BFI have a ‘committed responsibility to ensure audiences have access to the broadest range of stories across a variety of platforms’ Ben Luxford, Head of UK Audiences. Audience Insight Report (StoryFutures, 2021)
The Immersive Content Formats for Future Audiences (2018) report led by Limina Immersive found that ‘potential audience appetite is high’ for immersive content. The sector continues to grow with the Immersive Audience Report from 2024, stating that a ‘wide range of people are currently engaging with immersive experiences across the UK, a sign of the strong growth in the sector and potential for a lot more’. It found that audiences for immersive experiences were generally younger and more diverse when compared to traditional art forms. Other key findings identified that audiences wanted to engage with events that had a strong storyline and events that they could attend with friends.
The Venice Immersive Think Tank Report (2024) supports this and highlights that communal experiences are still important for audiences and suggests that ‘Designing the events so that audiences can connect more to each other is another important consideration’.
Laika by Asif Kapadia
Prior BFI initiatives such as the cinema screen tour of VR animation Laika by Asif Kapadia were successful and offered audiences a new communal way to experience broader screen content.
The success of Laika led to a further BFI partnership with StoryFutures and the development of the StoryFutures Xperience, which brought a programme of VR experiences to UK cinemas and arts venues across the UK between Summer 2023 and Spring 2024. This is one of the leading examples of exhibiting broader screen content in cinema venues.
The findings from these reports highlight that audience interest in broader screen content is growing and provide a rationale for FAN members to consider engaging with broader screen content and its potential to engage new audiences in new ways.
‘Immersive storytelling, especially VR, offers users new ways of seeing - not only of seeing other worlds, but seeing their own world through others’ eyes. In so doing the potential is for opening up a space where users can not only see, but experience, difference’.
Audience Insight Report (StoryFutures, 2021)
There has been recent development of bespoke venues dedicated to presenting broader screen work including 360 video, VR and immersive art experiences, these include BOCS at Wales Millennium Centre (opened in 2022) and Undershed, based at Watershed in Bristol (opened in 2025). The development of these venues, programming regular broader screen content, indicates growing audience engagement and appetite. If this is considered alongside Arts Council England adding Digital Arts to its artform list, and the success of the Immersive Arts Funding and Wider Programme, this seems to indicate a growing immersive arts sector in the UK.
Image: BOCS at Wales Millennium Centre