Kine Weekly was a British film trade magazine that began in 1889 and lasted until 1971. It contained news, advertisements, reviews and reports aimed at the film industry. Screen International began in 1975 and continues as the UK's main industry publication, focusing on international film industry developments. Sight and Sound is a British Film Institute magazine that began in 1934 and takes a serious, critical approach to film as art. Empire is a popular mainstream magazine that began in 1989 with a focus on both film and celebrity culture. Specialized niche magazines also emerged focusing on genres like horror, science fiction and cult films.

1. HISTORY OF FILM MAGAZINES
__ Kine Weekly Today’s Cinema Screen International
Began in 1889 as Optical Magic Lanter and This was the American owned rival Started in 1975 from the rebranded Today’s
Photographic Enlarger – change to Kine to Kine Weekly that begun exist- Cinema which had bought and absorbed
Weekly n 1907. Lasted until 1971. Owned by ence as Daily Cinema in 1957. The Kine Weekly. It became a weekly B2B brand
TRADE
Odhams content was similar to Kine Weekly reporting on industry specifically for the UK
It contained trade news, advertisements, in that it was designed to appeal to film industry but also developments glob-
reviews, exhibition advice, and reports of re- mainly those who worked in the film ally. Currently owned by EMAP and now has
gional and national meetings of trade organi- industry – either in production or a website: screendaily.com.This remains the
sations. Influencial due to its indeing of the exhibition. This continued until 1975 UK’s main industry paper with it’s rivals be-
box office data. when it was rebranded… ing the US based Variety.
Motion Picture Story Magazine With the emphasis on the stars rather Empire
This was a very early fan magazine that than the films Picturegoer was aimed Today the focus is partly on star but
serviced the silent movie going audience at a female audience. It started as a se- also about serious appreciation of film
and ran from 1913-14. Rather than pro- rious record of films on in the UK but – the result is the more male orientated
FAN/ viding news and reviews, this reproduced
the stories of the current films – allowing
focused more on the glamour through
the 40s and 50s. As TV became popu-
magazine such as Empire which began
in 1989 as a review driven magazine but
MAIN- fans to hear the plot without actually see- lar with women from the 50s onward, drew on influences from games mags
STREAM ing the films. In the late teens the maga- Picturegoer merge with a pop music through the editorship of Colin Kennedy
zines moved to focus not on the films but titled called Disc Date. It ran from to become more male orientated. Cur-
the stars themselves. 1913 until 1960. rently has an ABC of 194,000.
Monthly Film Bulletin Sight and Sound is published by the
The first issue of LWL was created as the final
This ran from 1934 to April 1991. It began as a British Film Institute which is a char-
degree project of co-founder Danny Miller in
comprehensive listing magazines for what was on ity who’s remit is to promote the art
2001. The first issue was released in February
in the UK cinemas and inform cinema managers of film and moving image in the UK.
2005, printed in edition of 2500, and dis-
CRITICAL
of what was coming up, but changed its remit to a It began in 1934 and has always had a
tributed only in UK Borders stores. Now the
more critical stance in the 1950s under the editor- serious tone compared to fan maga-
circulation is 16,000 and is part of the Church
ship of David Robertson. This develop throughout zines, . Sight & Sound merged with
of London portfolio. It takes the same ‘film
the ‘70s taking on auteur and Marxist film theories Monthly Film Bulletin in 1991. It is a
as art’ approach as Sight & Sound but is far
give it an arthouse audience and intellectual tone. highbrow critical magazine that treads
more design led and focusing on independent
MFB merged with Sight and Sound in 1991. the line between consumer magazine
rather than arthouse cinema.
and academic journal.
Supernatural, created by an independent Fangoria is a US magazine that was SFX began in 1995 and specialises in sci-fi and
publisher in Devon, was one of a number of first published in 1978 to focus on cult entertainment – both film and television.
NICHE/ magazines released to attempt to cash in the
success of the Hammer Studios in the Horror
Sci-fi films, but became specifically
horror focused as the success of the
While still niche it has the remit to go beyond a
specific genre and caters for the target audience
CULT and Sci-Fi genres. Rather than focusing on the
latest releases this focused on a specific type of
film Dawn of the Dead. It rode the
wave of success created by the video-
that enjoys alternative films, fiction, literature,
game and comics. The official website explains
film giving in depth coverage to the making of nasty phenomenon of the early 80s that the SF stands for Sci-fi but the X could
the films and the ideas behind the monsters. and has since broaden it’s media out- stand for anything. Much like all Future maga-
This is the idea of a ‘narrow but deep’ subject put to include radio, film production zines, it is design for a hardcore audience but
matter. and film festivals. for entry points for the mainstream.
The FILM programme Moviewatch was an early evening T4 Presents
This has run form 1972 to present day on BBC1. Channel 4 film review show, present- These are presentations focused on specific
It was made famous by Barry Norman (years ed by Johnny Vaughan and ran from event films that tie in with T4 target audi-
72-98) and has since been presented by Jona- 1993-97. Compared to BBC Film is ence such as The Hunger Games, Twlight
TV
than Ross (1999-2010) and Claudia Winkleman was light-hearted in tone, aimed at and Snow White the Huntsmen. The show is
(2011-present). The tone of the program is partly the multiplex audience and focused not news or opinion based but acts as part of
news based with industry news, talent interviews on the mainstream releases of the the promotion for the films focusing on cast
and previews, but at the heart of the program is week. It was dominated by the loud interviews, backstage access at the premiere
the reviews section which is of course directed by humour of presenter Vaughan and and behind the scenes footage.
included the views of cinema goers.