“The Screen Machine is, by its nature, mobile. …

Comment posted Oban Phoenix Argyll premiere for Brave feels undermined by VistScotland competition by Hughie.

“The Screen Machine is, by its nature, mobile. It and the local VisitScotland event could have gone to Campbeltown – which would have been a boost for the newly formed Kintyre and Gigha Marketing Group.”

And that suggestion is even more ridiculous! Don’t you know we have our own cinema down here? What really would have been ideal is the release and screening of the film across Argyll at the same time. Can’t see any significant impact of showing the film in Lochgilphead 5 days later in Mid Argyll. Oban has a large enough population itself, along with the outlying areas and tourism to support this initiative without worrying about a screening in the back of a van in Lochgilphead. If the people in Mid Argyll are desperate to see the film then I would imagine, like most other weeks, they will take the easy route to Clydebank, Braehead or Glasgow to watch the film.

Hughie also commented

  • Haha! :-) 10 out of 10 Robert :-) Perhaps the problems with the Rest could be used to the advantage of local communities in terms of visiting other towns rather than going to the city?

Recent comments by Hughie

  • Third sector consultation on future of Campbeltown Town Hall
    Perhaps not elsewhere in all cases but when I think of “Town Hall, Victoria Hall, new Library/pool, Museum and the Community Centre” and more so the Victoria Hall none of these provide a true, modern facility that fits the needs of a 21st century community. The Town Hall, Victoria Hall, Museum and Community Centre are a jumble of buildings all trying to survive yet the Victoria Hall for example isn’t a sports hall or a music/concert venue but that is what we have to use. The facilities are dragonian. Whilst the Aqualibrium has certainly created a hub for the centre of the town it was the biggest wasted opportunity the Council and Campbeltown had to provide the facilities needed. £8 million pounds and NO indoors halls, squash courts, fitness studios, changing rooms for the fields outside etc

    So we have classes that should be held in the Aqualibrium held in the Victoria Hall and some in the Town Hall that all should be under the one roof of the Aqualibrium. Some things on at the Community Centre too with no cohesion and all these buildings costing our local government a quite small considerabl fortune yet not fit for purpose. That’s the reality. The town hall however, is an iconic building that should be the certain piece of the town and if restored correctly could be a focus for community events like coffee mornings, weddings etc

    Off topic but isn’t it about time the Council considered a Leisure Trust which will allow access to funding the Council cannot get and also exemption from rates? I wonder how much money that save in this time of cuts?

  • Landslide closes A83 at Rest and Be Thankful
    Surprised after slating the Traffic Scotland website yesterday that this site doesn’t even report the road is open again? Looking at the home page of For Argyll you would think the Rest is still closed and no update at the top of this article either……just saying…. :-)
  • Campbeltown Picture House seat sponsorship drive launched at the seat of government
    Islay forever (really?), shouldn’t you leave that up to the good people of Campbeltown and South Kintyre first before spouting rubbish on here. It’s good, for a change, to see some MSPs money supporting local projects. I’m sure there will be lots of people who will support this. For example there are a huge number of ex-pats who remain passionate about all things Campbeltown and are never shy in supporting local projects. Then again, perhaps not, but lets give the initiative a chance first then, if it fails, you can take your swipes….
  • Campbeltown rumours about Wind Towers declared unfounded
    @ S.White – Where do you live when “it has happened far too often”? I travel the road to Glasgow three or four times a day every week and can count on one hand the number of times it has caused me to slow down and pull over and that is over a few years. In fact in recent weeks I’ve had to slow down to allow static caravans to be transported. But hey ho lets moan about them too. :-)

    The pros and cons about wind turbines is another argument but you can rest assure the continued employment of hundreds of people in Kintyre is fundamental to our area. As Simon says “Have a nice day” :-)

  • Campbeltown rumours about Wind Towers declared unfounded
    @Robert: Is that not the ones that cause the most congestion therefore travelling 3 miles by road to Campbeltown Harbour causes less problems elsewhere on the main roads?

powered by SEO Super Comments

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Google Bookmarks
  • email
  • LinkedIn
  • Technorati
  • TwitThis
  • Ma.gnolia
  • NewsVine
  • StumbleUpon
  • SphereIt
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot

9 Responses to “The Screen Machine is, by its nature, mobile. …

  1. I had thought the Phoenix opening night was already fully booked. Is this wrong?

    However, I agree that the Lochgilphead event is poor timing.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    • It almost certainly is – but this competing invitation will mean a number if critical no-shows for an initiative that needs to cement local business support

      It also means there may be cancellations that members of the public may be ab;e to buy?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

  2. If Visit Scotland is spending as much as £7 million marketing this film, i.e. promoting it, I wonder if they’ve struck a deal to get a share of the profits? Or, as well as marketing Scottish tourism, is the public purse financing free publicity for a Disney/Pixar venture?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

  3. “The Screen Machine is, by its nature, mobile. It and the local VisitScotland event could have gone to Campbeltown – which would have been a boost for the newly formed Kintyre and Gigha Marketing Group.”

    And that suggestion is even more ridiculous! Don’t you know we have our own cinema down here? What really would have been ideal is the release and screening of the film across Argyll at the same time. Can’t see any significant impact of showing the film in Lochgilphead 5 days later in Mid Argyll. Oban has a large enough population itself, along with the outlying areas and tourism to support this initiative without worrying about a screening in the back of a van in Lochgilphead. If the people in Mid Argyll are desperate to see the film then I would imagine, like most other weeks, they will take the easy route to Clydebank, Braehead or Glasgow to watch the film.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

  4. Quite right Hughie “Don’t you know we have our own cinema down here?”. But you have to appreciate that when Newsie is pontificating at length, to everyone, on every topic under the sun – sometimes she just forgets things… (or maybe she didn’t know in the first place that the Wee Toon has had its own community owned cinema for years)

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

  5. Disney-Pixar’s Brave represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the whole of Scottish tourism, including Argyll. The response to the movie has been overwhelmingly positive. It will be seen by millions of people in more than 70 countries and we estimate that the added interest the film generates in visiting Scotland will boost the economy by £140 million.

    We were disappointed to see it suggested in the above posting that, by sending out invitations to stakeholders to a Screen Machine Brave event in Lochgilpead on August 8, we have in some way “lured” people away from the screening of the film at the Oban Phoenix, which takes place five days earlier.

    We don’t believe that this is the case and we are delighted to see that the Oban Phoenix is re-opening with such a fantastic event.

    Choosing a location for a tourism industry event in Argyll is always a challenge, as any choice will have travel implications for a large proportion of those businesses and stakeholders we would like to attend.

    Any choice will come as great news to those within the vicinity, and may simultaneously attract some criticism from those more distant. Our general policy for making these choices – both for VisitScotland events and for Argyll & the Isles Strategic Tourism Partnership events – is to do our best to move them around the area.

    We have held many events in Oban over the years, and we will continue to do so in future. However, this is one occasion where an appraisal of the circumstances has led us to a different part of the area.

    Our main reason for deciding on Lochgilphead in this case was the opportunity presented by the Screen Machine to have an exclusive screening there for businesses and partners. This will give us the freedom to watch Brave together in a business context, and discuss the campaign around the film without detracting from the cinema experience of the general public.

    Lochgilphead was also a natural choice because of the connection to the film of Kilmartin Glen. This was one of the real Scottish locations that inspired a setting in the film, and so provides an appropriate context for a discussion on the film’s tourism potential.

    In making the decision for Lochgilphead, we did consider the reopening of the Phoenix. We were satisfied that Lochgilphead was distant enough not to provide unhelpful competition to the Phoenix and close enough to still attract guests who were keen to see Brave in the business context we intended with our invitation.

    We hope this clears up any confusion.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    • Did you consider holding this event in Oban during the run of Brave at the Oban Phoenix – and with Kilchurn and Stalker Castles, also featured in the film, not far from Oban?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0


All the latest comments (including yours) straight to your mailbox, everyday! Click here to subscribe.