Actions

1.0

WELCOME

1.1

BW welcomed everybody and explained that under the rules of the Constitution the AGM attendance needed to be 10% of the Membership to be quorate and this had not been met. Therefore the meeting could not take final votes or other functions allowed in the Constitution. The Committee proposed to work through the Agenda as planned but any votes would only be indicative and motions would be carried over to a future Special General Meeting

People were asked to remain muted and raise their hand on video or via the Zoom option if they wanted to speak or ask questions. Comments and questions were also welcomed in the chat.

The committee members introduced themselves mentioning the last film they saw.

1.2

On behalf of the Friends BW thanked Ian Sanderson who was one of the founding members of the Friends and retired from the committee last year.

2.0

MINUTES 2020

2.1

The Minutes from 2020 AGM and follow up SGM have been available on the website for some time.

BW asked for any objections or questions regarding these minutes but none were received.

BW asked membership to propose the minutes are acceptable and will be officially approved at the SGM.

Proposed: Andy Smith

Seconded: Paul Betts

The minutes were agreed by those present.

2.2

The Minutes will be taken to the Special General Meeting for approval.

Committee

3.0

CHAIR’S UPDATE

Despite the pandemic the committee continued to meet regularly online. The Yorkshire Day screenings could not go ahead in 2021 but a Christmas screening of The Man Who Invented Christmas went ahead in December.

The Friends took part in the Headingley Car-Free Street Fair in September, handing out leaflets, talking to people about the cinema developments.

A number of online discussions were held for anybody to attend to discuss the future direction of the Friends.

With the cinema setting up its own membership schemes with discounts, our focus will move to the charitable side of things with a number of different activity areas.

We are planning on switching to a Pay-As-You-Feel model with a suggested fee to cover costs of running things and putting on events with the option to donate more.

Still working out the details and planning on a Special General Meeting to formalise any changes around Easter.

A strong membership is important because it will help show that the cinema has strong community support which can help with things such as funding.

Ideas for different projects such as a mural on the rear wall and archive work but still want to hear from the membership about what areas we should work on.

4.0

TREASURER'S REPORT

4.1

PB presented a short overview of the Financial Report covering the year ending April 2021 which is also available on the website.

4.2

Key points:

• Membership income reduced from £9.2k to £4.7k - most of which was from the previous year’s new members
• No income from members since we stopped new memberships
• Healthy cash balance of £23.4k
• Very little spending this year
• Account prepared under charity guidelines by WYCAS

Summary: Healthy cash buffer for the next few years when we can expect a smaller income from membership fees but also have a number of projects to support.

4.3

Question about proposed mural

Garance Rawinsk: Are the Friends paying for the mural or is that included in the redevelopment costs?

Mural is not part of the Picture House project but other improvements (e.g better lighting) will help. Opportunity for more fundraising and general agreement that it is a good thing for the Friends to do.

Simon Stephenson: Does the building’s listed status affect plans for a mural?

Yes but we are aware of this and the conservation officer is in favour. Murals, along with preventive measures can reduce the amount of tagging and graffiti and these things are all being considered.

4.4

BW proposed the accounts were accepted and taken to the SGM for formal approval. Seconded by AS.

No objections were raised.

4.5

The Financial Report will be taken to the Special General Meeting for approval.

Committee

5.0

ELECTIONS

5.1

AS appealed for more people to join the committee and get involved in projects.

The current committee resign at the AGM but all have agreed to stand again i.e:

• Bill Walton
• Paul Betts
• Stephen Brown
• Keith Withall
• Andy Smith

Wendy Cook is not an elected trustee and appointed by Leeds Heritage Theatres.

Ruth Saxton and Rob Welborn expressed an interest in finding out more about joining the committee.

A suggestion was made to reach out to film schools or other organisations to try and attract some younger members.

Garance Rawinsky thanked the committee and supported the ongoing efforts but had too many other commitments to get more involved.

Working groups will also be set up for people to get involved without the commitment of joining the committee.

5.2

No objections were raised to the current committee standing again and the election of the committee will be done at the SGM

Committee

6.0

REPORT FROM WENDY COOK HEAD OF CINEMA

6.1

Work began last May with an initial goal of opening in June 2022 but a number of unexpected delays means building work is now expected to finish around August. There will then still be work to be done to learn how things work and get everything ready before reopening.

The new extension has been excavated and foundations laid. The basement screen has been excavated. All of the work is happening inside and underground so you can’t see any progress from outside.

Asbestos has been removed, roof insulated and lots of other small changes that are creating a better baseline for future improvements allowing the building to be a strong cultural and community asset.

As well as overseeing the building work there are ongoing activtities such as . fundraising, working out what the new programmes should look like, what items to stock and lots of other little things to decide about how to reopen.

Starting to see rewards of the off site programming. Showing films 2 days a week at University Union, once a month at Heart and other occasional screenings elsewhere. Trying out different pricing and collaborations with other organisations.

Learning a lot and developing strands to take back the Picture House to make best use of both screens, not just screening more films but making it meaningful to best serve the audience and community.

As well as significant financial challenges from Covid there have also been societal changes that need to be addressed to be more inclusive.

6.2

Question from PB: What are the next project milestones?

Next month, structural changes for screen 2 including the acoustics.

New extension starting in May and should be quick

Restoration of heritage features

Updated website

Reopening programme starting to come together and may be able to announce things in May/June.

6.3

Comment form Garance Rawinsky:

Your 'On the road' screenings at UoL [University of Leeds] Student Union location are not necessarily programmed for my demographic.   Generally if free I book and go just to show support - often I have been pleasantly surprised so Thank you!

Union screenings are not specifically programmed for students but tend to be 50:50 students and non-students, need to do more work to get non-students to attend. Starting to look at print materials again. The Union screens will stop when the Picture House reopens but hope to continue having a long lasting relationship e.g monthly screenings.

The legacy of the off site screening should be to continue to be able to put on screenings elsewhere because it allows different things to be tried and can introduce the Picture House to new audiences.

9.0

ANY OTHER BUSINESS/CLOSE

9.1

There were no resolutions to discuss. The Special General Meeting to formalise matters that could not be completed without a quorum will take place on Monday 21st February at 7pm. Details will be sent to members in the next 7 days.

SB

9.2

BW asked if there was any other business, none was raised and so thanked everybody for coming and closed the meeting at 20:15.