Young people at our recent BFI Film Academy Akira night

Balancing access and sustainability: new ticket price structure at Watershed

Posted on Tue 26 May 2015

Here at Watershed we are proud that our cinema programme showcases the new, the old, the unusual and the unexpected. To help sustain this work, increase access and give everyone the opportunity to discover something new, there will be a small increase in our ticket prices – and we are pleased to introduce a brand new young peoples’ ticket.

Here at Watershed we showcase the cultural diversity of world cinema and seek to engage an equally broad range of people from Bristol and the region by presenting the new, the classic, the unusual and the unexpected. To achieve this we are constantly developing our programme and our offer to stay relevant to our city: a city that is increasingly diverse with a growing number of young people.

Our aim is to offer value and wide access whilst achieving economic sustainability. We consistently work to strike a balance between these sometimes conflicting aims and we always strive to do better, no matter the prevailing economic circumstances which are becoming more difficult for the arts and cultural sector. In the current environment we believe that it's particularly important to focus on opportunities for young people so that they can both access world film culture and develop their creative talent.

We price our tickets to be competitive with the other cinemas in the city while offering discounted concession tickets at ALL screenings to people in our community who are not economically active. From Fri 3 July we will be making our first pricing changes in over three years by introducing a new pricing structure. Full price tickets will increase to £6.50 matinee and £9.00 evening, concession tickets will be £4.50 matinee and £6.50 evening.

We are also introducing a new young peoples ticket for anyone aged 24 or under at £4.50 for ANY screening, matinee or evening. This ticket price applies to ALL young people whether student, in work or looking for work, acknowledging that young people are often on low incomes or struggling to save for the future. It's really simple - if you are 24 or under you can come to Watershed to see a film or event at any time of day or evening and still get change out of a fiver.

Dick Penny our Managing Director says:

"Watershed always strives to do better - to develop our cultural programme, to add value to people's experience, to reach new audiences and to stay relevant. I hope that the introduction of this £4.50 ticket helps to make it possible for more young people to enjoy the diversity of world film culture on offer at Watershed."

We continue not to ask customers to pay any additional charges, here at Watershed there are no booking fees or credit card charges - something that is increasingly rare. In fact we are the only cinema in Bristol who doesn't charge an online booking fee.

Our Loyalty Card is open to everyone and as a card holder you can earn points towards free tickets on every film you see here and it's totally free to sign up to. Loyalty points can be earned and redeemed online so you can start collecting right away.

We constantly seek to add value to your experience through film notes, introductions, talks and publishing on our website. And we seek to engage more deeply with young people through dedicated school screenings and talent development programmes like BFI Film Academy, Future Producers and New Talent Residencies. To learn more about what Watershed does and how it is funded please see Activities & Achievements. If you would like to do more to help sustain our work please become a Watershed supporter, you can sign up for regular direct debit or a one off donation.

Watershed is a Registered Charity No 284188 and a Social Enterprise


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