SESSION 9. THE VALUE OF DATA

In the new economy, information equals money. The information about films and the audience behaviour associated with them will be a powerful new currency. Peter Buckingham will explain how data will impact on all areas of the film business and, importantly, how films will be discovered in a digital world.

PETER BUCKINGHAM, Head of Distribution & Exhibition, UK Film Council

Peter Buckingham is Head of Distribution & Exhibition at the UK Film Council and as such is tasked with increasing the breadth and diversity of film audiences across the UK, as well as assisting audience appreciation of UK films.

He heads up a range of schemes to support this strategy, which aim to broaden the choice of films available to UK audiences and to increase admissions for a wider range of film; these include the P&A (prints & advertising) Fund and the world’s first 2k Digital Screen Network in over 200 cinemas.

Buckingham is leading on digital strategy for the UK Film Council and has given many lectures on this subject. He is currently also on a number of boards and advisory boards including Cass Business School in London and AIM (The All Industry Marketing agency for the UK film industry). He was previously Deputy Chief Executive of FilmFour Limited and was named Video Distributor of the Year in 2000.

Prior to FilmFour, he was MD of Chris Blackwell’s Oasis Cinemas building up a specialised cinema chain. He has also worked as Director of Film Distribution for Virgin Vision.

MARCUS EXALL, Client Services Director, Blue Barracuda

Marcus is head of client services at Blue Barracuda.  Marcus started his career in sales and marketing roles with United Biscuits in the UK, before being seconded to the European Commissions executive training programme in Japan.  Having spent time working on the establishment of a new subsidiary for United Biscuits in Japan, he returned to take up an interactive and customer marketing role with ICI.

In 2000 he moved to head up the marketing division of incubator Online plc, before moving to become a principal of Blue Barracuda in early 2003.  During recent years he has established Blue Barracuda’s award winning media team and has worked on digital strategies for many leading brands, including Pizza Hut, BAA.  Over the last year has been involved in the development of the UK Film Council’s FindAnyFilm.com website.