennedys Law (Collaboration)
- Glasgow Film Theatre (Collaboration)
- Creative Scotland, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Film Hub Scotland (Collaboration)
- Into Film (Collaboration)
- CCRS Brokers Limited (Collaboration)
- AXA (Collaboration)
Publications

Forrest D
(2019)
Keynote speech: Place and Community

Forrest David
(2020)
New Realisms: Contemporary British Cinema

Hanchard M
(2020)
Developing a computational ontology to understand the relational aspects of audience formation
in Emerald Open Research

Hanchard M
(2019)
Exploring contemporary patterns of cultural consumption: offline and online film watching in the UK
in Emerald Open Research

Hanchard M
(2020)
Beyond the Multiplex newsletter

Hanchard M
(2019)
Beyond the Multiplex - Interim Findings Report - October 2019


Hanchard, M.
(2019)
Using NVivo to structure a computational ontology

Merrington P
(2019)
Using mixed-methods, a data model and a computational ontology in film audience research
in Cultural Trends

Merrington P
(2019)
Beyond the Multiplex newsletter
Related Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AH/P005780/1 | 01/06/2017 | 30/06/2018 | £725,449 | ||
AH/P005780/2 | Transfer | AH/P005780/1 | 01/07/2018 | 31/05/2021 | £498,125 |
Description | We have developed impact through four impact workshops and (with a further two planned for late March 2020 and May 2020). The workshops include participants from the BFI film hubs (North and South West) and stakeholders from both film exhibition and distribution sectors, informing the ways in which they engage with audiences and their strategies and methods for audience development. After presenting our interim findings to the BFI FAN, BFI FIlm hub North, BFI FIlm hub South Wes, and BFI research and statistics unit at impact workshops, they have asked us to address several ad-hoc questions in order to aid them in their future development of film policy. We expect our main non-academic impacts to arise from the policy recommendations and final project report due to be published after the Delphi review and final impact workshop. |
First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
Sector | Creative Economy,Other |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
Description | "XR Stories: Innovations in Storytelling in the Age of Interactivity and Immersion" is a a multi-million-pound project funded through the AHRC's Creative Industries Clusters Partnership programme, with core partners (BFI and Screen Yorkshire) |
Amount | £15,000,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2018 |
End | 05/2023 |
Description | European Cinema Audiences: Entangled Histories and Shared Memories |
Amount | £706,840 (GBP) |
Funding ID | AH/R006326/1 |
Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2018 |
End | 09/2021 |
Description | Me and my big data - developing citizens' data literacies |
Amount | £346,882 (GBP) |
Organisation | Nuffield Foundation |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2019 |
End | 03/2021 |
Title | Computational ontology using mixed methods research |
Description | We have developed a computational ontology based on data we have collected in the field (interviews, film elicitation groups, and surveys). In computational terms, an ontology is a data model that describes the components, characteristics and interrelationships of a particular knowledge domain. Our ontology describes the domain of film, audience and film industry policy through three classes of information: entities, entity characteristics, and relationships between them. The data that contributes to our development of the ontology comes from our coding and analysis of: - 200 semi-structured interviews (50 in each region), encompassing people with all levels of film engagement. The interviews cover what people value about their cinema experiences and what influenced their choice when deciding what and where to watch. - Secondary survey data (DCMS 'Taking Part' survey 2016/2017 and BFI 'Opening Our Eyes' survey, 2011) and our own longitudinal survey (three waves, 5071 people followed by 547 followed by 317) in the four regions to understand patterns of film consumption through time. - 16 film-elicitation groups to explore how audiences made sense of films. - Policy documents and reports and 28 'elite' interviews with film policy makers, regional exhibitors, and distributors to understand the concerns and approaches to regional film provision, programming, funding and marketing. We are developing our computational ontology to bring these data together, and to map the complex interrelationships between the constituent elements in a new way. The ontology and data are then implemented as a graph database for querying and analysis. Further details are available here: https://talkinghumanities.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2018/10/18/why-use-an-ontology-mixed-methods-produce-mixed-data/ |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This approach enables us to develop a holistic account as it enables us to model, interrelate, and therefore interrogate consistently all our data, irrespective of its original format or type. By allowing us to directly compare various datasets, and to expand on relationships between them, the ontology provides a means of analysing our data in greater depth than a traditional mixed-methods approach would, and at to do so at various scales. It allows us to query the data, in order to identify patterns in the ways that audiences form, and to delve deeply into the richness and diversity of audience experiences. |
Title | Data visualisations for film policy development |
Description | The project has completed the development of two groups of data visualisations which were requested by the project's policy stakeholders, Film Audience Network / BFI, in order to enable them to better understand the project's data from an audience development perspective. The first group is called "Engagement with film over the life-course"; the second group is called "Audience Types". The data visualisations have been developed as part of the project's overall graph data interface which will enable a range of stakeholders from academics to film policy and industry professionals to interrogate the project's data in line with ontology. The data visualisations will be published for use by the project's stakeholders in mid-April after testing has completed. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The data visualisations have not been released for general use by the project's policy stakeholders yet. We envisage this happening mid-April 2020 during a project methodology workshop. |
Title | Beyond the Multiplex - Audience Member Interviews |
Description | The questions/topic guide, anonymised transcripts, classification sheet, and NVivo coding scheme for 200 semi-structured interviews with audience members carried out for work package 4. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used in several of our project publications, with impacts expended to arise as result of later impact working group activities, e.g. workshops and the Delphi review. |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/883 |
Title | Beyond the Multiplex - Expert interviews |
Description | The interview questions, NVivo coding scheme, and anonymised trasncripts (where permissions were given via a consent form) from 27 interviews with industry and policy experts (work package 6) |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used in several of our project publications, with impacts expended to arise as result of later impact working group activities, e.g. workshops and the Delphi review. |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/945 |
Title | Beyond the Multiplex - Film Elicitation groups |
Description | The anonymised transcripts, classification sheet, and NVivo coding scheme of 16 x film-elcitation focus groups carried out for work package 6 |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used in several of our project publications, with impacts expended to arise as result of later impact working group activities, e.g. workshops and the Delphi review. |
URL | http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/209972 |
Title | Beyond the Multiplex - Policy and Industry document analysis |
Description | The list of 115 key policy and industry documents and NVivo coding scheme generated through their analysis in work package 2. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used in several of our project publications, with impacts expended to arise as result of later impact working group activities, e.g. workshops and the Delphi review. |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/942 |
Title | Beyond the Multiplex - Three-wave survey |
Description | A set of spreasheest containing the questions, responses, and socio-demographic composition of respodents to waves one, two, and three of the three-wave (longitudinal) survey carried our for work package 5. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used in several of our project publications, with impacts expended to arise as result of later impact working group activities, e.g. workshops and the Delphi review. |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/884 |
Title | Beyond the Multiplex: R script for Latent Class Analyses |
Description | A document setting out the script and specfic packages (for R - the statistical programming language) to install/call in order to generate the latent class analysis used on BFI and DCMS data in work package 3. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The dataset has been used in several of our project publications, with impacts expended to arise as result of later impact working group activities, e.g. workshops and the Delphi review. |
URL | http://researchdata.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/879 |
Description | Continually working with the British Film Institute (BFI) Research and Statistics Unit (2018 - Still Active) |
Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We have met with the team in London and presnted our findings to gain feedback, and to find out how we can best inform their future research through our own analyses and reports. |
Collaborator Contribution | They have assessed our findings and fed abck yo us, comparing them with their own research. |
Impact | Discussion with the unit informed our interim findings report. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Continually working with the British Film Institute (BFI) funded Film Audience Network (FAN) |
Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The project continues to work with the BFI funded Film Audience Network (FAN) |
Collaborator Contribution | We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to FAN and the Film Hubs, and in turn, they provide discussioj about their future needs for analysis and reports. |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Continually working with the British Film Institute (BFI) funded Film Hub North |
Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The project continues to work with the BFI funded Film Hub North.We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to FAN and the Film Hubs. We feed back the data visualisation and search tools that we are developing to FAN and the Film Hubs. Responding to their feedback enables us to make sure that we deliver tools that are accessible and appropriate to their needs.. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, which they find helpful in terms of marketing. We feed back our research findings to the film hub's working group, which it then shares with their members. We undertake feedback sessions and meetings with the film hub to gain input about about any analyses or reports |
Collaborator Contribution | We present data visualisation and search tools that we are developing to FAN and the Film Hubs. Responding to their feedback enables us to make sure that we deliver tools that are accessible and appropriate to their needs. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, and undertake feedback sessions and meetings with the film hub to gain input about about any analyses or its off of in which It provides meeting slots and speaker and discussion slots at it's events and it provides lunches while at these events. Their input helps us to assess which areas to focus on in our analyses and reporting. This Film Hub supported the launch of the project by giving us a venue and photographer, it has provided contacts in the film and film policy sector, it arranges public engagement events and it supported and funded two project sessions at the This Way Up Exhibition in Liverpool in 2018 and Nottingham 2019. This BFI Hub is continuing to support us in this way |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film, Improved understanding of audience experiences and how they engage with film. Information about new audience methodologies Better understanding about how audiences form New insights in how to market film experience Better understanding of how people relate to venue |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Continually working with the British Film Institute (BFI) funded Film Hub South West (2018 - Still Active) |
Organisation | British Film Institute (BFI) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The project continues to work with the BFI funded Film Hub North.We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to FAN and the Film Hubs. We feed back the data visualisation and search tools that we are developing to FAN and the Film Hubs. Responding to their feedback enables us to make sure that we deliver tools that are accessible and appropriate to their needs.. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, which they find helpful in terms of marketing. We feed back our research findings to the film hub's working group, which it then shares with their members. We undertake feedback sessions and meetings with the film hub to gain input about about any analyses or reports |
Collaborator Contribution | We are feeding back research findings and insights about methodology to FAN It provides meeting slots and speaker and discussion slots at it's events and it provides lunches while at these events It supported the launch of the project by giving us a venue and photographer, it has provided contacts in the film and film policy sector, it arranges public engagement events and it supported and funded two project sessions at the This Way Up Exhibition in Liverpool in 2018 and Nottingham 2019. It is continuing to support us in this way |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film, Improved understanding of audience experiences and how they engage with film. Information about new audience methodologies Better understanding about how audiences form New insights in how to market film experience Better understanding of how people relate to venue |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | INTO Film |
Organisation | Into Film |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We have developed an open access tool and set of data visualisations. |
Collaborator Contribution | INTO films will test and feeback on our open access tool and set of data visualisations with a focus on their applicability for developing young audiences. |
Impact | An open access tool and set of data visualisations. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Scottish film exhibition development |
Organisation | Creative Scotland |
Department | Screen Scotland |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The project has developed a working relationship with Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland. We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to these organisations. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, which they find helpful in terms of marketing and audience development. We undertake feedback sessions and meetings with these organisations to gain input about about any analyses or reports. |
Collaborator Contribution | We are sharing our research findings and insights about methodology to Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland - they have contributed with feedback on our research through a number of meetings. |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film. Improved understanding of audience experiences and how they engage with film. Information about new audience methodologies. Better understanding about how audiences form. New insights in how to market film experience. Better understanding of how people relate to venue. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Scottish film exhibition development |
Organisation | Creative Scotland |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The project has developed a working relationship with Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland. We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to these organisations. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, which they find helpful in terms of marketing and audience development. We undertake feedback sessions and meetings with these organisations to gain input about about any analyses or reports. |
Collaborator Contribution | We are sharing our research findings and insights about methodology to Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland - they have contributed with feedback on our research through a number of meetings. |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film. Improved understanding of audience experiences and how they engage with film. Information about new audience methodologies. Better understanding about how audiences form. New insights in how to market film experience. Better understanding of how people relate to venue. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Scottish film exhibition development |
Organisation | Film Hub Scotland |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The project has developed a working relationship with Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland. We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to these organisations. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, which they find helpful in terms of marketing and audience development. We undertake feedback sessions and meetings with these organisations to gain input about about any analyses or reports. |
Collaborator Contribution | We are sharing our research findings and insights about methodology to Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland - they have contributed with feedback on our research through a number of meetings. |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film. Improved understanding of audience experiences and how they engage with film. Information about new audience methodologies. Better understanding about how audiences form. New insights in how to market film experience. Better understanding of how people relate to venue. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Scottish film exhibition development |
Organisation | Glasgow Film Theatre |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The project has developed a working relationship with Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland. We feed back our research findings and information about the new audience studies research to these organisations. We provide them with rich findings about audience experiences, which they find helpful in terms of marketing and audience development. We undertake feedback sessions and meetings with these organisations to gain input about about any analyses or reports. |
Collaborator Contribution | We are sharing our research findings and insights about methodology to Glasgow Film Theatre, Creative Scotland, Screen Scotland and Film Hub Scotland - they have contributed with feedback on our research through a number of meetings. |
Impact | Improved understanding about the profiles of audiences and the ways in which audiences form around venues and types of film. Improved understanding of audience experiences and how they engage with film. Information about new audience methodologies. Better understanding about how audiences form. New insights in how to market film experience. Better understanding of how people relate to venue. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Vulcan Ontology and the insurance sector |
Organisation | AXA |
Country | France |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The work undertaken to develop a computational ontology for modelling mixed methods data has proven to have value in the emerging insurtech sector. The University of Sheffield's DHI team attended an Innovation Lab sponsored by Innovate UK for its programme 'Enabling data access in accountancy, insurance and legal services: CR&D' and participated in a consortium for the subsequent funding competition, working with CCRS Brokers Ltd, Kennedys Law and AXA. The AHRC project's methods fed directly into the Innovate UK bid and were the consortium's principle technological and methodological innovation, demonstrating that humanities data science methods and tools have a direct relevance to the (commercial) insurance and legal services sectors where the data presents similar problems but the sectors are less developed in their data science methods. Although the Vulcan Ontology funding bid to Innovate UK scored 91% by the reviewers -- the highest scoring bid in the competition -- it was not funded by Innovate UK. However, the DHI team continues to work with CCRS Brokers Limited on developing and embedding mixed data extraction and modelling methods (principally the computational ontology approach) in their business with a view to eventually commercialising the output for wider adoption by the insurance sector. The team is also working with CCRS, Kennedys and AXA to resubmit the Vulcan Ontology bid to the current Innovate UK Smart Grants competition. |
Collaborator Contribution | The principal contribution made by our partners (CCRS, Kennedys Law and AXA) has been to articulate a problem area within the insurance sector which, through the application of our project's methods, has the potential to generate billions of pounds for the UK financial services sector. Further, the partners have been critical in enabling us to understand: the commercial viability of our methods within insurtech; how our methods need to adapt for application in a financial services environment; the challenges of new types of data, including topographical and environmental data; how to 'productise' our methods for application in a larger, faster workflow with larger numbers of stakeholders. |
Impact | No funded outcomes yet. Other aspects of the partnership are confidential and subject to NDAs. The partnership is multi-disciplinary: Digital humanities Data ethics Commercial insurance Legal services |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Vulcan Ontology and the insurance sector |
Organisation | CCRS Brokers Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The work undertaken to develop a computational ontology for modelling mixed methods data has proven to have value in the emerging insurtech sector. The University of Sheffield's DHI team attended an Innovation Lab sponsored by Innovate UK for its programme 'Enabling data access in accountancy, insurance and legal services: CR&D' and participated in a consortium for the subsequent funding competition, working with CCRS Brokers Ltd, Kennedys Law and AXA. The AHRC project's methods fed directly into the Innovate UK bid and were the consortium's principle technological and methodological innovation, demonstrating that humanities data science methods and tools have a direct relevance to the (commercial) insurance and legal services sectors where the data presents similar problems but the sectors are less developed in their data science methods. Although the Vulcan Ontology funding bid to Innovate UK scored 91% by the reviewers -- the highest scoring bid in the competition -- it was not funded by Innovate UK. However, the DHI team continues to work with CCRS Brokers Limited on developing and embedding mixed data extraction and modelling methods (principally the computational ontology approach) in their business with a view to eventually commercialising the output for wider adoption by the insurance sector. The team is also working with CCRS, Kennedys and AXA to resubmit the Vulcan Ontology bid to the current Innovate UK Smart Grants competition. |
Collaborator Contribution | The principal contribution made by our partners (CCRS, Kennedys Law and AXA) has been to articulate a problem area within the insurance sector which, through the application of our project's methods, has the potential to generate billions of pounds for the UK financial services sector. Further, the partners have been critical in enabling us to understand: the commercial viability of our methods within insurtech; how our methods need to adapt for application in a financial services environment; the challenges of new types of data, including topographical and environmental data; how to 'productise' our methods for application in a larger, faster workflow with larger numbers of stakeholders. |
Impact | No funded outcomes yet. Other aspects of the partnership are confidential and subject to NDAs. The partnership is multi-disciplinary: Digital humanities Data ethics Commercial insurance Legal services |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Vulcan Ontology and the insurance sector |
Organisation | Kennedys Law |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The work undertaken to develop a computational ontology for modelling mixed methods data has proven to have value in the emerging insurtech sector. The University of Sheffield's DHI team attended an Innovation Lab sponsored by Innovate UK for its programme 'Enabling data access in accountancy, insurance and legal services: CR&D' and participated in a consortium for the subsequent funding competition, working with CCRS Brokers Ltd, Kennedys Law and AXA. The AHRC project's methods fed directly into the Innovate UK bid and were the consortium's principle technological and methodological innovation, demonstrating that humanities data science methods and tools have a direct relevance to the (commercial) insurance and legal services sectors where the data presents similar problems but the sectors are less developed in their data science methods. Although the Vulcan Ontology funding bid to Innovate UK scored 91% by the reviewers -- the highest scoring bid in the competition -- it was not funded by Innovate UK. However, the DHI team continues to work with CCRS Brokers Limited on developing and embedding mixed data extraction and modelling methods (principally the computational ontology approach) in their business with a view to eventually commercialising the output for wider adoption by the insurance sector. The team is also working with CCRS, Kennedys and AXA to resubmit the Vulcan Ontology bid to the current Innovate UK Smart Grants competition. |
Collaborator Contribution | The principal contribution made by our partners (CCRS, Kennedys Law and AXA) has been to articulate a problem area within the insurance sector which, through the application of our project's methods, has the potential to generate billions of pounds for the UK financial services sector. Further, the partners have been critical in enabling us to understand: the commercial viability of our methods within insurtech; how our methods need to adapt for application in a financial services environment; the challenges of new types of data, including topographical and environmental data; how to 'productise' our methods for application in a larger, faster workflow with larger numbers of stakeholders. |
Impact | No funded outcomes yet. Other aspects of the partnership are confidential and subject to NDAs. The partnership is multi-disciplinary: Digital humanities Data ethics Commercial insurance Legal services |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Delphi workshop 1 - Sheffield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | A Delphi workshop composed of experts from the stakeholder group and key exhibitors in the north of England (covering North East, North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber regions). We presented findings and discussed key themes to collaboratively generate policy recommendations. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Impact and dissemination meeting with Creative Scotland, Film Hub Scotland, and Screen Scotland |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | In April 2019 we were invited to meet with members of Creative Scotland, Film Hub Scotland, and Screen Scotland - both as an impact activiy to disseminate our researh and as poing of discussion for future collaboration in a possible follow-on funded project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Impact workshop with British Film Institute (BFI) Film Hubs in Birmingham |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | In October 2019 we met with representatives of the British Film Institute's regional Film Hubs to discuss our findings and demonstrate an early iteration of our data visualisation tools. This sparked discussion about the tools needed by individual cinemas (the film hub network members) to imporove audience development and programming strategies. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Impact workshop with British Film Institute (BFI) Research and Statsitics Unit in London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | In October 2019 we met with the British Film Institute (BFI) Research and Statsitics Unit in London to present and discuss our research. This sparked discussion and further questions about audience development and methods for forecasting/predicting future film audiences. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Meeting with Film Hub North (key film marketing experts) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | We met with Film Hub North (key film marketing experts) to find out what they needed from the research in order to make better informed film audence development policy. We also presented our interim findings. This sparked several questions which required further analyses and reponses. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Presentation at 'Diagonale: festival des österreichischen films' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We were invited to present ur research at the festival, which sparked questiosn and debate about current issues for regional film exhibition in a European context, and to interrogate ideas around audience development |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.diagonale.at/film-meeting-19 |
Description | Presentation at Europa Cinemas annual conference 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | In November 2018 we preseneted our research at a major cinema industry conference which sparked debate amongst film industry experts, practitioners, and polycmakers about the future direction of audience development practices and policy - espcially for young audiences |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://europa-cinemas-blog.org/2019/11/24/day-2-session-4-the-future-of-independent-film-in-the-str... |
Description | Presentation at ThisWayUp! 2019 (Nottingham Broaday Cinema) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | We presented findinsg and held a panel discussion abot our research which sparked several questions about audience journeys into fim, and possible directions for film audience development |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://thiswayupcon.com/news/fullprogrammetwu19 |
Description | Presentation at the British association of film, television, and screen studies (BAFTSS) annual conference 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | The paper was titled "Through falling in love, it's like he's seeing this landscape, seeing that beauty..." :The film worlds of 'God's Own Country'. It presented finding from our film elicitation focus groups (work package 6), focussing on intersectionality in audiences' interpretation of non-mainstream film. The presntation sparked questions and further interest in the way people make sense of film narratives. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://screeningsex.com/2019/04/17/sex-baftss-2019/ |