A London-headquartered chain of independent-style cinemas, begun with the Phoenix Picturehouse in Oxford in 1989 and now running venues across England and Scotland, plus a film distribution arm.
Picturehouse is a UK cinema chain best known for showing a wide mix of films, from independent and foreign-language titles to bigger releases, in venues that feel more like local arts centres than multiplexes. It is headquartered in London and is owned by the Cineworld group. It also has its own film distribution arm, Picturehouse Entertainment, which has released films including Broker, Monster, Scrapper, God's Own Country and The Wife. A distributor buys the rights to a film and arranges for it to be shown in cinemas, so the company works at both ends of the film business.
The chain's first cinema, the Phoenix Picturehouse in Oxford, opened in 1989, and many of its other cinemas ran independently before joining. One of the best known is the Duke of York's Picturehouse in Brighton, which opened on 22 September 1910 and claims to be the oldest cinema in continuous use in Britain. It is a Grade II listed building with a pair of 20-foot can-can dancer's legs on its roof. Picturehouse bought it in 1994, when it was in poor condition, and invested in restoring it. Clare Binns is the company's managing director. We did not find a formal mission statement in the pages we could read.
Picturehouse lists around 25 current venues across England and Scotland, including London, Brighton, Cambridge and York. Picturehouse Central in Piccadilly has seven screens, hosts the Sundance London film festival, and runs a membership scheme that includes access to a rooftop bar. In Brighton, the Duke of York's hosts the Cinecity Brighton Film Festival, organised with the University of Brighton, along with fancy-dress premieres, long film marathons and late-night cult screenings. A sister venue, Dukes at Komedia, opened in Brighton's North Laine in December 2012.
On culture, the Duke of York's general manager said in 2012 that the cinema would remain an arthouse cinema after Picturehouse became part of the Cineworld chain. That is a company statement from a dated source. The pages we read describe venues with strong local identities, a mix of special events and community links such as the university film festival. A trade union campaign for recognition at Picturehouse has been reported since 2015, so working life is a topic that has been discussed in public. We have not seen the company's own description of its working culture.
A cinema chain employs a wide range of people. In venues you will find general managers, duty managers, box-office and front-of-house staff, bar and kitchen teams, projectionists and event organisers. At head office there are programmers who choose which films to show, marketing and communications teams, and people who handle finance, property and customer membership. The distribution arm needs acquisitions and publicity staff. If you enjoy film and working with the public, the company's website lists current venues and vacancies.
Website: www.picturehouses.com
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