Immersive cinema pioneer Backyard Cinema has announced its first long-term home at Greenland’s Ram Quarter development in Wandsworth, southwest London. One of London’s leaders in alternative cinema experiences, Backyard Cinema will establish a 250-person capacity cinema within the former Capital television studios at Ram Quarter – Greenland’s redevelopment of the former Young’s brewery.
Renowned for transporting customers to new worlds, using elaborate and interactive set builds as backdrops, Backyard Cinema’s celebrated themes include: The Winter Night Garden, Mission to Mars, The Lost World and The Snow Kingdom. The team has also achieved a sell-out screening of Christmas Labyrinth hosted at the Winterville Christmas village, as well as a four-year sell out of Romeo+Juliet set in a church complete with a full choir.
Originally created in its founder’s back garden, and later as a roaming, pop-up cinema, Backyard Cinema has operated previously on short leases, running seasons of films in different locations. The new Wandsworth home will allow Backyard Cinema to develop its multi-sensory cinematic experiences. At Ram Quarter, Backyard Cinema will host more regular screenings and events for the community, as well as offering an exciting range of food and drink from some of London’s much-loved traders for customers to enjoy before and after the show.
With new and exciting worlds for customers to explore, guests can look forward to immersive screenings of cult classics, family favourites, blockbusters and new releases, catering to all ages, tastes and genres. From the minute they step through the door, guests can expect to venture through magical ice caves, explore enchanted woodlands, kick back with a cocktail on Miami Beach or even pilot their own spaceship to Mars, revelling in the experience from Backyard’s famous giant beanbags.
This new location for Backyard Cinema is part of a five-year lease agreement with Greenland to take over and reimagine the former television studio buildings at Ram Quarter. The studios, which were previously home to classic cookery shows including Saturday Kitchen and Ready Steady Cook, form part of Greenland’s wider redevelopment of the brewery site – sitting alongside the completed first phase of new homes, retail and restaurant space in the heart of Wandsworth town centre.
The former brewery already has its own place in filming history as a location for recent television hits including the BBC’s Luther and Spooks, as well as several feature films.
Chris Daly, Senior Commercial Manager at Greenland (UK), said: “Backyard Cinema is at the forefront of the experiential cinema movement and we’re delighted to be welcoming this hugely successful brand to Ram Quarter. Backyard Cinema’s offer fits perfectly with our vision to put Wandsworth on the map as a thriving cultural and leisure destination in southwest London.”
Dominic Davies, Founder and Creative Director of Backyard Cinema, said: “We’ve experienced incredible growth over recent years, building up a loyal fan base across London and beyond. Wandsworth residents have always been regular visitors to our screens and we’re looking forward to becoming part of the community.
“Our new home at Ram Quarter will give us the freedom and artistic licence to create more exciting, innovative experiences for film-goers than ever before. We have ambitious plans for the site and are already in conversations with a range of our partners to make sure a trip to Backyard Cinema at Ram Quarter becomes a real event for our customers.”
