It’s been almost 6 months since The Divide launched in UK cinemas, and what a ride it’s been so far. We’ve played on over 150 screens, to sell out audiences, had coverage across the national press (including 4 star reviews from The Guardian, Express, Time Out, Total Film and CityAM amongst many others), and I’ve been privileged to be able to attend a large number of screenings for Q&As and hear directly from many Equality Trust supporters. Thank you for all your support so far!
Our aim with this film is to reach as many people as possible, and this is an important first stage as releasing in the cinema enables us to receive the kind of press coverage which is essential if new audiences are to hear about the film and the issues it raises. However, working on the cinema release is only part of what we’ve been doing over the last 6 months.
We have been building a strategy to see the film released on other platforms (and of course other countries). This has been a huge challenge, not least because of the financial realities of making an independent feature film with costs every step of the way. Having just managed to pay off the licensing fees for UK cinema, we found ourselves needing more money to cover licensing for world, TV and online platforms. Thank you for your patience as we’ve navigated this hurdle. Today, I’m really pleased to be able to share three exciting developments.
This morning we sent out digital downloads to all crowdfunders. If you supported the film in our crowdfunding campaign please check your inbox (and spam folders) for a link to a one-time download of the film.
The film is also now available to stream (in UK and US) on Netflix. It is also available on iTunes, Google Play and Xbox. Having the film on these platforms is an enormous boost to the audience we can reach, giving us the potential to reach millions of viewers. We’d love you to spread the word about this and help more people to see the film.
The last bit of good news is that we’ve managed to secure a small amount of funding to help support further screenings in London, especially aimed at audiences who would not go and see a film of this nature. This means that we can offer the film for screenings in London free of charge. Equality Trust groups have been vital to our outreach, and we’d love to hear from anyone who would be interested in holding a free screening. All we ask is those who take up this offer promote the film widely in their networks and let us know how many people came to the screening.
Thanks again for all your support for this project – we couldn’t have done it without you.
Katharine Round, Director and Producer